“SHE SPENT ONE MONTH IN THAT TERROR… LATER IT WAS
EIGHT MONTHS OF THE SAME.” – IJM INVESTIGATOR ALVARO*

Paloma wants to become a lawyer so that she can fight for others whose rights have been violated.

Paloma* grew up in poverty in La Paz, Bolivia. At 12, Paloma worked as a nanny and as a waitress to help support her family. But in November of 2008, when Paloma was 16, her mother’s business of selling snacks at a neighbourhood kiosk was shut down. The family had no money for food. Paloma struggled to earn more to help her family – and thought she had found the perfect opportunity when a woman from the community named Tatiana offered her work caring for her aging mother.

It was a trap. Tatiana took 16-year-old Paloma to a doctor — a client — who raped her. Over the next month, Tatiana forced Paloma to visit many other men, all of whom violated her. Paloma felt terrified and trapped. “I know your mother, and if you escape, I will give you her dead body along with your little brother’s organs,” threatened Tatiana. “And if you report me, no one will do anything because I have friends among the city officials. If I enter into prison, it won’t be long before I get out and take my revenge on you.”

After a month of brutality, Paloma jumped from a second-floor window and escaped Tatiana’s house. She and her mother reported Tatiana to the police. The case didn’t advance far. Whether due to corruption or disinterest, the public prosecutor decided there was not enough evidence. Paloma was furious. Still struggling to deal with the abuse, Paloma had no energy for school or work. She felt alone.

But Paloma’s mother returned to the officials weekly, begging them act on her daughter’s behalf. Finally, the child welfare agency referred Paloma and her mother to IJM. The two of them came to the office on July 11, 2008. Aftercare staff provided counselling and support to Paloma and her mother. Because the courts had already closed the case, IJM Bolivia was unable to take legal action at the time.

THE GIRL SAID “I KNOW YOU.”

One year later IJM investigators conducted an undercover audit of a suspicious locale in town. They noticed one of the girls sitting in the corner with her hat pulled over her eyes. When the brothel owner left the room the girl told Alvaro, an IJM investigator, “I know you.” Surprised - and concerned about his cover – Alvaro told her they had never met. The girl insisted she knew Alvaro from IJM. “Shh,” he replied. “We’ll talk, but not here.” That girl was Paloma.

Paloma and the friend who was rescued with her, in the safe house before being reunited with their families.

Alvaro was able to return and gather evidence and hear Paloma’s story. Tragically, Paloma had been re-ensnared by traffickers. Several months after her first escape and after an early foray into advocacy work, Paloma was deeply depressed, and her family’s financial pressure remained. She returned to a brothel just for a few days – but once there, she was trapped. Paloma had been there for eight months, struggling to pay off the growing debt that the brothel owner claimed she owed him – an impossible task. Paloma needed a miracle to escape forced prostitution a second time.

IJM requested that the police take action. But the investigator originally assigned to Paloma’s case told IJM that Paloma was an “average prostitute” and that they wouldn’t get involved. But Alvaro knew that Paloma was desperate to leave. He advocated for her until he was assigned two willing police officers to rescue Paloma and another victim of trafficking held at the brothel.

The operation was successful. Today, Paloma and the second victim are free. IJM provided aftercare to both of them and their families, giving them counselling and helping them reach stability.

If it weren’t for the investigators’ visit to the brothel that night, IJM — and Paloma’s family — may never have seen her again. “Sometimes the work here at IJM is draining – but when I can make the difference in just one life, like Paloma’s, it’s all worth it to me,”

says Alvaro.

Paloma calls her rescue a miracle. She is grateful for IJM’s help and support. Though Paloma still experiences the effects of poverty and the wounds left by prostitution, she says that her life is better in every way. In March of 2010, she began a six-month program of counselling and job-training with one of IJM Bolivia’s aftercare partners. She is going to obtain her high school diploma. Paloma wants to become a lawyer so that she can fight for others whose rights have
been violated.