Gloria: Sold in a slave market

Franca was in her early twenties and the time for her coming-of-age ceremony was approaching. In her tribe in Nigeria, girls are expected to undergo female genital mutilation as an initiation rite to enter mature womanhood. Franca did not want to be cut and she escaped from home. She went to the nearest city, but then she decided to go to Libya to look for work. Having arrived in Libya, Franca realised that the grim reality was completely different from what she had expected. It was a dangerous place, especially for women.

At her school in Nigeria, Vera and her brother were being threatened by gangsters. The situation became dangerous, and her mother was very worried about her security. Vera felt she had no other option than flee from the country. She contacted a smuggler who would take her to Europe via Libya. She was surprised when the woman frankly suggested that she could earn money both in Libya and in Europe as a prostitute. Vera said she would not do such a thing, and the woman did not press the issue. When they arrived in Libya, she called her and told her that now, she must work as a prostitute to pay her debt.

Shola was unhappy with her life in Nigeria. She wanted to study and get a job, but when she finished secondary school, her family expected her to marry, have children, and be a housewife. She decided to go to Europe to realise her plans. A woman promised to take her there, and she departed with a group of girls. They had been promised the journey would be short and easy, but already the crossing of the hot desert to Libya was an ordeal.