Support victims of human trafficking in Serbia

Through ASTRA SOS hotline we received a phone call from our partners who were in contact with a woman who is victim of human trafficking. She had medical problems, so she needed help. The SOS consultants visit it her in order to get familiar with her situation and check which way they can provide her assistance.

Being in contact with her, we found out that she had very tough life and she was deprived from normal childhood. She lived in great poverty, so in order to survive, she had to look for the food in garbage containers nearby. From very early age she had to struggle for her existence, because she suffered family violence. Therefore, she showed us her drawings indicating that she is and she wants to stay a child.

As she was married by force, her husband’s parents took her abroad and that is when the agony of her life started. They took all her documents. They started exploiting her sexually and they made her commit different criminal acts. She was aware of the bad consequences if she didn’t make enough money every day. In the moments when she wasn’t in the street under surveillance, she was locked in an apartment, not knowing the hour or the part of the day. She was physically abused on daily basis, until one day she managed to escape. Afterwards, she sought help from the police. With their assistance she found the shelter, where she is still stays, so that she doesn’t have to go back to her parents’ house.

We accompanied her to all medical examinations to make sure that she gets appropriate therapy and also we helped her take care of her dental health. The silence she lived in didn’t do her any good, moreover it was upsetting her. In order to make her stay in that house more pleasant, the consultants brought her a radio, so that she can listen music. This gesture cheered her up and she was very grateful.

During the period she spent in the safe house, consultants from ASTRA kept visiting her regularly, providing her with all necessities. Apart from that they established a friendly relationship with her. That had a very positive effect on her. These were her words: ‘’ It’s so nice when someone still takes cares of me and cares about my wellbeing. That’s why I was lucky to get to know you”.

 ASTRA’s client left our SOS telephone number to her friend who was exploited with her, and who helped her to run away. She told us that her friend needed help because she was living in very bad conditions. Soon after that, her friend contacted us. She is a single mother of three children, which traffickers used in their advance to lure her in the trafficking chain. They played on her hope to be able to provide a better life for her children. But she couldn’t predict a hell that was coming.

She and her children were most of the time hungry, because she couldn’t find a job for a very long time. After a while she finally found a job in a factory where her mother was already working. But that was not a good decision. She and her mother were in bad relations. Additionally, she experience mobbing on the job place. She tried to put up with it for a while, until she eventually left the job. The day when she quit her job, she sat in a nearby cafe trying to put herself together and to decide what to do next. While she was sitting there, an unknown man came to her and made her a promise of a better life. He offered a well paid job in casino in another country.

She accepted the job offer enthusiastically because she saw it as a way out of her current situation. When she came to destination country, they took her passport and other documents, and instead of job in a casino she received instructions how to behave and what her job really was. It was then when she realized that she got into a trouble. Since that moment, she was constantly trying to figure out how to get away. In the hardest moments she fantasized about seeing her children again, and that was her biggest motivation to run away as soon as possible.

While we were talking, she told us “I still cannot believe how strong I was back then, and how my children gave me strength to survive.” She managed to run away and save few more exploited girls.

Her friend told her about ASTRA and she contacted SOS hotline. After her telephone call, ASTRA’s consultants went on field action to meet her in person. This lovely young girl was too shy to ask for anything. ASTRA consultants wanted to do something nice for children because they live in poor conditions, so they bought them books for school and notebooks, so that they could be just like other children. Children were very happy and grateful for their gifts, and they were constantly showing their mother what they got. Since our client hasn’t finished secondary school and was very interested to continue her education ASTRA made it possible.

She is a strong woman. She continues to struggle and not to give up. The other day when we spoke to her she told us: “Every day is difficult for itself, but freedom and love for my children give me strength to fight. How do you feel knowing that you made a life better for someone, that you brought back a joy to someone’s life? You proved me that I am not alone. Thank you for that”.

Links:

• SOS Annual Report 2016.