The woman arrived in the Canary Islands hoping for a better future for her three children in Colombia, but her vulnerable situation led her into a sexual exploitation network. After a difficult process, she has managed to return to her profession in the beauty sector and now speaks out to offer hope to other trafficking victims in Spain.
I am grateful to God and to all of you, to this team.
Her account details the brutal contrast between her expectations when emigrating and the harsh reality she encountered on the islands. The lack of documentation, difficulties in finding employment, and economic pressure pushed her into a high-risk environment, where fear and debt became tools of control.
We arrived with one mindset and found ourselves in another reality.
The situation quickly worsened, and within just 15 days in the Canary Islands, she found herself immersed in a dynamic of exploitation. She recalled a traumatic episode where she was held on a hotel balcony and forced to use drugs, an experience that deeply scarred her.
They kidnapped me in a hotel.
Hope arrived when a professional from In Género reached out to her. The association, which visits places where these women are found, offered her legal and emotional support, marking the beginning of her journey to freedom. The process was long and complex, with moments of great difficulty, but the woman found the strength to say enough is enough.
That's when the light began to enter the tunnel.
After leaving the exploitative environment, she spent nine months in a residential facility, where she began a psychological and social recovery process. During this time, she trained and obtained three qualifications, which allowed her to return to her profession in the beauty sector, where she is about to complete a year.
I left with three qualifications and returned to my art.
Although her stability is still fragile due to the separation from her children and difficulties in accessing housing, her goal now is to transform her pain into a message of hope. She wishes her testimony to inspire other women to believe that it is possible to escape exploitation and build a new life.
I want other women to see that it is possible.
