From 'prison' to safe haven
By Colette Hibbert
BBC News Online

The Poppy Project can support 35 women at any one time
"I have been raped, beaten, sold, cut with knives and threatened," says Maria.

"Although I am now free, I am depressed. I will never forget what they did to me."

Coming from a poor family in Albania, Maria was just 13 years old when she was sold by her sister to a man she did not know and taken to Italy by boat.

"I did not know where I was going. Once we arrived in Italy I was sold again, to a different man. He took me to a house and raped me," she said.

'Practical support'

As the UK marks the 200th anniversary of the Parliamentary Act which led to the abolition of the slave trade, there is evidence that slavery continues in this country, including cases like Maria's.

Maria was taken away by the police who took her to a nunnery for protection after neighbours overheard her screaming. She returned home after two years, but four days later she was sold again to another man - by her father.

She was taken back to Italy where she was kept prisoner and was smuggled into the UK in a lorry.

Maria ended up "working" in London for five years. "I worked every day, seeing 65 to 70 customers a day. I could earn up to £1,000 per day, but I had to pay £400 every day in 'rent' and £60 for a maid, as well as 20% of everything else I earned.

Eventually she managed to escape with other women in the house by running away with the owner's boyfriend. They then went to the police who introduced her to the Poppy Project, one of only two refuges for trafficked women in the UK.

Set up in 2003 as a pilot project by south-London based charity Eaves Housing for Women, the Poppy Project helps women aged 18 to 25 who have been trafficked to the UK.