Submitted by admin on Mon, 2007-03-19 08:00. ::
The Helen Bamber Foundation, set up to help victims of torture and other human rights violations, is counselling 35 women trafficked into the UK.
But the Home Office often did not believe what had happened to them, and some victims escaped their captors only to be jailed, the foundation said.
Clinician Lucy Kralj said that though each woman's experience was different, all - without exception - had been subjected to "horrific levels" of physical and sexual abuse.
"She loses her sense of self, her identity. Life becomes devoid of any meaning and she can never be free of the horror through which she has lived.
"Her sense of femininity has been annihilated. She shuts her eyes and sees the horror. She looks at her body and the scars and physical pain serve as a constant reminder.
The women's experiences come at a time the UK is marking the 200th anniversary of the Parliamentary Act which led to the abolition of the slave trade.
Many had become pregnant after being raped. Pregnancies were frequently terminated by traffickers but five of the women had young babies conceived while working as prostitute.
The women lived in fear that following their own escape, their family would become targeted by traffickers, while others had been rejected by their families when they had learned of their fate as a prostitute.
Never obliged to speak of their experiences, they were offered a range of therapeutic activities and helped to get access to mainstream medical services.
More than half of the women being treated by the foundation were from Albania, with others from Russia, Africa, China, Vietnam, Mongolia and India.
All the others had to go through an asylum protection appeal. Two were granted asylum, while another six were granted humanitarian protection for a limited period, generally of one year.
Four were refused following appeal but all had been granted a reconsideration hearing. The remaining 22 were awaiting an initial decision on their asylum application.
Ms Kralj said: "The women are frequently disbelieved by the Home Office... this is experienced by women as further devastation and proof that in the eyes of all humans her life is worthless.
"We act as witnesses to the women who have been trafficked and we are always prepared to provide evidence on their behalf to the courts and Home Office decision makers."
From that day on, she was forced to serve up to 10 men every day. When she attempted suicide aged 15, Sandra was moved to a separate location and locked in solitary confinement.
Ms Kralj said: "This isolation and terror endured for a further five years with increased levels of physical violence at the hands of her pimp."
One morning, her captor forgot to lock her bedroom door before leaving the house and Sandra grabbed her chance and ran. She was later picked up by the police, who asked her for identification.
"She agreed for her story to be shared because she wants people to be aware that women being used in this way are people and not animals, although this is how they are being treated."
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