A Mexican national, Rafael Alberto Cadena-Sosa living in Florida has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for sex trafficking. A release issued by the United States Department of Justice recently stated that Cadena-Sosa received a $500,000 fine while pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy and one count of holding a person in involuntary servitude.

According to the United States Department of Justice, Cadena-Sosa used beatings and rape to force a young woman to engage in prostitution. He allegedly operated a brothel with 16 other men who force women as young as 14 into sex trafficking. The Cadena organization regularly lured women out of Mexico with tales of legitimate work, then use high smuggling debts along with physical violence to force them into prostitution. “No human being should have to endure the atrocities these young women and girls suffered at the hands of the Cadena organization,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General, Molly Moran.

In the wake of this violence, the United States and tribal official commemorated October as Domestic Violence Awareness month. The announcement was made at the Violence Against Native Women Consultation in Tulsa, Oklahoma. “Over the past couple of years Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) has made a concerted effort to prioritize sexual violence by providing grants to address the gap in services and resources for victims and survivors of rape and sexual violence,” said Acting Director Bea Hanson.

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