When I was a senior in high school here in Tirana, I met a boy who did not go to my school. He was kind, attractive, and treated me well. After a time, we fell in love with each other—or so I thought at the time. He was my ‘first love,’ and I hadn’t had much experience with boys romantically prior to that.
After dating for a time, he convinced me to go to Belgium with him. He said that he could get a good job there and told me about what a wonderful place it was: how clean, how beautiful, and how many opportunities there would be there for us. He proposed to me, and our plan was to leave Albania illegally (since we would not qualify for visas) and get married once he found work there. I was in love, and I believed him. Once we got to Belgium, however, he totally changed. He became abusive of me and violated me many times. He threatened my life and the lives of my family members. I did not speak the language there and was totally dependent on him; I had nowhere else to go and was afraid. He trafficked me for six months. I don’t want to talk anymore about that time. It was the worst period in my life. It is now in my past, and I have closed that door behind me.
I was able to find a shelter there with people to help me return to Albania. I wanted to return to my family here, but my father would not accept me and was abusive of me and my mother. My mother decided to leave my father to help me, even though this is something unheard of in Albania for a woman to leave her husband. Women here can’t really find work to support themselves and have to rely on their fathers or husbands for their livelihood. My mother gave up everything for me, and for this I am grateful. After living in the shelter for as long as we were allowed, my mother and I are now living together and trying to support ourselves.
Narrative as told to the International Organization for Migration, with the Association of Albanian Girls and Women, 2005, in Tirena, Albania.
