Sex Trafficking in the UK

Today I read this article in the Guardian. I would imagine the horrific experience of the young lady being interviewed is not unique. Human trafficking and trafficking of women into the sex business is a tragic and sinister part of the UK experience.

St Mary Magdalen, pray for all victims of the sex trade.

'I thought I was coming to England to work in a bar. I was excited. I had finished school, and ... what was I going to do in my country?

After a week they took me and the girl who came with me to a coffee shop. There were three Albanians there.

We knew they were talking about us because they were looking and talking, looking and talking. We went out into the car park and I saw one of them give the man who brought me to England a lot of cash. I thought maybe they owed him money. But then he sent me away with him, and I thought, "Oh my god, maybe I was sold".

I had only heard of such things on TV. I never thought it could happen to me. I couldn't believe it. I said in my head, "No Jana, what have you done?"

I blamed myself. Of course I did. I'd gone myself. I was lying to my mum.

Claude, the man who bought me, took me to a shopping centre in west London and bought me make-up and new clothes: a mini-skirt, underwear. When I saw the stockings, oh my God, I said, "No way". I didn't understand what the clothes were for - I was thinking, "It is cold, why is he buying me these things?"

But when he took me to a brothel, I did understand. It was in a flat. A lady with the same funny clothes opened the door and took me upstairs. There was some kind of beating things, and handcuffs on the table and pictures of naked people. There was a double bed in the room. Then I realised. How was I feeling after? Dirty. And still I'm feeling it. Never in my life had I thought about doing something like that. I was only 16. I never thought I would go to England and it would be like this. Never.

Back home I just liked going out with my friends. But not this kind of thing. We sometimes went to the disco. I like music, R&B. We had discos ourselves in the house, and have fun, but this ... this life is shit.

How was I treated by Claude? Hah. Chicken and chips every day. A beating. I never saw any of the money I made. He bought me maybe £50 worth of clothes and he said "all the money for clothes is gone". And I was making him a lot of money. He bought me some boots that came up over the knee. Oh my God, they were horrible. I hated them.

I thought about trying to escape, but how? Where do you go? You don't have no money, you don't want to go back to that work. You don't have no friends, nobody, no speak English, no nothing, where do you go? You end up on the street. And I was scared he would find me. He would do it easily. I didn't know anything about England. I didn't even know where I was at first.

I couldn't tell my mum anything on the phone because Claude understood. I told her I was working in the pub. I never will tell her this. No way.

Then I was sold again, to Martin. He treated me badly as well. Stole from my purse. He took me to work at a brothel in Luton. The boss of the brothel wanted to help me, to take me away from him. He asked me "do you want me to buy you?", and I said yes.

But one day Claude came and took me off the street and brought me back to London. Later, Mario was my pimp. I ran away and after he found me he beat me. One time I said to him "watch what I will one day do to you. Watch."

Once, I told him I would call the police. You know a man's belt with a big buckle? He slapped me with that. The day I finally did call them, it was because my money had been stolen by someone else.

I called back and said "don't come", but they did. Before they arrived there was a knock on the door. It was Mario. He kicked the door in and it hit my head and I hit the wall. I was knocked unconscious.

I woke up in an ambulance. I was going crazy at the hospital, I saw Mario everywhere. A police officer was standing in front of me and I was saying "that's Mario, that's Mario". I was scratching my face, crying, shaking. I was thinking I would lose my mind.

I didn't know what to do. And I thought the police will help me, and I just told them everything.

I had to go to court. They have to pay for what they have done because they will continue, even when they come out. I'm not the first, or last, who will end up like this. We are all people, but these kind of people, they are animals.

Now it's totally different. Before, when I was talking to the police, everything was stuck in my head. After the court case, I have told everything, bye bye. I feel 100% better now.

I can't believe what happened to me. When I was in my country and people who lived in England came back to Slovakia for holidays they said England was so good. Yeah, very good.'