MEXICO – UNITED STATES
"Maria Elena was 13 years old when a family acquaintance told her she could
make ten times as much money waiting tables in the United States than she could
in her small village. She and several other girls were driven across the
border, and then continued the rest of the way on foot. They traveled four days
and nights through the desert, making their way into Texas, then crossing east
toward Florida. Finally, Maria Elena and the other girls arrived at their
destination, a rundown trailer where they were forced into prostitution. Maria
Elena was gang-raped and locked in the trailer until she agreed to do what she
was told. She lived under 24-hour watch and was forced to have sex with up to
30 men a day. When she got pregnant, she was forced to have an abortion and
sent back to work the next day. Maria Elena finally made her escape only to be
arrested along with her traffickers
UNITED STATES
"When Ashley was 12-years-old she got into a fight with her mother and ran
away from home. She ended up staying with her friend’s older brother at his
house and intended to go home the next day, but when she tried to leave he told
her that he was a pimp and that she was now his property. He locked her in a
room, beat her daily, and advertised her for sex on websites. Once, she looked
out a window and saw her mother on the street, crying and posting flyers with
Ashley’s photo. When Ashley tried to shout her mother’s name from the window
her pimp grabbed her by the hair and yanked her back, threatening “If you
shout, I’ll kill you.” Ashley eventually escaped her confinement and is now at
a treatment center for girls who have been sexually trafficked in New York."
LIBYA – MALTA
Shewaye, an Ethiopian woman, was forced to work as a nanny under abusive
conditions and no pay for a family member of former Libyan leader Moammar
Qadhafi. At the hands of her employer, Shewaye suffered severe abuse, including
burns from scalding hot water poured over her head and body, and was never
allowed medical treatment for festering wounds. After a year in servitude,
Shewaye was found in August 2011 by a camera crew from CNN. The Government of
Malta facilitated her departure from Libya to receive medical and
rehabilitation services. The Maltese government has provided Shewaye with free
accommodation, medical treatment, and legal assistance throughout her recovery
process, and granted her temporary visa status
Reference (By Grace Ross):
Trafficking In Person Report 2012