Kidnapped and trafficked twice - a sex worker's life in Sierra Leone

Isata, a azygous parent successful her aboriginal twenties, epitomises the horrors of the lives of enactment workers successful Sierra Leone.

She has been beaten, robbed, kidnapped, trafficked to different country, rescued, trafficked and rescued again.

Amidst each of this, she became hooked connected a unsafe thoroughfare drug, kush, that is wreaking havoc successful the West African nation.

BBC Africa Eye spent 4 years pursuing the lives of a radical of enactment workers successful Makeni, astir 200km (124 miles) from the superior Freetown.

The metropolis lies successful an country affluent successful diamonds, which fuelled Sierra Leone’s civilian warfare - a struggle that has had devastating consequences inactive being felt to this day.

Isata is 1 of hundreds of enactment workers successful Makeni. Like each of the women we spoke to, she has opted to lone usage her archetypal name.

“All the sacrifices I’m making, I bash it for my daughter. I person been done truthful overmuch symptom connected the streets,” she said.

“I met a antheral successful the club. He tore my clothes. He took wealth from my bra. I was trying to combat my mode out. He deed maine connected the backmost of the caput with his gun. He wanted to termination me.”

It is simply a unsafe beingness - immoderate of the women we conscionable person besides contracted HIV.

Others person been killed.

But galore consciousness determination is small choice.

In a acheronian spot of swampland successful the city, 2 enactment workers pointed retired an country with bare atom sacks dispersed retired crossed the ground.

One of the young women, Mabinty, told america this was wherever they worked broadside by broadside - seeing up to 10 men a night.

The men wage them a dollar a time.

She is trying to marque capable wealth to enactment her children. She had six, but 3 died.

The different 3 are successful school.

“One kid has conscionable sat his exams. I don’t person wealth to wage for him to spell to school, unless I merchantability sex. These are my sufferings,” she said.

Thousands of women are estimated to person turned to enactment enactment crossed Sierra Leone.

Many of them are young women orphaned by the war, which claimed the lives of much than 50,000 radical and displaced astir fractional the country's colonisation by the clip it ended successful 2002.

Charity groups accidental the fig of young girls moving successful the enactment commercialized has further accrued arsenic the state grapples with the economical fallout of the Ebola outbreak and the coronavirus pandemic.

Like galore crises, these person disproportionately impacted women.

Prostitution is not amerciable successful the country, but the women are seen arsenic outcasts and person small enactment from the authorities oregon society.

Not agelong aft we met Isata successful 2020, she was kidnapped by a transgression pack and forced into enactment slavery successful The Gambia, Senegal and yet Mali.

She managed to get clasp of a telephone and described her beingness there.

“The mode they attack us, it is similar they privation to termination america unless we accept,” she said.

“I americium suffering truthful much.”

BBC Africa Eye was past capable to way her down and a UN body, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), helped Isata instrumentality to Sierra Leone.

She gave up enactment enactment but, erstwhile we saw her successful 2021, she was struggling to marque capable wealth to instrumentality attraction of her daughter, by cooking successful a section kitchen.

The adjacent clip we got an update connected Isata, successful 2023, she had returned to prostitution aft becoming hooked connected kush - a psychoactive blend of addictive substances sold cheaply, that tin incorporate quality bones.

The cause has go specified a occupation successful Sierra Leone, the president has declared it a nationalist emergency.

In the grip of addiction, Isata near down her youngest kid - a lad conscionable 4 months old.

He was being looked aft by Isata’s mother, Poseh.

“The accent of the thoroughfare beingness led her to smoking kush. It’s the stress,” Poseh said.

Nata is besides a azygous parent successful her twenties.

She has 3 daughters.

We met her astatine home, wherever she was getting acceptable to spell retired and work.

“I privation my children to bash good successful life. I anticipation my prayers volition beryllium answered by God,” she said.

Her girl watched her mum use her make-up. She told america she wanted to go a lawyer erstwhile she is older.

“To assistance my mum,” she said.

Across town, we met different young girl, Rugiatu, aged astir 10.

Her parent Gina was besides a enactment worker. She was murdered successful 2020 astatine conscionable 19 years old.

Rugiatu present lives with her aged grandmother.

“My mum and dada are dormant now. I americium lone near with my grandma. If my gran dies, each I tin bash is spell and beg successful the street,” Rugiatu said.

“I don’t privation them to termination maine connected the thoroughfare too.”

When we adjacent saw Nata, she was unrecognisable. She, too, has go hooked connected kush.

“I americium not blessed to beryllium similar this, but I don't privation to deliberation much,” she tells us.

“Sometimes I outcry erstwhile I remember. That wherefore I americium smoking, to forget.”

Her 3 daughters person had to spell and unrecorded with relatives.

Then, successful aboriginal 2024, determination was much atrocious quality from Isata.

She had been trafficked again, arsenic portion of a radical of women who were promised nanny enactment successful Ghana but were alternatively taken to Mali and forced to merchantability enactment successful a gold-mining area.

“I privation to beryllium taken home. I'm begging, I regret everything,” Isata tells america implicit the phone.

She said she became disquieted erstwhile the antheral who promised the nannying enactment dodged constabulary checkpoints and borderline posts astatine each signifier of the journey.

“He handed america implicit to a Nigerian pistillate called Joy,” she said.

“We asked: 'You told america we are going to Ghana for nanny work, is this Ghana?'”

“Joy asked us: ‘Were we not told we are coming to bash enactment work?’ Then I said: 'No'.”

“She said: 'Go and get immoderate money' and springiness it her.”

Like galore trafficked women, Isata was told she indispensable enactment to wage her traffickers a ample sum of wealth to bargain backmost her freedom.

They told her she had to wage $1,700 (£1,300).

She would person to person enactment with hundreds of men to marque that overmuch money.

Her traffickers told her she had 3 months to wage them.

The IOM - the UN assemblage which helps trafficked radical - says thousands of Sierra Leoneans, including children, are trafficked each year.

They are either abducted oregon tricked into travelling retired of the state with the committedness of a amended job.

Instead, they are sold to foreigners successful countries astir the continent and extremity up successful forced labour oregon intersexual exploitation.

Many whitethorn ne'er spot location again.

Fortunately for Isata, she has yet made it backmost to Makeni, and is surviving with her parent and 2 children.

You tin ticker the afloat BBC Africa Eye documentary Sex Workers: Lives successful the Shadows connected the BBC Africa YouTube transmission oregon connected iPlayer successful the UK.