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LequteMan
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Human trafficking survivor, Karla Jacinto, in a post from CNN has narrated her horrifying experience.
By her own estimate, 43,200 is the number of times she was raped after falling into the hands of human traffickers.
She says she was raped by up to 30 men a day, seven days a week, for the best part of four years. Do the math. That's 43,200 men.
Karla says she was abused for as long as she can remember and felt rejected by her mother. “I came from a dysfunctional family. I was sexually abused and mistreated from the age of five by a relative,’ she says.
When she was 12, she was targeted by a trafficker who lured her away using kind words and a fast car.
“When I saw the car I couldn’t believe it. I was very impressed by such a big car. It was exciting for me. He asked me to get in the car to go places,” she says.
It didn’t take long for the man, who, at 22, was 10 years older than Karla, to convince her to leave with him, especially after Karla’s mother didn’t open the door one night when she came home a little too late.
“The following day I left with him. I lived with him for three months during which he treated me very well. He loved on me, he bought me clothes, gave me attention, bought me shoes, flowers, chocolates, everything was beautiful,” Karla says.
But there were red flags everywhere also.
Karla says her boyfriend would leave her by herself for a week in their apartment. His cousins would show up with new girls every week. When she finally mustered the courage to ask what business they were in, he told her the truth. “They’re pimps,” he said.
“A few days later he started telling me everything I had to do; the positions, how much I need to charge, the things I had to do with the client and for how long, how I was to treat them and how I had to talk to them so that they would give me more money,” Karla says.
It was the beginning of four years of hell. The first time she was forced to work as a prostitute, she was taken to Guadalajara, one of Mexico’s largest cities.
“I started at 10 a.m. and finished at midnight. We were in Guadalajara for a week. Do the math. Twenty per day for a week. Some men would laugh at me because I was crying. I had to close my eyes so that I wouldn’t see what they were doing to me, so that I wouldn’t feel anything,” Karla says.
There would be several other cities. She would be sent to brothels, roadside motels, streets known for prostitution and even homes. There were no holidays or days off, and, after the first few days, she was made to see at least 30 customers a day, seven days a week.
Karla gave birth at 15 to a girl — a baby fathered by the pimp who would use the daughter to tighten the noose around her neck: if she didn’t fulfill his every wish, he would either harm or kill the baby.
He took the baby away from her a month after the baby was born, and she was not allowed to see her again until the girl was more than a year old. Karla Jacinto was finally rescued in 2008 during an anti-trafficking operation in Mexico City.
Her ordeal lasted four very long and tormenting years. She was still a minor, only 16, when it ended — but she has endured a lifetime of horror that will stay with her as long as she lives.
By her own estimate, 43,200 is the number of times she was raped after falling into the hands of human traffickers.
She says she was raped by up to 30 men a day, seven days a week, for the best part of four years. Do the math. That's 43,200 men.
Karla says she was abused for as long as she can remember and felt rejected by her mother. “I came from a dysfunctional family. I was sexually abused and mistreated from the age of five by a relative,’ she says.
When she was 12, she was targeted by a trafficker who lured her away using kind words and a fast car.
“When I saw the car I couldn’t believe it. I was very impressed by such a big car. It was exciting for me. He asked me to get in the car to go places,” she says.
It didn’t take long for the man, who, at 22, was 10 years older than Karla, to convince her to leave with him, especially after Karla’s mother didn’t open the door one night when she came home a little too late.
“The following day I left with him. I lived with him for three months during which he treated me very well. He loved on me, he bought me clothes, gave me attention, bought me shoes, flowers, chocolates, everything was beautiful,” Karla says.
But there were red flags everywhere also.
Karla says her boyfriend would leave her by herself for a week in their apartment. His cousins would show up with new girls every week. When she finally mustered the courage to ask what business they were in, he told her the truth. “They’re pimps,” he said.
“A few days later he started telling me everything I had to do; the positions, how much I need to charge, the things I had to do with the client and for how long, how I was to treat them and how I had to talk to them so that they would give me more money,” Karla says.
It was the beginning of four years of hell. The first time she was forced to work as a prostitute, she was taken to Guadalajara, one of Mexico’s largest cities.
“I started at 10 a.m. and finished at midnight. We were in Guadalajara for a week. Do the math. Twenty per day for a week. Some men would laugh at me because I was crying. I had to close my eyes so that I wouldn’t see what they were doing to me, so that I wouldn’t feel anything,” Karla says.
There would be several other cities. She would be sent to brothels, roadside motels, streets known for prostitution and even homes. There were no holidays or days off, and, after the first few days, she was made to see at least 30 customers a day, seven days a week.
Karla gave birth at 15 to a girl — a baby fathered by the pimp who would use the daughter to tighten the noose around her neck: if she didn’t fulfill his every wish, he would either harm or kill the baby.
He took the baby away from her a month after the baby was born, and she was not allowed to see her again until the girl was more than a year old. Karla Jacinto was finally rescued in 2008 during an anti-trafficking operation in Mexico City.
Her ordeal lasted four very long and tormenting years. She was still a minor, only 16, when it ended — but she has endured a lifetime of horror that will stay with her as long as she lives.
