5 Ugly Things You Learn As A Sex Slave In The Modern World

4 They Make Escape Impossible

In the United States, keeping a person trafficked is a matter of constant vigilance ("There was always someone watching me," says Christina). The process is often strangely cult-like, including total isolation from the outside world. "The other girls my pimp trafficked were 'sisters.' My pimp's brother's girls were my 'sister-in-laws.' If I see a sister or a sister-in-law, I can talk to them." Otherwise, she was cut off. "I had zero contact with anybody. I went to prison and didn't even know we were at war with Iraq. I'd been so isolated from the world."

Christina's pimp had also used the time he was grooming her to track down information about her family: That made his threats against them much more credible, and thus made leaving even harder. For the worst kind of pimps, Google is a much more dangerous tool than a backhand. "He had my birth certificate, pictures of my family -- he'd spent all this time gathering information. ... He had pictures of my mom."

The "victimless crime" defense just got a bit harder to justify.

Still, she attempted to escape between 100 and 150 times, she says, most of which were shut down immediately. On a few occasions, she ran away and took shelter at home, at which point the pimp would have one of his employees/buddies shadow the house. Christina was too scared to tell her family what had happened. So when her pimp inevitably picked her back up -- ensuring her compliance with threats of violence -- she left home again without a struggle.

In Eastern Europe, on the other hand, many victims don't even consider themselves as being "trafficked." As Kay says, "Most of my girls come from a culture of prostitution. Which means they were bred to be prostitutes. So you have whole cities dedicated to the business. ... They are sent all over Bulgaria, all over Europe to do this business, and they provide millions of euros to the organized crime rooted in Bulgaria."

Basically, farmers of free-range and organic human misery.

These women often get into the sex trade when they're still too young to consent. By the time they're adults they may say they "consent" to do the work ... but it's also all they've ever known, and all they've been groomed for. "They manipulate so well these girls won't believe they're trafficked, ever. Even if you get a girl away from a situation, drag the girls out, and rescue them, it takes years for girls to realize they're trafficked. What is trafficking when your whole family has been doing it?"

So when does it end? "Most trafficked women in Bulgaria simply age out of being trafficked. Eventually they're too old to make money -- at which point, they're out on the streets."

If your response to that is, "Damn, Eastern Europe sounds like a shithole!" please keep in mind ...