Victim Success Stories
- Florencia
Inside a clothing factory on the outskirts of Los Angeles, with bars on the windows and doors locked all around, Florencia was directed to a small storage room, ten by ten. Party dresses hung on racks there. But this was no party. This is where she was to sleep at night. Her day began at 5:30 in the morning at a sewing machine, and continued with cutting cloth and cleaning the factory. After 17 hours of hard labor, she was led back to the storage room. In between, she had one meal, rice and beans, and ten minutes to eat it. more... - Khai
My name is Khai. I was born in a small town in the countryside. My mother worked as a day laborer in the rice fields. If it was not rice season, my mother made desserts to sell in the market. My dad worked at the school as the cleaning person. I went to that same school. We kids were five all together: one brother, I'm the second, then another brother and two sisters. We lived in a small house that was covered with some kind of leaf; we leased the property from the landlord. As I recall, I started school when I turned eight when I was about eleven or twelve years I graduated from fourth grade. After I finished fourth grade I had to stop school and help my dad carry water from the well. Also, I had to help out my dad with the cleaning at the school. more... - Lucita
I am 22 years old and the mother of one six year old little girl and she lives with my mother in Mexico. I was born in a small town in Guerrero, Mexico. My father was a field worker, and he also collected salt to sell. My mother was a laundress; she took in laundry and ironing to do at home. Later, she sold vegetables at the market. My family did not own any land we rented. My father always had to borrow money so that he could put in a planting. There were eight children in the family, five boys and three girls. I was one of the middle children. My older brothers worked in the fields like my father and helped him collect salt. The older girls helped my mother. We were very poor. We lived in a house made of wood with a cardboard roof and a dirt floor. more... - Noi
I was born in a shack, a very small little shack. We lived on a farm in rural Thailand; I don't think I ever had any childhood like other kids. I had to help my mom; I had to help take care of my brother or sisters and I had to cook and clean. Because we were very poor we tried to do anything we could to survive. It is so different to see my kids. They have such a different life than when I was growing up. I hardly ever had new clothes. Once a year maybe I got one pair of pants or one shirt and that's all. When I went to school I got a new uniform every two years, not every year. It was always too big for me. My mom would buy the biggest size so that I could wear it for two years. I went to school only through the ninth grade. My family did not have the money to send me further to school. more...