During a summer internship in Bangalore, India, my fellow interns and I were able to visit a shelter for women that had been rescued from the sex trade. Although we had been briefed prior to our visit, we were overwhelmed by the experience. We met women and girls of all ages, some in their sixties and others just twelve. All of the women had been exposed to unimaginable cruelty and displayed a variety of resulting disorders. It became easy to distinguish which of the women had been at the shelter longer and which were only recently brought in. Many of them interacted with us quite normally, as a new friendly acquaintance would. They asked us questions about the United States and school and happily answered similar questions about the college/trade school they were attending. They showed us the crafts they were working on and were overall engaging. It was plain to see that they were successfully undergoing therapy and on their way to recovery. We observed that some women had trouble being still. When they noticed our presence, they became anxious and nervous, looked worried, and started whispering to their directors. It is completely understandable that they be uncomfortable around strangers after the ordeal they went through. As it explains in our textbook, this is an example of magnification, the tendency to interpret situations as far more dangerous than they actually are. The women who displayed symptoms of magnification had terrible experiences with strangers in the past and concluded that we too were harmful. One of the directors explained to us that many of the women were prone to panic attacks, sudden onsets of panic in which multiple physical symptoms of stress occur, and that their anxiety manifested in several phobias. Some of the women were afraid of physical contact, of darkness (Nyctophobia), and to leave the shelter or even the room they were in (agoraphobia). A few of the recent arrivals appeared even too scared to verbalize their fears. They remained in the corner of the room with their knees drawn up and arms wrapped around. They were unable to interact with most people or maintain eye contact.

We know from what we learned in class that most of these women suffered acute stress disorder and several suffer post traumatic stress disorder. Since a great number of the women were experiencing symptoms of ASD long after they had been removed to the shelter, they were classified as having PTSD. Both ASD and PTSD are borne of a major stressor, in this case the sex trade. Both disorders have symptoms of anxiety, dissociation, recurring nightmares, sleep disturbances, problems with concentration, and flashbacks. We could make out that some had been undergoing therapy longer than others by how they interacted with us and it was hopeful to see that despite the horrors these women experienced, they could be somewhat healed through therapy.