Inspired by the transformative Love Heals model pioneered by Thistle Farms, Magdalene House of Austin was established in 2016 to address the critical need for comprehensive, long-term therapeutic care for adult women who have survived sex trafficking in Austin and beyond.
When women exit exploitation, they often do so without stable housing, healthy relationships, financial resources, or a supportive community. The effects of trauma, manipulation, and economic instability do not end when exploitation ends. Without long-term support, these barriers can make it difficult to achieve lasting safety and independence.
Magdalene House of Austin provides a long-term, survivor-led therapeutic community where women are given the time, stability, and relational support needed to heal. Our program is intentionally designed for women and is grounded in the belief that healing happens in relationship. Shared lived experience and identity-based peer support create an environment where trust can be rebuilt, self-worth restored, and new patterns of healthy connection developed.
Healing requires more than safety—it also requires practical opportunities to build a new life. Through The She Series, our signature empowerment curriculum, residents participate in structured, trauma-responsive programs focused on healthy relationships, physical wellness, career readiness, career success, financial literacy, and independent living. These programs equip women with the knowledge, confidence, and skills needed to thrive long after they leave our program.
As the first long-term residential program of its kind in Central Texas, Magdalene House of Austin is more than a place to recover—it is a community where women rediscover their strengths, reclaim their futures, and build lives defined not by exploitation, but by hope, purpose, and lasting independence.
“None of the women ended up in their situation by themselves. It takes broken systems in our community to make them become runaways, allow them to be trafficked, and to become addicted, so it makes sense that it takes a community to help welcome them back and help them heal.”
- Becca Stevens, Founder of Thistle Farms
The line between prostitution and trafficking is often far more complex than it is portrayed. Many survivors describe being recruited, groomed, or coerced long before they understood what was happening. Choice is frequently constrained by trauma, manipulation, economic vulnerability, or lack of safe alternatives — and language used to describe survivors often fails to reflect this reality.
Human trafficking is the exploitation of a person for profit through force, fraud, or coercion, in which one person’s dignity, autonomy, and safety are violated for another’s gain. Trafficking strips individuals of agency and reduces them to a commodity in a multi-billion dollar industry. Our work is rooted in restoring that agency, dignity, and safety through long-term relational healing and community. (Photo from The Exodus Road)
In 2017, The Statewide Human Trafficking Mapping Project of Texas released the first comprehensive study on trafficking within the state. The report highlighted a crisis that had been historically underrecognized and underreported:
An estimated 313,000 Texans are survivors of human trafficking.
Approximately 79,000 are minors or youth who have experienced sex trafficking.
The economic impact of sex trafficking alone is estimated at $6.6 billion annually, largely due to the long-term physical, emotional, and social harm it causes.
The National Human Trafficking Hotline continues to identify Texas as one of the top states for trafficking reports, reflecting both the scale of exploitation and increasing public awareness.
The Texas Department of Public Safety also notes that many survivors first experience exploitation during adolescence, often after histories of abuse, instability, or running away from unsafe environments. Traffickers frequently target individuals who lack access to safety, support, and stable relationships.
These statistics reflect the urgency of providing long-term, trauma-informed, and community-based support for survivors—care that allows them to rebuild trust, reclaim autonomy, and heal at their own pace.Human Trafficking in Austin
Austin is located in what is known as the “Texas Triangle” — the travel corridor connecting Austin, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. Because of the large populations, tourism industries, major events, and high volume of transient travel between these cities, the region has become a concentrated area for trafficking and exploitation.
This does not mean trafficking is caused by the cities themselves — rather, individuals who exploit others often take advantage of environments where people, money, and anonymity intersect.
Recent reporting, including a series by The Texas Tribune, highlights the complexity of trafficking in Texas and the need for long-term, trauma-informed recovery communities where survivors can rebuild safety, identity, and belonging.
Magdalene House Austin is a private 501(c)3 organization in good standing. We pledge sincere and honest stewardship of every donation we receive. By donating today, you’re helping us empower survivors by offering a sanctuary to heal and ultimately breaking the cycle of sex trafficking, abuse, and addiction.
