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Activist Karla Jacinto is accusing Britt of distorting the facts of her harrowing experience for political purposes.
A sex-trafficking survivor is speaking out after her story was used in the Republican State of the Union response, accusing Sen. Katie Britt of distorting the facts and using her harrowing experience for political gain.
During Britt's address, which has been widely criticized for its bizarreness, the Alabama Republican starkly shifted tone at one point to share the story of a sex-trafficking survivor she said she had spoken to. The victim, now an adult, was trafficked by the cartel when she was 12 years old, according to Britt, who implied that the crimes transpired under the Biden Administration.
“We wouldn’t be okay with this happening in a Third World country," Britt said. "This is the United States of America, and it is past time, in my opinion, that we start acting like it.President Biden’s border crisis is a disgrace.”
Now, the woman whose story Britt hijacked has come forward. Karla Jacinto recently told CNN that the senator not only used the violence she experienced for political purposes, but also of misrepresented some of the basic facts.
Notably, Britt's encounter with Jacinto was not one-on-one as the senator implied, but rather at an event with other government officials and anti-human-trafficking activists. She also said that she was not trafficked in the United States, nor by Mexican drug cartels, but by a pimp that entrapped vulnerable girls.
The events also did not occur under President Joe Biden — Jacinto told the outlet that she was held captive from 2004 to 2008, when President George W. Bush was in office and Biden was a senator.
“I hardly ever cooperate with politicians, because it seems to me that they only want an image. They only want a photo — and that to me is not fair," Jacinto said. "I work as a spokesperson for many victims who have no voice, and I really would like them to be empathetic: all the governors, all the senators, to be empathetic with the issue of human trafficking because there are millions of girls and boys who disappear all the time."
While Britt did not name Jacinto, the senator's communications director confirmed to The Washington Post that she was talking about the activist, and claimed she did not use misleading language.
Jacinto testified before Congress in 2015 about her experiences, and has since worked with numerous anti-slavery organizations to combat human trafficking. She expressed her frustration with Britt's misrepresentations, emphasizing the impact such rhetoric has on victims.
"People are really trafficked and abused, as [Britt] mentioned," she said. "And I think she should first take into account what really happens before telling a story of that magnitude."
