Samantha

  • 15 years old
  • victim

Samantha didn’t receive much attention at home. Her parents were busy with her brothers and sisters, and had financial problems. Because of her home situation she began to drink and take drugs. One evening she met Aram in a nightclub. He gave her attention and wanted her as his girlfriend. He was handsome, kind, interesting, and he also had money. Their relationship made her feel special and loved, but then Aram started to assert more and more authority over her and became aggressive.

Then Aram’s brother suggested using Samantha to earn money for them through sex. Aram picked her up from school and dropped her off again after school so that her family wouldn’t notice she was gone. The first time, Samantha had to watch how two other girls had sex with men. Then she had to get undressed, take drugs and do it herself.

She was afraid to stop, because Aram threatened her. He used photos and videos to blackmail her. Her parents knew something was amiss, but they thought Samantha still struggled with the memory of the time she was raped at age 13, and so they did nothing.

After a while, a friend noticed that things weren’t okay with Samantha and took her away from Aram’s apartment. Now she stays in sheltered accommodation in the hope of building up a better relationship with her family and finishing school. She no longer sees Aram, though she still loves him. Even if she knows what he did was terrible. 

Source: STBY / WDCD No Minor Thing. Maak het Zichtbaar van Centrum tegen Kinderhandel en Mensenhandel