Trafficking Story I

The human tragedy behind human trafficking
Maria’s story

Every day after school, Maria sold bread by the side of the road to supplement her family’s limited income. When business was slow, the 15-year-old chatted with Sofia, a 35-year-old woman who lived in the same Latin American village and often stopped by to visit. The two developed a friendship, and in 2004 Sofia made Maria an offer. She promised a high-paying job in the capital that would allow Maria to send money home and help pull her family out of poverty. Maria agreed and, at Sofia’s urging, did not tell her parents she was leaving.

On the day of the trip, Sofia gave Maria a drink that made her dizzy, then unconscious. When she awoke, the two of them were in a taxi arriving at an unfamiliar restaurant in the capital. Sofia told Maria to go in and clean up, after which the taxi driver drove her and three other girls to a guesthouse. The taxi driver called them inside one after another; Maria was the last. Inside the guesthouse, the taxi driver raped her.

Stunned and broken, but feeling powerless to stop what was happening, Maria was brought back to the restaurant, where she was forced to waitress for a month until Sofia returned. At that point, Sofia claimed to be Maria’s mother and collected the girl’s wages, then relocated her to another restaurant in the city. There, Maria was again forced to wait on tables, but soon the servitude extended to sex with customers in a backroom. Weeks later, the cycle was repeated: Sofia arrived, claimed Maria’s earnings and relocated her, this time to a dancing parlour. Suspicious of Sofia and Maria’s relationship, the owner of the establishment alerted the local authorities, but they took no action. At the dancing parlour, Maria was forced to work, but was not sexually exploited.

Maria’s salvation finally came when, one night, her uncle happened to visit the dancing parlour. Recognizing Maria, he informed her parents, who sought assistance from a human rights association. Staff from the association freed Maria and filed a criminal suit against the perpetrators in a provincial court. In December 2005, Sofia was sentenced to 10 years in prison and fined approximately US$ 250, which Maria received as compensation. The taxi driver was not convicted. Despite Maria’s testimony, the investigating judge dropped the charges against him because Sofia and Maria made contradictory statements and Maria was unable to locate the guesthouse where she was raped. The judge made no attempt to summon witnesses from the guesthouse or restaurant.