Recalling her first night working on the streets, she told Dateline: “[It was] terrible and dangerous work because most of the time, I met people that were bad people that they will kill us, you know? They kill girls for fun.
Now, Princess is taking on the Nigerian mafia in a bid to help other victims of trafficking, already rescuing more than 250 girls. (as of 2018)
Many of the women claim they had no idea what they were getting themselves into, but Alberto, Princess’ husband, insists this isn’t the case. He says the girls know they are coming to Europe to be a prostitute but mistakenly glamorize it.
“They imagine themselves in grand hotels or casinos or Las Vegas where everyone is rich and men hand out expensive gifts … a bit like a movie star,” she says. “They don’t realize they’ll be on the street, selling themselves for $6 and getting beaten up. The clients, the pimps the traffickers, the slavery, the police raids, the girls who escape, it’s a very, very complex world.”
Sadly, stories like Princess’ have become increasingly common as human trafficking becomes the world’s fastest-growing criminal enterprise. In the past three years, there has been a 600 percent jump in the number of sex trafficking victims arriving in Italy. The girls, many of them from bitterly poor towns in Nigeria, travel for months by boat, only to be sold for tens of thousands of dollars, their dreams shattered.
When they arrive they are suddenly told they owe astronomical sums of money — between $20,000 to $43,000 — and, to their horror, their ticket to freedom becomes a trap into sex slavery, working the streets to pay off their debts. Some are as young as 14 years old.
think- ago
I watched a film about her work. She is awesome.
think- ago
Most don't know that they will have to work as a prostitute in Europe. They are expecting to work as a housekeeper or a waitress (similar to what women trafficked from Eastern Europe believe).
Before they leave Nigeria, the pimps take them to a priest who will cut off a piece of their fingernail or a some hair in a kind of Voodoo ceremony, and will tell them that he 'owns' them now.
When they'll have arrived in Europe, they are told that they and their families will get cursed by the priest if they ever should try to flee, so most don't dare to flee.
carmencita ago
Some are as young as 14 yrs old. Dear Mother of God.
Prayers tonight for Princess and all the girls 🙏 May God help her as she is in danger.
4696294512835103 ago
I can believe it. Of course Hollywood is neck deep in the brainwashing.
Laila Mickelwait, the author of the blogpost, wrote: “I have encountered young women who have told us that Pretty Women lured them into the sex industry by leading them to believe that prostitution was glamorous and romantic.” She quoted a sex worker called Stephanie who she interviewed for a documentary: “I watched the movie, Pretty Woman, and I was like, well gosh, look at her, she’s beautiful, she’s making money, she’s meeting guys ... I experienced nothing like Pretty Woman, it’s totally, totally different. I’ve been held hostage at gunpoint, raped, robbed, strangled, beaten up, everything, by customers.”
Mickelwait continued: “How many young, naive, and unsuspecting women over the last 25 years were deceived by the fairy tale of Pretty Woman and led into a life of abuse, trauma, and slavery?” She juxtaposed an image of a smiling Roberts with a bruised eastern European sex worker. https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/mar/31/sex-workers-protest-blog-pretty-woman-glamourising-prostitution
kestrel9 ago
For some perhaps, but I'm inclined to believe many more are tricked with the promise of better lives (regular jobs), or are threatened and have their families threatened.
https://voat.co/v/pizzagate/2052053
https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2019/02/16/italian-bust-nigerian-mafia-reveals-voodoo-rituals-sexual-slavery/
http://archive.fo/lmkO9
Underage Sex trafficking crossing the US southern border, it's horrific:
https://archive.fo/Mjz56
4696294512835103 ago
I agree with you. Yes, some are tricked by being told they are going to be nannies or work other normal jobs that don't require much education. I was just backing up what the husband was saying about the girls who understand that they are going to be working as prostitutes.
unicornsandrainbowsx ago
Jesus Christ.