She was sold for $200, BRANDED AS A SEX SLAVE, then was FRAMED & spent 17 years in prison

She was sold for $200, BRANDED AS A SEX SLAVE, then was FRAMED & spent 17 years in prison

A friend of mine who’s connected with heartYN reached out to tell me Marisol Garcia Bejarano’s story. Marisol was sold for $200 when she was 13; she was then branded by her abuser who also raped her. When she begged him to be freed, she was framed for a crime she didn’t commit and she spent 17 YEARS in prison before she was proven innocent and pardoned.

Marisol.Before

At 13, Marisol was sold for $200. Her abuser branded her with tattoos, and framed her for a crime she didn’t commit, sending her to prison for 17 years (which she calls the best time of her life, because it gave her freedom.) In the eyes of her Tijuana based community, she is ‘damaged.’ The tattoos on her arms are a daily reminder that she has been marked as someone else’s property. It has been hard for Marisol to find work.

She has found a home with Red Binacional, The International Network of Hearts, helping other victims of sex-trafficking. But to truly build a life of freedom (and hopefully give her another ‘best’ time of her life), Marisol needs to have her tattoos removed.

heartYN’s awesome neighbors raised the money needed for Marisol’s first round of treatments, and we must complete the job! $565.00 will grant this amazing woman freedom from her past.

…Marisol Garcia Bejarano spent seventeen years in prison for a crime she did not commit. A survivor of human trafficking in Mexico and in California, Marisol witnessed a murder committed by the man who bought her for $200 when she was just thirteen years old. After years of holding her as his domestic servant and sexual slave, he then framed Marisol for his murder, and she went to a California prison for his crime.

To many, such a devastating turn of events may have been cause for depression, anger, and bitterness. Yet Marisol says that she saw prison as a chance for her dreams to come true. Finally, she had a chance to learn to read and write, to learn to speak English and acquire basic jobs skills, and to develop a network of friends. Marisol saw prison as freedom from captivity.
When the Law School of the University of California learned of Marisol’s story and acknowledged her innocence, they initiated a project to release her. In 2013, seventeen years after her false conviction, Marisol was pardoned by the Governor of California. She is now a victim’s advocate and house mom at Red Binacional de Corazones, a home for young girls who are also survivors of human trafficking.

Marisol’s story would be an inspirational tale about how one woman can overcome horrible abuse to make something positive out of her life except for the fact that she still bears the brands that her rapist put on her arms. This brave woman who has suffered so much still has to feel shame when people look at her arms and despite the good work she’s doing, she’s had trouble finding a job so that she can pay to have the branding removed.

I verified Marisol’s story with my contact who’s in regular contact with Marisol and has sent someone out to meet her personally. She’s for real — and she deserves some help. She doesn’t need much. In fact, she only needs $440 more dollars to get those last, daily reminders of her life as a sex slave removed. Let’s do that for her today. Chip in a few bucks and between all the people reading this article, we’ll remove that branding and let Marisol start living the life she deserves to live.

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