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Sustainable Development

Spain grants first asylum to woman victimized by human traffickers

by The Daily Eye Team October 24 2013, 4:49 pm Estimated Reading Time: 1 min, 20 secs

MADRID, Oct. 22 (UPI) — A Nigerian woman who was raped by the human traffickers who brought her to Europe has been granted asylum in Spain, officials say.
It’s the first time Spain has granted refuge to a person brought into the country by human traffickers, ThinkSpain reported Monday.

The woman was forced into prostitution to pay off a $27,500 “debt” to smugglers who transported her and other immigrants, said Rosa Flores, head of the Red Cross trafficking unit and manager of the Cordoba immigration center.

During the two-year ordeal, the woman, who was not identified, was forced into prostitution and was pregnant when she arrived in Spain.

She and the other migrants were taken to a deportation center as soon as they arrived in Spain and while there, the traffickers called and told her about the “debt” she would have to pay off through prostitution, Flores said.

The woman reported the threat to the Red Cross, which recommended she talk to the police and apply for international protection.

With her assistance, the trafficking ring was broken up and its leaders arrested, Flores said.

“Many women tell us similar stories, but they refuse to report the matter to the police because they are terrified that something might happen, for example, to a child they have had to leave behind in Nigeria,” Flores said.

Spain is second only to Italy in the number of female victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation, Eurostat reports. In 2012, Spanish police found 12,000 women forced into prostitution.

Read more: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2013/10/22/Spain-grants-first-asylum-to-woman-victimized-by-human-traffickers/UPI-97641382451731/#ixzz2idXBBTJQ