A woman who was forced into Mexico’s lucrative trafficking industry has now revealed about her torment at the hands of the country’s ruthless organized crime rings.
Karala Jacinto was assaulted over 43,000 times after she was forced to sleep with at least 30 men everyday for 4 years, CNN reports.
While speaking out, she recalls being targeted by a trafficker who lured her away from a dysfunctional home life with cash and fast cars. The 22-year-old trafficker convinced Jacinto to leave with him to Tenancingo, a Mexican town in the state of Tlaxcala, a very famous centre for victims to be taken before they get into the business.
Jacinto told CNN she lived with her trafficker for three months before being taken to Guadalajara, one of Mexico’s largest cities, where she was forced to work as a slave.
“I started at 10am and finished at midnight,” said Jacinto, “Some men would laugh at me because I was crying.”
“I had to close my eyes so that that I wouldn’t see what they were doing to me, so that I wouldn’t feel anything.”
During her ordeal Jacinto was attacked by her trafficker after he saw kiss marks on her neck from a customer.
“He started beating me with a chain in all of my body,” said Jacinto. “He punched me with his fists, he kicked me, pulled my hair, spit at me in the face… he also burned me with the iron.” She also claims a police operation to rescue her and a group of girls being held at a hotel descended into horror when the officers began filming the girls, some as young as 10, in compromising positions.
There are an estimated 20,000 trafficking victims in Mexico every year, according to the International Organisation for Migration. In the US, five of the 10 “most wanted” traffickers are from Tenancingo, which has a population of just 11,000.
Now, at 23 years old, Karla has become an advocate against trafficking and has shared her story of survival at public events and conferences.
Earlier this year, she spoke with Pope Francis at the Vatican in July and also told the United States Congress her story in May.
According to CNN, portions of her story have been verified by senior officials at Road to Home, a shelter where she lived for one year after her rescue.
