trafficked girls
11 images Created 12 May 2023
Many women trafficked into prostitution in the UK come from poor areas in Lithuania.
Statistics on trafficking are unreliable. Unless women have come to the attention of the authorities, it is impossible to say exactly how many are trafficked to the UK each year. Estimates range from several hundred to many thousands. What is clear however is that the UK is the prime destination for girls and young women from Lithuania.
The UK Government has signed up to the European Convention on Trafficking which is an important step to protecting the victims of trafficking.
Daina's story, aged 20.
'I had been with Petras for over two months when he suggested we move to England together. I trusted him completely.
I flew alone to London and was met there by Petras's friend Justina, who drove me to her house. That's when the bad things began. A man slapped me in the face and I fell to the floor. He gave money to Justina and she drove away.
The man made me put on some 'special clothes' and make-up. He drove me to a flat where I started work straight away. I don't know how many men had sex with me that day but it was the longest day of my life. I could not believe this was happening to me.
I lived like this for seven months, working six days a week from 1pm to 5am. I had sex with six or seven men a day. Unsafe sex was more expensive. I became pregnant and was forced to have an abortion.
I was lucky in the end. One of the men who visited me offered to help. I hadn't tried to escape before. I did not know where to go or who to trust.'
Statistics on trafficking are unreliable. Unless women have come to the attention of the authorities, it is impossible to say exactly how many are trafficked to the UK each year. Estimates range from several hundred to many thousands. What is clear however is that the UK is the prime destination for girls and young women from Lithuania.
The UK Government has signed up to the European Convention on Trafficking which is an important step to protecting the victims of trafficking.
Daina's story, aged 20.
'I had been with Petras for over two months when he suggested we move to England together. I trusted him completely.
I flew alone to London and was met there by Petras's friend Justina, who drove me to her house. That's when the bad things began. A man slapped me in the face and I fell to the floor. He gave money to Justina and she drove away.
The man made me put on some 'special clothes' and make-up. He drove me to a flat where I started work straight away. I don't know how many men had sex with me that day but it was the longest day of my life. I could not believe this was happening to me.
I lived like this for seven months, working six days a week from 1pm to 5am. I had sex with six or seven men a day. Unsafe sex was more expensive. I became pregnant and was forced to have an abortion.
I was lucky in the end. One of the men who visited me offered to help. I hadn't tried to escape before. I did not know where to go or who to trust.'
