child trafficking

“When I was 13 my friend in the village told me that there were jobs for us in the town down the mountain and that we should hurry and go. I told my mum and dad that I was going to work in a noodle shop and would help the family with money so they were very happy. It wasn’t too far and the taxi truck only takes about an hour and a half to get there. My friend and I were so excited and for the first two weeks it was good and the people were kind to us. Then they asked us if we would go to another town and work in a different shop because it was hard to find good workers. We were not sure but decided to go and left that night. It was still dark when we got there and we were tired from the long journey but when we went inside some men came and forced us for sex and they beat us. They did that day after day and locked us up in a room at night. We were kept there for over a year then they moved us to another city and then another.”

Traffickers are very clever and very brutal. They prey on the vulnerable using a great variety of methods to entice and coerce children and young people into the sex trade or other forms of slavery. It remains a very big business and has many links in the chains of corruption that enable it to continue and to thrive. We work to prevent children and young people falling into the clutches of traffickers and also to rescue and care for those who have been their victims.