Women and girls who believed they were migrating for high-paying overseas employment as domestic workers, hairdressers, or hotel staff, said they were shocked to learn they were tricked and trapped in exploitation. They were horrified when they realized that they would not be paid what they were promised, or anything at all, and instead had huge “debts” to repay. Often these debts were vague, unpredictable, and constantly growing. Women and girls stated that traffickers used violence, threats, and retaliation against them or their families back home to control them. They also described traffickers’ threats of selling them to other traffickers, surveillance, passport confiscation, confinement, and isolation to keep them trapped and terrified, and to avoid law enforcement detection.
Skip to content
