MONTGOMERY – Sex slavery and trafficking is not something unique to developing countries. It happens here in the United States and it happened here in Montgomery to Tisha Dickson-Nickson, who has written about her horrendous story in the book: “Victim to
Victory. My Journey from Sex Slavery to Freedom in Christ.”
The book is not for the faint hearted but is a testament to a teenager’s unwavering faith in God that delivered her from a two-year nightmare.
Dickson-Nickson has scheduled a book signing from noon to 2 p.m. Nov. 10 at Martha’s Place / Buffet and Catering at 7780 Atlanta Hwy. The book costs $25 and is $9.99 on eBooks. Dickson-Nickson was sold into sex slavery at 16 – by her mother. She was sold to a well-known drug dealer in Montgomery, who was a family friend. The price was $500 a week.
“He was 37,” she said. “I was 16. He was old enough to be my father. He probably was older than my father.”
She was a virgin at the time. As if repeated rapes were not enough, Dickson-Nickson was beaten. She was forced to do all the cooking and cleaning as well. Somehow, some way, she still attended Sidney Lanier High School.
“She felt that a lot of people knew what was going on, but turned a blind eye to it,” said Nickson-Dickson, who plans to have additional book signings.
She survived her ordeal with prayers. Continual prayers. She said he never stopped praying although her life had unraveled.
She prayed day after day; week after week; month after month; and even year after year. Even when those prayers were not answered, she kept asking for God’s help. Her faith never wavered.
“God, I need your help right now. And he literally did.” Dickson-Nickson said her prayers “kept me in my right mind. It kept me off of drugs. It kept me out of prison. It kept me off the street corners. The prayers did all that.”
How was she able to escape her tormentor? “The Lord sent him to prison,” she said. Her tormentor was busted for drugs. And where did she go? The only place she knew and that was to live with her mother. The same woman who had sold her into sex slavery.
“I’m a child and that’s my mother. You go back to what you know. I had no place else to go.”
Although she was physically freed from her captor, she still had scars that took months to heal. It took another 13 years to forgive her mother and move on with her life. “Faith in God allowed me to forgive my mother,” Dickson-Nickson said.
She not only forgave her mother but took care of her mother during life-threatening illnesses. The goal of her book is “to make people aware sex slavery and trafficking are here locally.” She hopes victims will “open up and have a voice and forgive the people who have done it to them and move on with their lives. It’s about forgiveness and faith in God to help you get delivered from it. It’s like a cancer eating you up.”
She was encouraged to write her book by her husband the Pastor and inspired through the Holy Spirit. “My faith in God is what got me through all of this. Once I got through it, I was able to truly live and forgive my mother.”
Dickson-Nickson went to earn three degrees from South University in Montgomery: associate degree in paralegal; bachelor’s degree in legal studies; and a Master of Business degree with a concentration in health care administration. She is a licensed administrator,
who has spent 20 years in the health care industry and several years in the legal field.
She is married to a pastor. They have four children and three grandchildren.
To contact Dickson-Nickson, call (334) 303-0657.
All rights reserved, Gumptown Magazine. Copyright, 2018.
