CASE STUDIES
topCarol, from Zimbabwe to South Africa, Mozambique,
Zambia and finally Tanzania
In September 2006 Carol, a Zimbabwean girl aged 18, escaped from captivity of traffickers whilst in Tanzania. Carol was trafficked from Zimbabwe two years earlier when she was 16. Carol was orphaned and staying with her grandparents when this happened. One day on her way to school she was approached by two men who offered her a job. Carol was enticed by the job prospect as this would give her the opportunity to help out her grandparents, support her siblings and other relations. Carol left with the men and they took to a place where they raped her and then they transported her out of Zimbabwe to South Africa. She was drugged and placed in a coffin and crossed the Zimbabwean border. When she was in South Africa she was forced into prostitution. She was not allowed to go anywhere and was under lock and key.
She stayed in South Africa for several months before being taken to Mozambique where the abuse continued. Then she was trafficked through Zambia to Tanzania where she managed to escape. At an open market her captor left her for a few minutes to order food. Carol took the opportunity and ran off. She asked help from a woman who then took her to the Zimbabwean Embassy in Tanzania. The Embassy transported her back home and she was handed over to the police under the care of the International Organisation for Migration who offered her care under their victim support program. From medical tests carried out it was discovered that Carol had contracted HIV. The other difficulty Carol has to face is her family failing to accept her as they believe she will have a bad influence over the other children. Carol is currently staying at a centre and is receiving care.
topPremila from India
It was Premila's 18th birthday in her small village in rural Bihar. Her parents, desperate to escape their impoverished plight, signed their daughter over to a nightmare. For the paltry sum of 800 rupees (US $18), she was sold to a man living in faraway Punjab state. He claimed there were no 'good women' in his village and therefore he was forced to buy a wife. 'Wife' is a term used very loosely. There was no marriage ceremony. She was raped by her 'husband' and his male relatives for a few years.
Eventually, a new investment opportunity presented itself and Premila was sold to a well-known prostitution ring in the nation's capital, New Delhi. The sex trafficking trade runs rampant in Delhi and Premila brought a relatively good price: 5,000 rupees (US $109). She joined thousands of other women who exist in impoverished, disease-ridden, dangerous conditions.
Premila was sold yet again to the streets of Mumbai for 35,000 rupees (US $762). It was here in Mumbai that she was finally rescued. Returned to her hometown of Khathiar, Bihar, she was a broken woman. She will never re-marry. She will likely die young.
top12 Year Old: My life in a brothel, Cambodia
www.daughterscambodia.org
topSokha, Cambodia
Tourist guides call Poipet the ‘Wild West’ of South-East Asia, on account of its roaring sex trade and gambling scene. People also come here to buy or abduct children. Girls as young as five are trafficked over the border into Thailand. Sokha* and Makara* were sold to a trafficker who promised good jobs for the girls in Thailand. Sokha explains that her mother was ill with a liver complaint. The family needed money to pay for drugs to treat her, and they also hoped to buy some land to build a home. But, reality turned out to be very different. There were no ‘good jobs’ for the girls, Sokha’s mother died within a year, and the family couldn’t afford to buy land. Sokha, now 17, says, ‘I felt cheated. The traffickers used us for slave jobs, and whilst they earned lots of money we only got enough to feed ourselves each day.’ She explains how she and Makara, 16, were given jobs selling fruit, but it did not pay enough. Soon their bosses forced them into sleeping with men to pay their way. When they were sold they were 14 and 15 years old. A Tearfund partner provides young girls with sewing skills, counselling and the loving support of a local church. The girls’ parents met staff from Tearfund partner, Cambodian Hope Organisation (CHO), and gave them photos to pass on to an organisation in Thailand that rescues girls from prostitution. They found – and duly rescued – Sokha and Makara. By then, the girls’ ordeal had been going on for nearly a year. Sokha says, ‘It’s good to be home. We are grateful to CHO who have brought us back to our home, provided us with counselling, taught us the skill of sewing, and brought us into the church.’ When asked what they hope for in the future, Sokha says she hopes to set up her own sewing business and employ and help girls in her situation. ‘We were scared all the time in Thailand,’ she says. ‘Now I’m happy, getting support, living with my family and free to work when I want.’
topPrjua and Ajay, India
Prjua, aged 9 and her brother Ajay, a boy aged 7, lived on Thane train station in Mumbai, India with their parents who were both alcoholics. Prjua and Ajay were regular attendees of the Asha Deep Day Centre, run by Oasis India, where they learnt to read and write and were given the opportunity to play. After attending daily for 3-months they disappeared. The project staff went to look for them. Prjua and Ajay’s father told how a man had come and offered money for them and that he had sold them for the equivalent of $30. That was the last the father and the staff of Asha Deep Day Centre heard of them. In that area of Mumbai every 2-3 months children disappeared, kidnapped or sold into prostitution, forced labour, adoption or child sacrifice.
topMary, Mexico
Mary a 19-year old female came into the United States from Mexico. She was referred to the Salvation Army by a domestic violence shelter where she presently resides with her 11-month-old son. Mary was persuaded to come to the US with the promise that she would have a better life and be provided a job. Mary was verbally abused and raped several times by her perpetrator - which was the source of her son's conception. Mary reported that she previously had a miscarriage due to the abuse and at times was not allowed to seek medical attention. She was escorted to her job in a factory where she packaged vegetables, but was never paid for her employment. She reports that she was given a white powder (which was suspected to be cocaine), and only later she determined to be drugs. Mary was not allowed to leave the apartment in which she was staying unless she was going to work. The perpetrator threatened her saying that if she attempted to escape she would be deported or hurt by the immigration department. Mary is currently being provided shelter, therapeutic counselling, clothing, food and legal advocacy services. Although the authorities have determined Mary to be a victim of human trafficking, the US Attorney's Office has decided not to prosecute the case. She was therefore denied the expedient route to obtaining legal status and is now applying for a visa, which would allow her to stay in the country for up to 3 years after which she could apply for permanent residency.
topSergey, Russia
Sergey is 27 years old and from Perm in Russia. In 2001 he saw an advert in a local newspaper for a job agency recruiting construction workers to work in Spain. The salary offered was US$1,200 per month. This was much more than his monthly salary of just $200 and more than he could ever hope to earn in Perm. He applied to the agency who booked his plane ticket to Madrid on the condition that he would pay back the money when he started work.
On arrival in Spain, Sergey was picked up by a person from the "agency" who took his passport. He was taken to Portugal and forced to work on a construction site without pay for several months. The site was surrounded by barbed wire. Without his passport he was afraid that the Portuguese authorities would arrest him. One day Sergey managed to escape and begged his way to Germany. Because he did not have a passport the German authorities arrested him. He stated the police beat him and took away what little money he had before deporting him to Russia.
Now back home, Sergey is very traumatised by his experience. He suffered psychological problems and for several months was unable to work. He received no counselling or support to help him overcome his ordeal. Meanwhile his traffickers remain unpunished.