When Survival Feels Impossible: Suicide and Family-Controlled Trafficking
September is Suicide Awareness Month, a time to shine a light on the realities too many people keep hidden in silence. For Mezzo Allies, this is not a distant issue—it’s deeply personal. Our founder and CEO, Kait Gannon, made her first suicide attempt in 7th grade. She was just 12 years old.
For Kait, like for so many children trapped in family-controlled trafficking, suicide seemed like the only possible escape. Abuse wasn’t something happening “out there”—it was happening inside her own home, at the hands of the very people who were supposed to protect her. There was no safe place to return to, no parent to confide in, no sense that the nightmare could end.
At 12, the despair felt unending. Kait has shared that her suicide attempts were not about wanting to die—they were about wanting the abuse to stop. For children enduring this kind of violence, survival itself can feel impossible.
The Unseen Reality of Survivors
Most people imagine trafficking as something that happens at the hands of strangers or in unfamiliar places. But research shows that 41% of trafficking survivors report their first trafficker was a family member. This form of trafficking—family-controlled exploitation—creates layers of isolation that are almost impossible to see from the outside.
And the risks are deadly. According to research, children who experience abuse are three to five times more likely to attempt suicide than their peers. For trafficking survivors, whose abuse is often chronic and multi-layered, the risk is even higher.
The Lies That Keep Survivors Silent
Children like Kait are often silenced with powerful lies:
“No one will believe you.”
“If you tell, it will only get worse.”
“You’ll destroy your family if you speak up.”
When these messages are repeated daily—backed by fear, punishment, and manipulation—children come to believe them. Suicide, as heartbreaking as it is, becomes a desperate attempt to reclaim some measure of control.
What Helpers Need to Know
The connection between abuse, trafficking, and suicidality is one of the most urgent—and least understood—realities in child welfare and mental health. Helpers in schools, clinics, churches, and neighborhoods often see the signs:
A child suddenly anxious or withdrawn
Frequent “mystery” health complaints
Expressions of hopelessness or self-blame
An intensity of fear that doesn’t match the situation
These are not just “behavior problems.” They may be survival signals.
When professionals slow down, notice, and believe a child—even when the story seems “too extreme”—they can literally interrupt the path toward suicide.
Why Mezzo Allies Speaks Out
Kait’s story did not end at age 12. Her journey through multiple suicide attempts and her fight to survive is what fuels Mezzo Allies today. By training professionals, advocating for survivors, and creating space for healing, we are working to ensure no child feels suicide is their only option.
Suicide Awareness Month is a reminder: behind every statistic is a child like Kait—desperate for someone to see, to believe, to step in.
Call to Action:
This September, as you hear conversations about suicide prevention, remember the children and survivors of trafficking who are too often invisible in these discussions. Choose to notice. Choose to believe. Choose to act.
Because sometimes, just one caring adult can be the reason a survivor keeps going.
