Survivors With Eating Disorders
Survivors of trafficking and sexual exploitation face all sorts of adversities when it comes to their healing, and every survivor’s story is different. Some survivors battle addiction, and healing that part of their life becomes their building blocks to get well-rounded healing. Some survivors battle mental health issues, early childhood trauma, or damaged family relationships. One thing we have seen in our time serving survivors is that many survivors battle eating disorders.
There are some obvious and some not-so-obvious reasons why survivors of trafficking would develop eating disorders, or EDs. Many survivors who develop EDs feel an overwhelming pressure to keep their weight down and look thin. When their income in exploitation is directly affected by who is attracted to them, some survivors would do anything to be able to keep working. Sometimes that involves obsessing over their weight, which leads to taking extreme measures to control it. Eating Disorder behaviors are then introduced, and before long, they become exasperated.
But what a lot of people don’t understand about eating disorders is that its not just about how you look. Eating disorders are almost equally about control. Many people who have EDs have a low perceived amount of control over their lives, and often the one thing they know they can control is how much they eat and how much they weigh.
Under the control of their exploiter, survivors often must manage their own exploitation, suffering an endless cycle of sexual abuse. They also face the pressure of avoiding law enforcement, having little to no contact with their loved ones, pressures to bring in more and more money to avoid repercussions from their exploiter, mental health and addiction issues, and being separated from their children. It is certainly understandable that survivors might feel that they have no control over their lives whatsoever, so they turn to ED behaviors to have control over a tiny fraction of their lives. Then, their ED is not about their weight – it's about their lives being out of control. It is about being in control of the one thing that no one else can control for them – their food.
Our trauma-informed staff understands that eating disorders are a psychological issue that should be treated with as much care as any other mental health condition survivors may have. We do what we can to advocate for survivors within the home as well as give survivors with EDs referrals to clinics that specialize in eating disorders. We are constantly learning more about each adversity survivors may face and continue to foster a safe environment for them to thrive, no matter what life has thrown at them. Because we know that eating disorders are often about having some control in out-of-control situations, we put clear steps on survivors’ paths so that they can have more independence in their lives.
