Peter Nygard and Sex Trafficking in the Modeling World
Nygard and the Co-Conspirators
Peter Nygard, the Canadian fashion executive, was arrested for sex trafficking and racketeering. He lured young girls from impoverished and underprivileged backgrounds to his Bahamian pleasure palace with the promise of modeling jobs and a better future. He targeted young women with a history of abuse.
In a ridiculous Bahamian ‘paradise,’ Nygard enjoyed bedazzled lions, faux Mayan regalia, and stripper poles. Employees of Nygard International were often called upon to ‘recruit young women,’ according to a lawsuit filed by victims.
“He also paid Bahamian police officers to quash reports, shared women with local politicians and groomed victims to recruit “fresh meat,” the lawsuit says. Through a spokesman, Mr. Nygard denied the allegations.”
Two other lawsuits filed in the U.S. claim Suelyn Madeiros, Nygard’s top recruiter, provided Nygard with a ‘steady pool of victims.’ Jane Doe, now 29, claims in the lawsuit that Madeiros lured her to Nygard’s hell after befriending her and teasing her with music videos and Instagram photos of the Bahamas. Once she arrived at the island, she was forced to have sex with Nygard.
"Medeiros instructed Jane Doe that she was required to have sex with Nygard against Jane Doe's wishes, stating that she shouldn't worry because sex with Nygard 'wasn't that bad' and would be 'really fast and easy,'" alleges the lawsuit.
Greg Gutzler, who represents the women in the class-action lawsuit, claims Nygard would have been unable to procure the victims on his own.
““It was done by a very complex web of accomplices and co-conspirators, people that were absolutely on the front end, grooming, luring, enticing people — on the back end that were making hush payments, intimidating people,” he said.”
My Personal Experience with the Modeling Industry
Model agents hang out in shopping malls. They purposely scout parks where teenaged girls tend to lurk. In many cases, they prefer to approach girls when the parents are nowhere to be seen. A model should be subservient and obedient—no one wants the teenaged girl wearing a ten-thousand-dollar gown to start crying mascara-smudged tears down her dress. History of abuse? All the better.
I was sixteen-years-old when I trepidatiously took classes at Barbizon Modeling School. My interest in modeling didn’t extend much beyond “I’m skinny, and I like fashion so...why not?” I wanted to go to college in NYC, and modeling seemed like a reasonable way to make some extra cash to pay for it. Despite pitching mothers in random hotels across the world and charging and arm-and-a-leg for class, I immensely enjoyed my Barbizon days. My teacher was a lovely star of Hell’s Kitchen who empowered me and taught me plenty about public speaking and creativity.
Then… There was the actual modeling industry. When people think of modeling, I find they generally associate it with anorexia, bulimia, and maybe the ‘casting couch.’ And sure, all of those things are huge problems. But the casting couch is not the same thing as sex trafficking.
Sex trafficking in the modeling industry is indentured slavery. Girls as young as twelve-years-old are shipped internationally to modeling jobs without parents and without oversight. They live in tiny model apartments shared with other young women. Any money they earn from modeling gigs goes straight to their agencies. There is little financial accountability. An agency claims ‘start-up fees,’ like the cost of building a model’s portfolio, or the cost of providing clothing or food. Slowly, the model’s tiny paychecks disappear. And they are effectively held hostage by the agency. Imagine a twelve-year-old who has to live in a foreign country, without a parent, unable to speak the language, and unable to advocate for herself.
As I dipped my toes into the modeling sphere, I noticed that agents were especially…charming. Picture being a gangly sixteen-year-old. A model agent approaches with a flashy grin. They promise to ‘take care of you.’ They promise money. They promise opportunity. It’s almost the perfect parental figure—this agent might as well be Mary Poppins. But, while this is happening, you are standing in front of them wearing a bikini. They are holding a measuring tape that they are going to wrap around your bum, their fingers pushing up against your bare skin.
The model agents ask if you are willing to travel the world. Are you strong enough to fly to Asia? Live alone? Are you mature enough to handle that responsibility? And at sixteen, of course you say yes. You’re invincible.
I didn’t say yes, but that was only because I had been studying human trafficking through my high school Model United Nations program. Every year I would stand in front of a few hundred high school students and propose ideas on how to stop sex trafficking. As I was doing that, never would I imagine standing in a sea of wannabe teenaged models. I never imagined that I would be seeing the absolutely perfect setting for horrific sex trafficking to occur.
The Problem
I don’t blame fashion. I don’t even blame modeling as a profession. I’m sure there is a way to better handle teenage girls in a trillion-dollar-industry. But changes have to be made.
This July, I published a fictional book called Size Zero. In the book, I focus on the topic of sex trafficking in the modeling industry. And while the book is dystopian and taken to extremes, many readers left online comments admonishing me for my ‘unbelievable’ and ‘unimaginable’ take on the modeling industry. At that point, I had not revealed my own understanding of the real-life realities.
People don’t want to believe that there are monsters in this world. But I think it is time we stop pretending sex trafficking doesn’t exist.
For more information or to help:
Model Alliance
Polaris Project
Human Trafficking Hotline
CAST
SIZE ZERO: BOOK 1 IN THE VISAGE SERIES
"A somber, disturbing mystery fused with a scathing look at the fashion industry. Mangin writes in a confident, razor-edged style." - Kirkus Reviews
Condom dresses and space helmets have debuted on runways. A dead body becomes the trend when a coat made of human skin saunters down fashion’s biggest stage.