The human trafficking is a terrible crime that victimizes thousands of children all over the world every year.
In Mexico, the story of Karla Jacinto, a young woman who claims to have been raped more than 43,000 times, especially stands out.
At 12 years old, Karla lived with a deeply dysfunctional family, where she had been abused and mistreated by a relative since she was five years old.
One day while waiting for some friends, a child selling candy approached her and told her that a stranger wanted to send her some candy as a gift, she told CNN.
The mistake of her life
The stranger, who said he was 22 years old, started talking to her and told her that he had also been abused. He was caring and affectionate and she trusted him. The individual soon convinced her to escape with him.
He got his big chance one day when Karla’s mother locked her out one night for arriving home a little late. Going with him was undoubtedly the worst mistake of Karla’s life. The man was a pimp, who took her to the town of Tenancingo, a town built on sex trafficking.
‘I never rested’
For four years, Karla had to serve clients from 10 a.m. to midnight, seven days a week, with no rest. If she refused, he threatened to kill her mother. Her pimp abused her brutally and left her pregnant. At 15 years old, Karla gave birth to a girl, whom her captor kept away from her and threatened to kill if she didn’t continue working.
Karla says she had to serve about 30 clients a day and estimates she was raped about 43,200 times during those four horrific years.
Why didn’t she try to escape or attempt to report him? One day, she explained, the police came to the place where she worked, threw out all the customers and about 30 agents stayed with them alone.
For a moment, she thought her ordeal was over and that they were going to rescue her, but the agents put them in rooms and began to take photographs of them in compromising situations.
Karla says they didn’t care that they were minors; some of them were only 10 years old, girls who cried. The agents threatened to send the pictures to their families if they told anyone.
Helping other women
As if that weren’t enough, she says, many of her clients were politicians and even priests. There was no one to turn to for help.
Fortunately, at the age of 16, Karla was rescued during an operation against sex trafficking and today, she’s dedicated to helping other young women who went through the same ordeal as her.
She says at 23 years old her life is in serious danger due to her past and what she witnessed and experienced. But she continues to work with the organization that helped her after her rescue.
She has told her story to Pope Francis at the Vatican, as well to the United States Congress.
You can learn more about Karla’s story in this video:
[arve url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beMJ9hix0wE” /]
The tragedy here is that Karla’s case is not an isolated incident; close to two million children are victims of human trafficking around the world.
This has to stop! Karla is a very strong and courageous woman. Share this story to help highlight the terrible abuses suffered by these children.
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