Jennifer's story

Jennifer* from Nigeria was tricked into leaving her family travelling illegally to Europe where she was sexually exploited until her health was ruined. The Salvation Army’s support services and mentoring team have helped her to live independently and be reunited with the daughter she hadn’t seen for 20 years.

Jennifer remembers her childhood in rural Nigeria as full of struggles because her father, a farmer, was often too ill to support the family and needed money for medication. Jennifer’s brother, Wale, went to work for a rich man from the village but there was a dispute when he wasn’t paid. When he was 16 and Jennifer just 15, his bloodied body was found by the side of a field. Days later when the family were still grieving, a rich lady called Elizabeth arrived in the compound. Jennifer said: “I talked to her and she said I should not worry; that she would take care of me.”

Elizabeth returned regularly from the city with gifts of money and clothes for her. She talked of opportunities for Jennifer in the big city and promised to help her go to school. “I was really happy. My mother was really happy too.”

Then Jennifer fell pregnant and, despite the baby’s father's opposition, decided to keep the baby. Elizabeth was also angry but arrangements were made for Jennifer’s mother to look after the baby girl while she went to the city and took up work that Elizabeth was offering to find. Something she soon regretted.

“Don’t trust people who use gifts of food and clothes to twist your brain. I was supposed to be at school with other girls my age or working on my family farm but they changed my dreams.”

Two men came to drive Jennifer to Lagos. She arrived at a flat where lots of other young people were living. That night one of the men raped Jennifer and when Elizabeth arrived the next day she promised to deal with him. Instead Jennifer was given new clothes and a passport which had her photo but a different name. Before being taken to the airport she was introduced to a man and told to pretend was her husband.

Jennifer was taken first to Hungary and then to Italy. In both places she was forced into sex work. However she was ill and still bleeding from the assault in Lagos. Jennifer overheard the people in Europe arguing on the phone with Elizabeth because they were refusing to pay the agreed sum of money for her. Jennifer’s health didn’t improve but still they made her work to pay for accommodation, food and the debts run up to bring her from Nigeria.

“After she’d beaten me, she would force me onto the freezing streets in the dead of winter wearing nothing but my underwear. One day when I was sick and sleeping, she woke me up by placing a hot iron on my leg. She was like a vampire, sucking the life out of me.”

Eventually Jennifer met a man who promised to help her escape and he arranged for her to come to the UK. Having entered the UK without the right permissions, she was frightened to come forward for help and lived for a year off the kindness of people she met. Still unwell, Jennifer turned to alcohol to deaden the physical and emotional pain.  

Finally a friend encouraged her to go to the authorities. Once in a Salvation Army safe house, Jennifer was given medical help and assistance to deal with her drinking problem. By the time Jennifer was formally recognised as a victim of modern slavery, she was living in a new city. She got in touch with The Salvation Army’s Anti Trafficking and Modern Slavery Mentoring team. These trained volunteers offer practical guidance and support to survivors at any stage in their recovery, including while they are in Government-funded outreach or safe house support or after they have left.

“They did a lot. My dream was always to go to school and they helped me to do that and supported me when I faced big challenges, especially during the pandemic. They have helped me learn so many useful skills like how to book appointments. I don’t blame myself for what has happened to me. I like to learn every day. That is my goal.”

With her health finally improved Jennifer was still sad as couldn’t return to Nigeria for her own safety. Years ago she heard that her mother had died but had received no word of her daughter, Isabel. Jennifer was tormented by the thought she might also have been exploited, so The Salvation Army helped her to keep searching. This year agencies put Jennifer in touch with Isabel for the first time in 20 years.

Jennifer told us “life is beautiful now.”

*the name and identity of the individual has been changed to protect their privacy