The last decade of the previous century was a difficult time for many, both financially and personally, and the s can be described as the golden age of prostitution in Estonia. If today, it is believed there are around active prostitutes in Estonia, that number was at least 13, in the s. Kelis found herself in the complex world of human trafficking as a result of tragic events that still bring tears to her eyes. Kelis was met by her sister-in-law and her new boyfriend.
Kelis described that as the most degrading part of her experience. But things did not stop there. It was his right as a man. I tried to fight back the first time, but he threw me against the wall from one end of the room to the other and I realized it was pointless to try and resist. I think I no longer lived after that. The girl escaped this first nightmare when her mother returned from Russia, but what she had gone through had already left its mark. That was the beginning of her downward spiral.
Kelis went to find pimps who welcomed her with open arms. She reached hers, whom she calls the boss, through an owner of a video store. The man gave her a phone number to call once she has made a decision. I just wanted to get away and went where they had me. Kelis called the number and became β just like many other young women at the time β a prostitute. She shared an apartment with her boss and their bodyguard.
That is also when she became pregnant for the first time. As a naive young woman, she believed it was an opportunity to escape her new job. But her boss got angry. It was extremely difficult to get out of the prostitution world in the s. After she got pregnant for the second time, Kelis miraculously managed to escape the traffickers. Kelis hid with her mom, always fearing she would be found, and slowly set about rebuilding her life.
She found a partner. But I remember that the first night he stayed over, I woke up in the middle of the night and felt a human being next to me. She lived with him for three years that turned into a different kind of hell. It happened every weekend. Kelis decided to run away again. She hid her children in Estonia β another child had been born when she was living with her partner β and looked up people who sent women to work abroad.
