My story happened in Ljubljana, Slovenia, where I moved in September 2004. I moved there to continue my university studies. I was alone and distant from all the friends I had, from the world I knew. And then I quickly found myself surrounded by strangers.
One of my new friends, a girl—she said her name was Romana—offered me to stay in her apartment, since at that moment I did not know where I’m going to live. She was very kind to me, and supportive, so I entirely trusted her. I was looking for a part-time job to support myself during the school year.
One day in October 2004, she came home and told me that she had organised an interview for me at an accounting firm. After that, I never saw Romana again.
The next morning, I went to an office where I sat down for an interview with a woman. The interview had lasted about 10 minutes when two men entered the room and dragged me away to a car. I was screaming and resisting. I was taken somewhere, blindfolded, raped many times, and beaten because I was resisting. I was drugged with heroin. All my things were taken, and I was forced to wear sexually provocative clothes. I was forced to do prostitution in Ljubljana for about four months. I was repeatedly threatened in order to obey them, especially by the life and freedom of my little sister. I was constantly reminded how easy it is for them to put her in my place.
Today, we live in times where slavery is still all around us. As we move forward or strive to move forward in providing more freedom and equality and basic human rights for all, we have on the other side this horrible fact. Do we really need millions more victims in order to experience a true wake-up call? I really wonder. How many more 13-year-old girls—your daughter, my sister, our children—need to be forced into prostitution?
Narrative source Youth Underground, a non-profit organization dedicated to preventing human trafficking through youth education, awareness-raising and advocacy.
Original narrative can be found here:
https://www.facebook.com/YouthUnderground.CH/posts/1521754231193380
