#49 - Raised for Sale: Gloria Masters on Surviving Her Family’s Trafficking Ring
In this harrowing and essential episode of The Brink, Gloria Masters shares the unthinkable truth of her childhood: she was groomed, abused, and trafficked by her own father and grandmother. From the age of five, Gloria was forced into child sex work, not by strangers, but by the very people who were supposed to protect her. Her grandmother and father not only abused her themselves—they orchestrated and profited from her trafficking, selling her into a network of abusers throughout her early life. It’s a story almost too horrific to believe, and yet Gloria tells it with unflinching courage, turning her pain into purpose.
Matthew and David sit down with Gloria to explore the long-term effects of such betrayal—the dissociation that allowed her to survive, the decades-long journey to healing and the daily work of reclaiming her identity. She opens up about the complexities of trauma recovery, the silence society maintains around child sexual abuse and the desperate need for education and prevention. Her advocacy today is fuelled by a mission to protect other children and amplify the voices of survivors, especially those whose abuse came from within the family.
This episode doesn’t pull punches—nor should it. Child trafficking is not a far-off issue. It’s happening in homes, in communities and is most often perpetrated by people the child knows. Gloria’s message is clear: we need awareness, we need education and we need to break the silence that allows this epidemic to thrive. If we’re serious about protecting our children, we must start by listening to those who’ve survived the unthinkable. Gloria Masters is not just a survivor—she’s a warrior, an advocate and a voice this world desperately needs to hear.
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