by Gordon Nary
Gordon: Where were you born and what is one of your favorite memories of your childhood?
Chong: I was born in Pyeongtaek South, Korea, and came to the US when I was a year old.
Gordon: When were you naturalized in the United States and where are you currently living?
Chong: I was naturalized in the State of Oklahoma in 1984 with my parents. I currently reside in Dallas, TX.
Gordon: Where are you currently working and what are your primary responsibilities?
Chong: I currently own 3 LLCs and 1 S Corporations. I’m an entrepreneur and my primary responsibility is to assist in writing stories into a book, assist in publishing, and if the client wants their stories told in a film I do that as well. I’m also a public speaker and educator so I travel to educate the public about the harms of Human Trafficking.
Gordon: You are a survivor of Human Trafficking. Please share with our readers an overview of what happened to you.
Chong: I met a guy at a bar assuming we were dating, after several weeks of being groomed I later became a victim of Human Trafficking. The man I thought was my boyfriend disguised himself as a Marine. He was not a Marine he bought his dress uniform from an Army Surplus Store to manipulate civilian young women so he could lure them into trafficking. This all occurred in the 1990’s so there was no law in regard to Human Trafficking among American victims, so during that time, I had to rank up as a Madame (Bottom Girl) in order to escape. I lived my life as a homeless person and due to my own trafficking experience, I was force-fed with narcotics through needle injections, so even when I ran away from my traffickers, I was also an addict.
Gordon: How has your faith helped in your recovery?
Chong: I grew up in a church, but didn’t understand my faith at the time. It wasn’t until during my trafficking experience and in the aftermath of my escape that my faith grew. I would meet strangers who didn’t know me, they helped me by feeding me, housing me, and allowing me to be in their lives. I had stolen from them, but they forgave me and continued to take me back. Throughout my life I would try to commit suicide and with every failed attempt, I would have someone say to me, “God has a plan for you.” At that time I didn’t believe that God would ever choose me to teach the world.
Gordon: What advice would you give to other victims of human trafficking?
Chong: Do not believe in the people you interact with online, please educate yourself with ‘grooming, love bombing and trauma bond.’ Predators will go online to be anyone you want them to be in order to trap you. Also to Parents, please spend quality time with your kids without devices, go dancing, and skating, create arts and crafts, and build memories. The biggest prevalent in online grooming is when a child feels neglected so consistency in your children’s lives is so important, that also includes communication.
Gordon: Please share with our readers an overview of your book Broken Silence.
Chong: Broken Silence is my memoir of my childhood trauma, adult human trafficking, and finding ways to heal from an intense traumatic experience. I share what treatment has helped me. I also share my diagnosis of having BPD (Borderline Personality Disassociation) and DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder) and how to find ways to manage them. It does sound overwhelming but with the right treatment team and care it is possible to live a healthy happy life.
Gordon: Thank you for a great interview.