A year after escaping her captors, she has been denied asylum in the UK. She had hopes of becoming a lawyer in her home country. She subsequently became a source of shame to her family.
She and her parents had to move away from their home city to get away from the family. But when her father told her several years later that she was to have an arranged marriage, she felt she had to comply. This had never been her plan, but — again — she felt she must comply in order to make up for the supposed shame she had brought on herself before. She managed to transfer her job to offices in Italy, and began preparing for a new life there.
But the optimism was short-lived. I wished I was dead. Now when I remember I just feel like I want to punch him. He wanted to save his life, so he sold mine. He owed them money so he sold me as his debt. I was in shock. All hope of a normal life was dashed for Sara when she found herself forced into exploitation. She was sold to a gang and used as a sex slave. They were very controlling. I was never allowed to go out. I was locked in a room.
As they were both Spanish and English speakers, they were able to communicate without the men knowing what they were saying. The pair planned to escape. Sara and her friend were bundled into a car with them. They hit her because she tried to make them send me to hospital. She was bruised. But they brought a lady to the house to give me painkillers. The women used this as an opportunity. They told the nurse their situation. She wanted to help them. As she went to speak to the men to tell them what medicine Sara needed, they were able to open the door and escape.
I was still bleeding. We crossed the river and somehow got to Calais in France. He saw me with blood everywhere and my friend with bruising everywhere. It was so scary. The first thing they said was try not to even breathe.
