'Bought & Sold'

Sexual Slavery in Today's Europe

'Bought & Sold' (image The Guardian)

Ghislaine Maxwell is currently standing trial for sex trafficking. Jeffrey Epstein committed suicide in order not to. December 02 is the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery. This year I want to discuss a story from 2015 about a British girl on holiday in Greece. As a 14-year-old, Megan Stephens fell in love. But her boyfriend turned out to be a pimp who trafficked her for six years.

I'm not gonna rehash the story, just read it. A couple of things stand out. First of all how cunning these sex traffickers are. And that it can happen to anyone. Megan - not her real name - was on holiday with her mother in Greece when she fell in love. The ease with which her pimp separated her from her mother and forcing her to send Mum postcards that all was well - Megan feared for her mother's safety if she didn't comply - is just harrowing. Her pimp was charming at first but soon that turned into control. Plus he loaded a lot of guilt on her. He claimed the only way for them to be together was if they raised enough money and escort work was the only way. On top of that he needed money to send his mother to hospital or something.

Only when she had a break-down and was institutionalized. "Cocooned from the outside world, she began to feel safe enough to confide in some of the staff about what had happened to her." But it took six years before she could physically free herself from her abusers.

Love can be complicated, trust me. But someone who says he loves you while forcing you to work as an escort doesn't love you. As for Megan's clients, no matter how long ago, they should be held accountable. Sadly that probably never happens. Six years on I hope Megan has reached the goals she set out in the interview and is happy. Not that she'll ever be able to forget what happened to her. Basically she - the victim - has a life time sentence while her pimp and clients just go on with their lives.

With the help of a ghost writer she released her memoir in 2015: Bought & Sold by Megan Stephens.

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December 02 is the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery. As a reminder for us kinky people about the ugly truth of real world slavery, once a year I write about modern day slavery.