Feb. 2015—For years, Nadia’s* life looked like a losing struggle for survival. Today, she has the stability and security that seemed desperately out of reach only a couple years ago.

Fortunately, USAID’s Counter Trafficking in Persons program enabled Nadia to climb out of this tragic spiral.

After divorcing her abusive husband, Nadia never found the resources to obtain a home of her own. In 2011, at the age of 55, as a migrant worker sorting corn outdoors, her feet became frostbitten and were amputated. Subsequently, she began losing her eyesight while confined to a hospital bed post-surgery.

Nearly blind by summer 2013, Nadia’s desperation made her a target for opportunists. In 2014, after turning to a local hospital to receive a medical note required for admission into a nursing home, Nadia met a lady who offered to bring her to a Kyiv hospital with the promise of restoring her eyesight. Desperate to see again, Nadia dismissed a doctor’s warnings of possible risks.

“Without my sight and feet I felt so helpless, and this lady brought some hope into my life,” says Nadia.

Indeed, the promise of sight turned out to be a trap. In Kyiv, Nadia ended up in the hands of a criminal gang, which confiscated her documents and forced her to beg daily in an underground crosswalk. She was seated in a wheelchair for 16 to 18 hours a day, cold and often wet because she was not allowed to use the toilet. Her amputated limbs were fully exposed to attract more sympathy from bypassers.

When she asked for medical help, her “owners” told her that if she complained again, they would bring her to a garbage dump, tie her up, and leave her to die.

In September 2014, Nadia was rescued during a police raid of the facility where she was held captive. She was brought to the Medical Rehabilitation Center for Victims of Trafficking in Kyiv run by the International Organization for Migration. Depressed and extremely suspicious, at first she refused to speak with psychologists. It took time before clinicians earned her trust and she opened up.

The Center helped Nadia obtain status as a victim of trafficking through the USAID-backed National Referral Mechanism, which allowed her to obtain social benefits and the surgery needed to restore her eyesight. During surgery and subsequent three-day hospitalization, Center volunteers stayed with Nadia, then brought her new warm clothes for the upcoming winter. She stayed at the Center for two months, slowly regaining her confidence and transitioning back into society.

Now settled into a nursing home, gradually recovering her eyesight and receiving a state pension regularly, Nadia looks to the future with more confidence. “It is so good that I ended up with you [at the Center] and that you are here to help. You brought me back to life when I had almost completely given up,” she says.

The International Organization for Migration will continue to monitor Nadia’s case through its victim reintegration program. As for her traffickers, they were arraigned on trafficking charges in December 2014.

*Name changed to protect privacy.

LINKS

Follow @USAIDUkraine, on Facebook