Triply Exploited: Female Victims of Smuggling and Trafficking Networks Strategies for Pursuing Protection an Legal Status in Countries of Destination

Teresa, a 25 year old Colombian woman, lived with her child, parents and extended family in a small town near Cali, Colombia. Her family was poor and Teresa had no work. Many young women from the town were moving to Spain to work, and were sending money home to help support their families. Teresa wasn’t exactly sure what they were doing but suspected that they were working as prostitutes. After seeing an ad in the local newspaper from an agency offering work in Spain to young women, Teresa decided to take a chance. She went to the «travel agency» which offered to arrange travel to Spain and a job as a dancer in Barcelona. Although Teresa was nervous, she decided to take the offer. She felt she had to do something to support her family. After arriving in Spain, she began to work as a dancer in a club in Barcelona. Conditions were horrible. She worked 12 hours a day, having sex with many different men daily. She lived in a house with other dancers —all immigrant women from different countries— and received little money. The majority of her «salary» was retained to pay for her trip to Spain. Teresa nor the other women were allowed to leave the home without the «controller.» Once, one young woman did slip out, to meet a friend. When she returned, the controller beat and raped her, leaving scars on her body. During the time that she worked in the club, Teresa was not able to send any money home. Depressed and afraid for her life, she decided to escape. Others had escaped before her, including some young women from her own hometown. After escaping, she managed to contact a group which helped women who had been smuggled or trafficked to Spain. They told her if she wanted to cooperate with the police, she might be able to stay legally in Spain. But they could offer no guarantees. Teresa decided against cooperating with the police and decided to return home to be with her family instead. When she arrived home, she did speak with the local police and told them what had happened to her. They wrote up a report but told her that they could not investigate the matter because the «travel agency» had influential and powerful backers. Six months after arriving home, Teresa found out that a young woman who had worked in the same club and escaped and returned to their hometown, had been assassinated and Teresa and others believed that the smugglers had killed her - because she did not pay for her passage. A short time time later, another young woman was shot in her home and the smugglers were again suspected. Teresa was afraid that she would be next. So, she borrowed money from family and friends and returned to Spain