Rubies LV is a faith-based sex-industry-survivor-led nonprofit committed to addressing and preventing sex trafficking in Las Vegas—and helping its victims and their families heal together.
Rubies LV works with children while speaking at events at local schools. They consult with other non-profits within the community to see how they can pool their resources. They also partner with casinos to train and educate their staff on how to identify victims and get them proper help.
I had the pleasure of interviewing Samantha Summers-Rivas, their Director of Empowerment and Outreach. When asked to summarize what Rubies LV does best, she responded, “Rubies LV is best at understanding the people we serve, and relating to and sympathizing with their trauma. We have a lot of staff members who have also gone through many of the same circumstances, which I feel makes our team better at being able to relate to our clients. Having a foundation of past trauma helps them trust us and relate to our team members while giving them the best advice possible.”
When I asked Samantha what a typical day looks like, she explain that their days are always different. She shared, “Some days, it’s responds to calls throughout the day and night. Some days, it’s meeting with current or past clients looking for help. On other days, our team and I work with government officials, or local police to help locate victims or traffickers. Our team also tries to be available for our victims’ trial dates, so they know we stand behind them and support them 100%.”
Samantha also shared some of the significant breakthroughs Rubies LV has seen over the past few months, and she highlighted, “We have gone through multiple branding tattoo coverups. Our girls are so excited, and you can see the light come back into their eyes when that brand is covered up. It closes a major chapter in their life, and allows them to be able to move forward through the trauma that the tattoo may have cause them.”
Rubies LV is working in and around Vegas, where the sex industry is at an all-time high, to help victims break the cycle of exploitation, and realize that there is hope and a future outside of this industry. Simply Earth is so excited to be able to partner with this organization during March and April of 2024!