A sex trafficking victim from Bridgeport is sharing her story about her years on the street.

It all began when Sharron Guillemette was only 7 years old. She says her abuser injected her with heroin to take away her power of making decisions for herself.

Guillemette is just one of thousands of men and women, girls and boys in America who fall prey to human trafficking, which encompasses both forced labor as well as sexual exploitation at the hands of traffickers.

Guillemette is speaking out to promote a new safe house in Bridgeport run by Partnership to End Human Trafficking, or PEHT.

Her story is both shocking and eye-opening, but she says people must talk about what's going on in every city and town in America if victims are ever going to get help.

"If you don't know anything about human trafficking, you have no right to judge what these kids are doing. They don't want to be on the street," Guillemette says.