Antislavery Usable Past

Cassie

2016 (Narrative date)

There are an estimated 784,000 people living in modern slavery in the Philippines (GSI 2018). Men, women and children are subjected forced labour and sex trafficking both within the country and in destination countries. Women and children are subjected to sexual exploitation in brothels, bars, and massage parlours, online, as well as in the production of pornography. The Philippines is an international hub for prostitution and commercial sex tourism – a highly profitable businesses for organised criminal syndicates. The demand for sex with children among both local and foreign men has continued to fuel child sex tourism. Rising internet usage rates, the availability of mobile phones and poverty has fostered online child sexual exploitation.

When Cassie was 12, a family friend took her to Manila promising to help her reach her dreams. She was forced to perform sexual acts in front of a computer. Customers all over the world would pay to watch her. IJM discovered Cassie’s story 4 years later and helped rescue her and six other victims from the house. Today, Cassie and the other children are safe at an aftercare shelter. Cassie calls this her second home.

It’s really hard. It’s like – I was thinking, “I want to die, I want to die, because of this pain. But I can’t”.

When first time I met my recruiter, he’s telling me that “Ah, Manila is very nice,” he says “so I can wear nice clothes”. And then he taking care of me. He told me that he can help me to reach all my dreams.

First time in Manila, it was very happy because there’s lots of buildings, you wear nice clothes, you have your own money, you can stay in a nice house, so Manila is very nice compared to my place.

We are six victims inside of the house of my recruiter. My recruiter hurt me everyday when I do something bad that he didn’t like. Because he want every day. I need to follow him. but if I don’t follow him, he’s going to hurt me, to spank me, to slap me in the face in front of the people.

I really want to kill him. I really want to die that time, but I can’t. It feel very lonely for me, because I was very far from my family and I can’t tell them what happened to me, because I was very scared.

When they rescued us, it make me heal all the pain. It is in my second home I realise everything, that you don’t have to lose hope. If I see or if I hear there is a victim of human trafficking like us, I just want her to comfort her, and help her to move forward. And just fight for your rights. Because that’s the side where I stand now.

Narrative provided by IJM

Original narrative can be found https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVNusLv0550

Country

Philippines (slavery location)

Theme

Type

Narrative

Tags

VOICES: Narratives by Survivors of Modern Slavery

This is the world's largest archive of modern slavery survivor narratives. Across more than a million words spoken or written by survivors of modern slavery, we can see why slavery persists in particular hotspots, analyse patterns in trafficking routes, identify vulnerabilities, understand more about the challenges survivors face in liberation, and discover new antislavery solutions. These narratives offer the chance to systematically design new antislavery strategies based on the experiences, ideas and solutions of enslaved people themselves.

The database is searchable by country, name, theme, and narrative date. Narratives can be viewed in list or map form. A short introduction provides context to each narrative. Narrative provenance appears after the main narrative text.

For ideas on how to use this database, please see our accompanying guide.

Project Lead: Zoe Trodd. Team Members: Andrea Nicholson, Lauren Eglen, Rosemary Pearce, Olivia Wright.

Project Funders: AHRC Antislavery Usable Past grant (2014-19), ESRC/AHRC PaCCS Modern Slavery: Meaning and Measurement grant (2016-19), and AHRC-GCRF Antislavery Knowledge Network grant (2017-2021).

For any queries about the collection please contact: rightslab@nottingham.ac.uk. If you wish to cite a particular narrative, please acknowledge the survivor’s name, the provenance of the narrative and cite: Voices Database, the Rights Lab, University of Nottingham.

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