"When she was 16 years old, Laura met Jakob in a nightclub in England. They became friends and after 5 years of friendship, they entered into a relationship. One year later, Jakob moved to Italy and asked Laura to move away with him. He soon broke his promise to take care of her and forced Laura to have sex with strangers. Jakob first convinved her that the money she made was helping to keep them together; he later threatened to kill her mother if she tried to stop. Jakob forced her to send postcards to her mother depicting a happy life in Italy. Laura eventually suffered an emotional breakdown and phoned her mother. Once hospitalised, her family flew out to Italy and brought her back to England where she is now trying to rebuild her life."
"Natalie and Dara, eager to earn money and go to school, left Ethiopia with the help of their uncle who arranged their travel and convinced them good jobs awaited them in Cote d'Ivoire. Once there, Natalie and Dara were instead beaten, raped and then forced to have sex with men every night to pay back a $2,600 "travel debt". After two years of being subjected to forced prostitution, Natalie and Dara contacted a UN police officer (who was in the area to investigate other suspected cases of human trafficking) and escaped. The girls were brought home where they participated in social service programs supported by regional NGOs. Their traffickers were convicted in 2014 and sentenced to 5 years imprisonment and a $2000 fine."
"Ali and 19 other Namibians responded to a newspaper advertisement seeking fishermen to work in Saudi Arabia. Many of the men accepted the recruiters' promises. Others questioned the odd visa and recruitment process, but the recruiters assured them the official paperwork would be completed during a stop in Dubai. Once in Dubai, however, the recruiters confiscated the workers passports and flew them to Somalia, where they were forced to work long, grueling hours, without pay, for a Somalian fishing company. One Saturday, the men found a way to call their families and a human rights NGO from a local mosque. Their boss entered the mosque, beat them, and confiscated their cell phones. Fortunately, the workers hid one phone and used it to organise a rescue mission through the NGO. Twelve of them were able to return home."
"Tanya was only 13 years old when her mother traded her to a drug dealer for sex, in exchange for heroin. Both Tanya's mother and the drug dealer have been indicted on multiple charges, including sex trafficking. In addition, the drug dealer was accused of rape as well as videotaping his sex crimes. At the end of the school year, after four months of such abuse and being forced to take heroin, Tanya went to live with her father and stepmother and confided in them about what had happened. Both her mother and the drug dealer face the possibility of life in prison if convicted on all counts."
"At 13 years old, Effia moved to the United States with family friends, excited to learn English and go to school - something her parents in Ghana could not afford. When she arrived, these so-called friends forbade her from attending school and forced her to clean, cook and watch their children for up to 18 hours a day. The father physically and sexually abused her. Effia received no payment and could not use the telephone or go outside. Six years later, after a particularly servere beating, she escaped the house and a neighbour called the police. With help from an NGO, Effia is finally in school and plans to become a nurse."
"With the help of a labour broker, 15 year old Lok left Nepal for a job in Qatar. He was too young to legally migrate for work, but the broker who recruited him obtained a fake passport so Lok would appear to be 20 years old. The broker charged Lok an illegally high recruitment fee, so he was left with a large debt that he had agreed to pay back at a 36% interest rate. Two months later. Lok died of cardiac arrest while working in harsh conditions. Migrant workers in parts of the Gulf, including Qatar, have complained of excessive working hours with little to no pay in scorching heat. Many workers also allege their housing complexes are overcrowded and have poor sanitation. Lok's parents received no money for his two months work."