IJM’s South Asia offices work daily to bring justice to victims of slavery and sex trafficking. Charu* is one of the individuals freed from this oppressive violence in recent months.

When Charu’s husband became seriously ill and could no longer work as a manual laborer, he and Charu needed a way to provide for their three young children. Charu met a woman from a nearby village who promised that she could earn enough money to support her children and husband if she accompanied her to a fair to sell saris. Her family’s financial needs were pressing, and the job seemed reasonable, so Charu accepted. The two women boarded a train together, heading, Charu thought, for the fair where they would sell the saris.

The woman who had given Charu the job soon disappeared aboard the train and a man approached her, holding her photograph. He told Charu that he had purchased her and forced her to stay with him, eventually demanding that Charu exit the train in a city she knew was far from her home. He took her from the train station to a building where Charu saw women standing outside and soliciting men. This confirmed her fear: She had been sold into prostitution. She attempted to run away, but was caught and returned to the brothel, where she was assaulted by the owners.

Charu, though terrified, was determined to fight. She first refused to eat, but after three days without food, the brothel owners locked her in a room and threatened to kill her. Fearing for her life, she began to eat. For a month, Charu refused the men the brothel owner sent in to rape her. With each refusal, the brothel owners beat and abused her.

Charu lost all that was precious to her. She longed for her husband and children and the comfort of her extended family. The men humiliated her by cutting her long hair and threw away Charu’s sweater and shawl, calling them rags. The clothing had been gifts from her husband and a source of comfort in her nightmare.

Eventually, after Charu had refused customers for a month, her captors brought her to a new brothel, where she was raped repeatedly for the profit of the owners. She told each man who paid to rape her that she was there by force and begged him to call her family, but no one did.

However, over the summer, an informant indicated to IJM staff that a woman had been forced into prostitution in Charu’s brothel. When IJM investigators arrived at the brothel to confirm the report, they found Charu and covertly documented evidence of her imprisonment.

The following day, having presented this evidence to local authorities, IJM staff returned to the brothel with the police, who removed her from her captivity. Finally, Charu was free.

Though freedom brought safety and great relief, Charu still had serious needs. Though she was desperate to return to her family, Charu feared returning to her village, knowing that with her short hair – a style worn by prostitutes – she would face rumors and possibly be shunned by others in the village. She grappled with how she would respond to her neighbors’ questions about where she had been and feared shaming her family.

In the meantime, IJM staff learned that Charu’s family had been anxiously searching for her. Aftercare staff helped provide Charu with counseling and connected her with rehabilitation services, and IJM facilitated Charu’s journey back to her village. Charu has now returned to her family and is anxious to work with police to bring her perpetrators to justice. Though healing from this trauma will be a long process, she is free and surrounded by those she loves.