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Documented on the original SlaveryMap (2008–2016). We don’t have a verifiable source on file yet. Know one?
What happened
What is known about the trafficker? Her parents could not send her to high school, so she lived with an old lady and worked for her. She was supposed to get to go to school, but that never happened. After a year, the old lady told her she knew someone who could offered her an education in US in exchange for some baby sitting work. At first her father refused, saying it was too far away, but she convinced him, insisting this was her dream come true. They told her she would need to wait till the next term to start school, but a whole year went by and they only said they were still thinking about it. Then they starting saying that just bringing her to America was enough. Later they sent her two days a week to a free class to prepare for the GED. For five years, from the time she was 13 till she was 18 years of age, she worked up to 20 hours a day, usually 5 a.m. to midnight, every day of the week without a day off. She did housework, cooking and laundry and ironing. She was not permitted to make or to receive calls. She wrote letters to her parents but never received any back. She never received any pay at all. She was told money was being sent back home to her family, which was not true. She was denied any contact with her parents, using the excuse that they were trying to get in touch with them.
Response and intervention
She escaped with the help of friends. Her traffickers were arrested, pled guilty, and received five years in prison. They were let off on probation with community service and repayment to the victim of the minimum wage for her five years of service. A friend in similar circumstances also escaped, but the traffickers later harassed her family in Africa. Casa of Maryland helped them get proper immigration status. Free the Slaves