Stop living in the past. We want 21st Century Rights. Phalla, now aged 26 Romania-Portugal : Cristina flew from Bucharest to Lisbon where a friend's boyfriend promised her a job serving drinks in a cafe. But instead she was taken to a town in southern Portugal and forced into street prostitution. Cristina was expected to give her traffickers euros a day. Her traffickers verbally and physically abused her, one time breaking several of her teeth.
They took her passport and forced her to use heroine and methadone. A Romanian friend helped Cristina escape and contacted Portuguese law enforcement officials, who took her to the government's trafficking shelter after taking her statements. With the shelter's assistance, she relocated to London, where she is currently living and working.
United States : Harriet ran away from home when she was 11 years old and moved in with a year-old man who sexually and physically abused her and convinced her to become a prostitute. In the next two years, Harriet became addicted to drugs and contracted numerous sexually transmitted diseases.
The police arrested Harriet when she was 13 and charged her with committing prostitution. They made no efforts to find her pimp. Harriet was placed on probation for 18 months in the custody of juvenile probation officials. Her lawyers have appealed the decision, arguing that since she could not legally consent to sex, she cannot face prostitution-related charges.
Cambodia: Kolab, now aged 22, was sold by her foster parents and resold constantly. Eventually Kolab was sold to a man named Tiger II, who forced her into prostitution.
