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What happened
First, trafficker lured her in with an engagement ring and promise of a better life abroad. It started with a speedboat trip from Vlore, Albania to Italia, then finally to brothels in London and Antwerp, Belgium where she was forced to work as a prostitute for five years. (The ban on speedboats by the Albanian government three years ago, which greatly reduced human trafficking, has recently been reversed because of protests by fishermen and people in tourist industry) "It was only after her trafficker sealed her mouth with electrical tape, drugged her and threatened to kill her family that the childlike woman, now 27, says she realized that the man she had planned to marry had seduced her with a terrible lie." The victim reports that "the man who abducted her had gained her trust over months, then locked her in a room and took her passport and cellphone. She said he beat her and cut her with a penknife, a warning of what he would do if she tried to escape." Victim also reported that trafficker had contacts in each city they visited. She said the trafficker also employed a forger, who provided fake documents. "She thought she would finally be freed when her trafficker was arrested in London in 2006 and deported to Albania. Instead, she said, his brothers and their wives, who were in London, put her back to work in the sex trade."
Response and intervention
Trafficker was arrested in London in 2006 and deported to Albania. Victim reports that within weeks "she was again abducted by her trafficker, who had been released. He threatened to kill her if she did not retract her statement to the police, she said, so she told the police she had “lied because of jealousy.” The coordinator of the shelter where she is staying said the woman’s original statement of her story was so detailed — and she showed so many signs of physical and psychological abuse — that the police rejected her retraction. She was referred to the shelter, which encouraged her to file formal charges against the trafficker. She did, and the man was jailed for one month before being released a second time, said the coordinator, who requested anonymity because of security concerns." After victim was deported and finally told her family what happened, they rejected her. She was then abducted a second time by the same trafficker. Finally, victim was moved into a maximum security shelter in Albania, under constant police surveillance. She has lived there for three years. She is currently living in a shelter and learning to be a hairdresser. For original article and more information, see: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/17/world/europe/17albania.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1 Unnamed shelter Victim called British police who deported her to Albania where she was trafficked again by the same man.