Elena's Story
Elena was 28 when the factory where she worked closed down. Unemployed and desperate for money, she answered an advertisement in a local newspaper for au pair work in London.
She met with her recruiter, who helped her fill in some forms and told her that a visa would be arranged for her. She was also asked to pay a $700 'deposit' up front before travelling, which she did with support from her family.
Elena, who believed she was travelling legally, handed her passport over to her Moldovan trafficker at the start of the journey. Together they travelled overland by car, coach and plane to London, via Prague, Spain, Germany, France and Dublin. Elena realised she was travelling illegally when the traffickers gave her an Italian passport to use between France and Spain.
When she arrived in London, Elena was told she owed her traffickers £20,000 in travel costs and that she would have to work as a prostitute to pay them back. She was taken to Soho where she spent four months working seven days a week, having sex with up to 20 men a day, in three different flats. She was allowed £15 per day for food, cigarettes and condoms.
She was told she would pay off her debt much more quickly if she gave special services - including having sex without a condom. She was locked in and only allowed out for work, and was permitted no contact with other women.
Elena was too afraid to say anything about her situation to the men who had sex with her, or even to the police who visited the flat once, as her traffickers had threatened to harm her family if she did. Eventually she managed to escape by jumping out of a second floor window after being locked in the flat alone one day.
Elena now suffers constant back pain from the injuries she sustained during her escape, and is afraid to go out alone.
