Betrayed by her mother, Liana became a slave overnight. Now her captors are facing justice.
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In South Africa, A21 operates the National Human Trafficking Resource Line, a 24/7 line dedicated to assisting every Human Trafficking related call that comes in. Below is part one of real stories from South Africa that have come into the hotline. Together, we can create space for survivors like these in South Africa.
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After taking a loan of only $19, Thaiyamma and her husband were forced to chop wood by a slave owner for years on end. As their daughter was growing up in slavery, Thaiyamma discovered she was pregnant again—and she couldn’t bear the thought of her baby inheriting this same fate. Thaiyamma found the courage to stand up for her family and boldly advocated to IJM and government officials for their release in August 2016. Because IJM showed up right on time, she gave birth to her son in freedom just a few weeks after rescue came. Today, they are thriving and hoping to help others living in bondage in their community.
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A young mother’s determined spirit helped her overcome terrible abuse to support her family and her community in freedom.
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At 18, Ali* got an eviction notice. Three days to pay, or her stuff would be put out on the curb and the locks changed.
For Ali, this eviction notice represented facing housing instability again. It represented a painful hit to her credit score that she’d been working to build. It represented the possibility of having to rely again on an exploitative street economy to meet her basic needs. It represented a major potential roadblock in her journey to stability and healing.
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After completing my Bachelor’s degree I began losing hope because I couldn’t find employment. I was later called by McMahon Ryan and was offered a position. Even with going into my interview with a bright red sweatsuit and Tim boots because that was the only thing I had at the time, the Executive Director, Colleen Merced believed in me and thought I would fit the position. She taught me that survivors like us can make a big impact on the youth we serve. I am now going on 3 years with the agency and was recently promoted to program coordinator of the human trafficking department and I love everything about my job.
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An elderly man’s moment of desperation catalyzes rescue for 42 people. Kasi knew this was his one shot. As the sun-streaked his bareback, the 70-year-old knelt desperately on the dusty ground and pleaded with officials for his family’s freedom. For relief from the years of a relentless slave owner’s control.
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When girls are trafficked or subjected to sexual violence, they are often silenced. But every day our programmatic partners like IJM support unstoppable survivors who are bravely sharing their stories so that girls around the world can live free from violence and abuse.
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“Nelia” grew up in a shanty town in a major city in Asia. When she was 13, her family told her she had to work. An acquaintance arranged for Nelia to live with and clean for a local family.
After four years of working with this family, her employers’ friends from the U.S. visited. They remarked on her diligence and friendliness and offered to take her to the U.S. They promised that they would help her pursue an education if she would live with them and help care for their son, also promising they would pay her five times as much as she was currently earning.
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When Sadhna* describes her childhood, her face lights up. She remembers running through bright green rice paddies around her village in India, playing with friends and plucking ripe mangoes from the shady trees near her home.
She was a bit of a tomboy—always up to some sort of playful mischief—and always fiercely loyal to her dad, mom and little sister back at home.
When her father died, though, Sadhna's perfect little world fell apart.
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When Ganda* joined The Freedom Story 11 years ago, she not only needed financial support to help her stay in school, she also needed treatment for an eye condition, and encouragement when she struggled with her education. Teachers weren’t always supportive, and she was often excluded from activities at the local temple. During this time, The Freedom Story staff encouraged Ganda to join the leadership development program. The leadership program focuses on the development of young adults through training on issues of trafficking and exploitation, and further opportunities for those leaders to further train younger students on human trafficking and exploitation.
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When girls are trafficked or subjected to sexual violence, they are often silenced. But every day our programmatic partners like IJM support unstoppable survivors who are bravely sharing their stories so that girls around the world can live free from violence and abuse.
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We recently had the opportunity to move one of our clients into her first apartment. We were so honored to watch her transition from a group home to an apartment of her own.
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Brittney Johnson is a 14-year-old transgender youth who entered the justice system in 2016 as a Child in Need of Services (CHINS). She was caught shoplifting and refused to follow her parents’ directions.
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Not long after the wedding, her husband proposed going to Italy together to earn some money and live a better life. As soon as they arrived, he sold her to another Bulgarian running a brothel there.
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On an early morning, one of our advocates got a panicked phone call from a client who was trapped in a motel room in south central Los Angeles. She didn’t know where she was, nor did she know the man who had brought her there. She was scared and asking for help.
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For Naseen, the ceremony was a chance to close out the pain of her past and celebrate the new journey she and her friends are beginning. Her smile lit up the room. And where she once struggled to feel joy, today she beams with confidence and hope.
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Slavery is ending because people are turning away from traffickers before becoming victims, because people are seeking, finding, and listening to victims, and because people are changing laws, policies, and practices to deter people from becoming traffickers or customers of slaves.
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18-year-old Pavi* has grown from the despair of the sex industry to the joys of a successful young athlete—and today she’s dreaming even bigger for her future.
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Very soon after arriving in Greece, Nina’s boyfriend forced her into prostitution, threatening her with physical harm, as well as, the well-being of her child if she did not comply.
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