My name is Njida and I am from Nigeria. I was brought up by a woman who found me when my parents abandoned me. I never knew my real parents.

When I was about nineteen years old my life changed, a lot. The woman who looked after me was killed by members of a cult. I witnessed the murder and knew I could never return home again, as the cult members would try to kill me too. I did not return to the village and later I heard that they had burned down my house, and were hunting for me.

Internal trafficking

Sarah aged 17 had been accommodated by Social Services. She was regularly reported missing to the Police after going missing from care. On her return Sarah informed workers that she had been staying in a number of different addresses in South Wales. She describes being picked up by different males who she had been introduced to by her ‘boyfriend’ who would then transfer her to a different male in various locations across South Wales for the purpose of her performing sexual acts. Sarah also reported being taken to different address in Birmingham and Manchester by two Kurdish males.

Yin was born in a province of China. Her parents died when she was young. She was adopted by a friend of the family and was prevented from going back to school and was forced to do housework and look after the younger children in the household.

At age 15 she was told she was going to Europe to work. The family friend prepared the necessary documents. Yin was put on a train and told she would be met by a man in Moscow.

She was taken, along with a number of other young people to a house where she stayed for about 2 days. She was instructed to hand over her documents. She was moved over the next several months through different countries on trucks, goods trains and by foot. They finally stopped in France. Here she was raped before being put on another lorry aboard of ferry.

“I didn’t have the best start in life… my family abused me and I was raped by strangers. School was really difficult and by 12 I’d stopped going. I was taken into care and had loads of carers who said they couldn’t cope with me.

Then I went to children’s homes… some were far away from my own home. I got involved with older men who I thought would be my friend or love me; they gave me alcohol and drugs and I could stay with them and not go back to the unit. I had sex with them.