I could never anticipate this would happen to me. I was a school girl, I never thought I’d be tricked like that. I even tried to kill myself. I took sleeping pills and thought of jumping. But I knew I couldn’t just waste my life like this and let those cruel people not get punished. I had to get revenge.
One time, I hung out with an older friend. We went to Lao Cai to buy and sell things. I was taken across the river by boat and picked up by a Chinese man. I was taken into a six-story hotel and told to rest for the day. The following day, I started to work as a prostitute. I was 15 years old.
I was forced to have sex with 15-20 men a day with only two hours for sleep and one meal. They beat me if I refused. They beat me with an electric wire. Some days I was naked all day long without any rest. I was only 15. I was asked to do many things I had never even imagined.
Three years past. I thought it was a nightmare. I decided to run for my life, just to run to get home. On the run I still had a dozen condoms and a bottle of lubricant in my hand. For two days I tried to escape. I managed to reach the riverbank at the Lao Cai-China border. I was taken across the river by the police. I used their phone to call my mother.
My mother didn’t understand me and said “it serves you right for your stupidity”. My stepfather also insulted me. I really did not want to live anymore. I used to be called “you Chinese whore!” I just kept silent and ignored everyone. I just though, I was tricked and ended up a victim. Nobody asks for something like that.
Now, sometimes, I still have nightmares about those three years when I was physically and sexually tortured. I still have no ideas why I had such a rough past. I used to hate myself. But now I feel much stronger. Now I always smile with people and I can hold my head up. No one will laugh at me.
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