When I was 16 years old, due to the economic situation that my family was experiencing, I found myself having to look for a job. The opportunities I had were few due to my age. One day I accompanied my mother to the market and there a girl approached me (Eva) who told me if I was not interested in working with the leader of the flea market (Alan).
I told her no, but she persisted and told me the position was for office work. She insisted that if I was interested that I should accompany her to the office for her to give me more information.
Days go by, and the economic situation in my home got worse, so I decided to go to the office where Eva offered me the job.
When I arrived, an older man (Alan) greeted me and began questioning me:
“Who do I live with?” “Where I live?” “Who is usually home?” “What does my family do?”
After answering these questions, Alan proceeds to tell me that the job is very simple, and that it consists of keeping track of documents of the flea market workers. My job was to keep accounts of the fees they paid him, and to ensure that they keep the space clean.
Alan told me that the payment my daily wage would be $100. After giving me this information, he said that if I was interested in the position, I should show up the next day.
I decided to return the next day for the position, when I showed up I was greeted by what I perceived as Alan’s romantic partner. There were some other girls in the office, all of whom seemed to be the same age as me. Alan mentioned that everyone there that day was celebrating a birthday of one of the girls in the office and that there would be no work that day.
Eva then asked me if I drank alcohol or used any drugs, to which I answered, “No.” Eva mentioned again that there are alcoholic beverages in the office regularly when they celebrate something special and that if I wanted, I could drink. I responded to her again, “No, I don’t drink.” because I had a strict mother and if I drank, she would for sure notice.
After being there for a while, they offered me a drink and told me that it didn’t have alcohol and that I should drink it. After a while, I agreed to drink it. Shortly after, I felt dizzy and began to lose track of what was happening.
The last thing I heard was Alan telling the other girls to take me to the room. In and out of a daze, I started to feel cold water on my body, and could feel two girls holding me down for awhile in the shower.
Little by little I begin to regain consciousness and Alan told the two girls to take me home.
That evening, I received a text message saying that if I didn't want my family to find out what had happened, I would show up to work the next day.
Since my relationship with my mother was not good - we usually argued - I decided not to say anything for fear of her reaction.
When I returned to the office, there was another party, but with the men who were the merchants that I and the others dealt with on a regular basis in the flea market.
After a little while, he told us that he needed to take some photos of us since a “Client” was having a party and he wanted to choose who he would take.
The parties become recurrent. In many of these parties, I was forced to have relationships with many men. I was abused by women at work with beatings or threats, which was a common occurrence. If Alan ordered me to do or participate in something and I refused, he would pull his gun and point it at me.
After 6 months of being there, alcohol consumption had become habitual for me.
One Saturday morning when I was at home, I took a shower and left my phone on the bed.
When I came back to my room, my mother told me that she was not going to work that day, and that we would go visit my father instead.
I got ready to go out with my mom, but instead she took me to the police headquarters and told me to wait with my sister.
I entered the prosecutor's office, and my mother came out accompanied by a woman and they asked me to come in with them.
When I entered the prosecutor's office, they asked me to tell them what was happening in my workplace. My mother had checked my phone and found the messages that Alan sent me, because I had decided not to delete them.
Once I was in the prosecutor's office, I decided to give all the information. I told them everything that happened there.
After 2 days of being in the prosecutor's office, they carried out an operation where they arrested Eva and Alan.
The dream I want to achieve with the support of Reintegra is to resume my studies and study a degree in law.
I want to continue studying, an to do what I always dreamed of, which is to become a great professional.
