Vera’s Story

(taken from STOP the Traffick, by Steve Chalke, pg 13)

At the age of 27, an Albanian young woman, Vera, was mugged and raped in her house in Albania and then kidnapped. She was then locked up in a house in Albania for two days and transported by bus to Greece, from where she was taken to Italy by boat. In Italy she was first pushed into a truck and then transported by train via France to Belgium. Upon arrival in Belgium she was forced into prostitution in the red light district of Antwerp. She believed she was sending all her earnings to her father in Albania. But her father never received any money. Somebody else intercepted the money in Albania and kept it.

There are many more like Vera. They are beaten, raped, kidnapped, taken on journey after journey, forced into prostitution, suffering abuse after abuse.

And may are sold not once, but countless times, passed from man to man like a shared cigarette. Used, and then, all too often, stubbed out. It is not only women who are affected by trafficking. Men, boys and girls – anyone can be trafficked. Children as young as 8 yrs old are trafficked every day.

From a tender age, these children grow up thinking they are worthless. They believe all they are here for is to be used as sex objects – and nothing more. Their childhood is ruined by physical, emotional and psychological violence. Far from home, used again and again, never paid; they can hardly remember anything else.