How human trafficking has adapted to the pandemic in Peru

By Carla Samon Ros

Lima, Aug 19 (EFE).- Lina was 17 when she traveled to eastern Peru to work in a restaurant, but what she thought was a job opportunity to escape misery quickly turned into a nightmare as she became a victim of human trafficking.

There was no restaurant. What greeted her, instead, was a brothel and life as a 21st century slave.

She left her school and family behind in the southern city of Ica and sought economic opportunities in Lima, the Peruvian capital.

There, she connected with an employment agency that offered her transport, accommodation, food and work in the Amazonian region of Madre de Dios.

She accepted.

During the journey she began to notice that things were off. Her chaperone, a woman, took away her cellphone and her identity card, which she replaced with false documents stating she was an adult.

When the chaperone fell asleep, the words of a stranger who asked about her motive for travel froze Lina in her tracks.

“There are no restaurants there, it’s pure prostitution,” he said.

“They trick girls into going there, and it’s difficult to leave and, if they leave, they don’t leave alive.”