UAE | General
Stress on global network to fight human trafficking
A teacher in her home country, Noora says she was tempted by the promise of a good job and salary in Dubai. It was the first time that she had ever left her home country and her job and visa were arranged by a man she was put in contact with by a friend from her home town.
- By Zoi Constantine, Staff Reporter
- Published: 00:00 March 11, 2007
Dubai: A teacher in her home country, Noora says she was tempted by the promise of a good job and salary in Dubai. It was the first time that she had ever left her home country and her job and visa were arranged by a man she was put in contact with by a friend from her home town.
Although she had to lay down Dh20,000 for the visa arrangements, Noora suspected nothing, but did query why her visa was only valid for three months.
"They told me that it would be changed to three years, once I reached Dubai. I believed them," she recalls.
In her early 20's at the time, Noora was told to expect a representative from the school where she was to work to collect her from the airport. Instead, she was met by a couple who took her to their home in Sharjah and locked her inside a room in a high-rise.
Trapped
Noora from North Africa (her name has been changed to protect her identity) was not brought here to work in a school, but as a prostitute.
"The first couple of days were a blur. I kept asking when I was starting my job. The wife laughed and said there is no school - that I had to work as a prostitute," she remembers. "I was terrified and couldn't do anything. I was powerless."
Noora says the couple continued to try to force her into prostitution, but she refused. She was told that she would remain locked inside until she agreed to "sell her body".
"I realised my only options were to make myself sick so that I had to go to hospital, or I would kill myself."
Refusing to eat or drink, after two weeks, the couple were forced to take Noora to a nearby hospital - her first trip outside the apartment. When she was admitted, she called the police who helped her escape.
Now, three years after her ordeal Noora is getting on with her life. She says the psychological scars remain, but "I want women to be aware of who they are dealing with", she says.
However, not all women are as lucky as Noora and so global networking to fight human trafficking was essential, representatives from the Moldovan Police and partner non-governmental organisations (NGOs) said on a recent visit to Dubai.
Vladimir Gilca, Moldovan Police Liaison Officer, said greater cooperation between countries and its NGOs is vital in the fight.
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