Latest news with #AnnalichiaBoudreaux
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Yahoo
Human trafficking survivor finds love after abuse
SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) — A local woman is sharing her personal experience with human trafficking and how she found a new life after a very dark place. She is now an advocate to help others. Her story is a graphic one, but it's a real story about the realities that survivors face. Experts have said that human trafficking is a form of control over others. 'In my situation, it was, we're going to find your children and kill them. If you don't do this, we are going to go after your mom. In my mind, in order to protect my family, that's what I had to do,' said Annalichia Boudreaux, survivor and board member of the Free Coalition to End Human Trafficking. Petite, kind, and well-spoken, you would not realize that Boudreaux has experienced such trauma inflicted by her ex-husband. WATCH: Human trafficking in our community 'He had been drugging me our whole marriage and I did not know it. He was taking my medication, I was on a lot of depression medicine, and he was emptying out the capsules and refilling them with meth,' Boudreaux said. 'He ended up trading me off to his drug dealer to pay for the debt of his drug use. I was the payment for his drug debt. And, I was locked in a bedroom where I was there for quite a long amount of time and people came in and did whatever they wanted to me. I was beaten, starved, and drugged. This happened with someone who was supposed to love me. That I thought I knew. You never know the monster that's laying next to you.' She escaped. Finding a safe shelter only a few blocks away from the house where she was imprisoned, as her traffickers looked for her. She said she entered the amazing program, the Louisiana Adult and Teen Challenge, and the Minden Family Center. 'I'm not going to let fear stop me.' There is hope on the other side. There is a good life on the other side,' she said. Can you spot the signs of human trafficking? Set Me Free Project has learning resources Boudreaux has made it her life's mission to be a voice for the voiceless. She is on the Board of Directors for the Free Coalition to End Human Trafficking and works as a lead survivor specialist. 'My hope and my goal is to empower other survivors.' She also found true love. 'He's a bona fide Cajun from New Orleans, and he's just an amazing man. He loves me. Very protective of me but wants to see me shine too. He doesn't stand in the way of that. He pushes me. Toward all of my dreams and all of my goals,' Boudreaux said. Married to her old friend Jason, together they pastor Hope Church in Ringgold, how she stays so strong. 'God and my husband. Just a match made in heaven,' she smiled as she said this. 'What you do say to other women who are fearful of being in another relationship,' asked Alexandra Meachum. 'Be cautious. Don't just trust anybody,' Boudreaux replied. She now helps guide others through the horrors of human trafficking toward healing. 'Let them heal in their time, their ground, and always let them know, you are in control,' she concluded. Boudreaux is also launching her own non-profit called Exodus Ignited that will offer a safe place for women seeking help and to bring their children with them. She said it will focus on a holistic approach to healing. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Yahoo
Annalichia Boudreaux: Beacon of hope for human trafficking survivors
SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) — In 2012, Annalichia Boudreaux was married to a man who would lead her down a path of abuse, trauma, and human trafficking. For six years, from 2012 to 2018, Annalichia Boudreaux's then-husband would secretly drug her, refill her medication with meth, physically abuse her, and threaten her children. 'I can't explain, I can't put it into words like the amount of fear like you're just, you're frozen, but my heart was beating so hard, like so loud I could hear it beating in my ears,' shares local human trafficking survivor. In 2012, Annalichia Boudreaux was married to a man who would lead her down a path of abuse, trauma, and human trafficking. For six years, from 2012 to 2018, Annalichia Boudreaux's then-husband would secretly drug her, refill her medication with meth, physically abuse her, and threaten her children. 'Whenever I would try to leave, he would threaten me by telling me that he would kill my kids if I tried to so, I would stay. Because in my mind he's already hurting me, why wouldn't he hurt them,' said Boudreaux. She remembers the day, July 18th 2018, when she was able to call 911 after being beaten by her then husband. Law enforcement could not take her to her parents' home as it was outside the jurisdiction. Annalichia Boudreaux called for her sister, but instead, a friend of her then-husband arrived at the home. Watch: Human Trafficking in Our Community 'I grabbed every picture of my children out of my house, little bit of clothing and, I left with him. And told him I wanted to go to my parents, and my parents is not where I ended up,' said Boudreaux. She ended up at the man's home, where she was jumped by three people, stripped, raped, beaten, and locked in the bedroom. 'I was there for quite some time where they trafficked me out. I was starved and drugged every day. It got to the point to where I stopped fighting, because the more that I would try to fight them, the worse it would get,' said Boudreaux. There was a day when Boudreaux says she overheard the abusers talking about her murder. She says she cried out to God like she never had before. The next morning, she was raped, and then the man walked her out of the home because 'she was too good for this.' Despite being filled with fear, Boudreaux ran from the man into a Bingo Hall full of women who called 911 for her. Can you spot the signs of human trafficking? Set Me Free Project has learning resources Law enforcement claimed she was a prostitute and threatened to arrest her for disturbing the peace, but the women advocated for her. Boudreaux was eventually taken to a Safe House and then the Teen Challenge Family Center in Minden. 'I'm still walking my healing journey. I think I will be for the rest of my life, but God's got me. I met Jason; he is a character in himself, but Jason didn't judge me,' said Annalichia Boudreaux. Jason Boudreaux says his wife of three years is amazing. He nominated her for the Remarkable Women of the ArkLaTex contest because she uses her firsthand experience to help victims and survivors of human trafficking. 'It's just amazing to see someone that has been beat up, stabbed, kicked around and used, to see where she is today because what she- what she went through she wants to use now to help others, and that's where she puts herself to the side to make better for other people,' said Jason Boudreaux. Annalichia Boudreaux is on the Louisiana Governor's Board for the Office of Human Trafficking Prevention. She is also an ordained minister and pastor at Hope Church which she runs with her husband. 'To see her working with women, to see her working with other victims or survivors, the way she just pours her heart out, not only does she help victims and survivors, but she also educates law enforcement,' said Jason Boudreaux. Annalichia Boudreaux says she tells her story for others. 'It's very hard to get out there and share my story. Every time I do it, it's hard. But I don't do it for me. I do it for them. I want them to see hey you can have a life, it's possible, and there are people out here that will believe you, that will walk along side of you, not judge you, and just love you through it,' said Annalichia Boudreaux. Her goal is to create a safe haven for survivors and victims of human trafficking. It would be a place where they are believed and can learn who they are as God created them to be. 'I want them to know that they are loved, and that there is somebody out here that will believe them. They don't have to commit suicide because a lot of victims of trafficking- 2% make it out alive. 2%. They either die from disease and sadly by suicide, or by murder,' Annalichia Boudreaux. Remarkable Women of the ArkLaTex She is also advocating against a law that almost resulted in her losing her children. According to Louisiana law, if a parent goes six months or longer without contact with their children, that is grounds for adoption. She says many victims and survivors in treatment programs do not know where their children are. To victims and survivors, those in domestic relationships, and those who are dealing with trauma every day, Annalichia Boudreaux says there are people fighting for you and you do not have to do it alone. 'When I get to go sit with that survivor, and I build that trust with them, and I finally get to say hey, I do know how you feel because I've been exactly where you are, and I've been in your shoes. And to see that light come on in their eyes, that's why I do it.' Annalichia Boudreaux says she can be reached at her hotline, 318-734-8499 or at Hope Church located at 270 School St. Ringgold, La. 71068 Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
