Dana Popa's Not Natasha
Sex trafficking is the most profitable illegal business. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Moldova - the poorest country in Europe, became one of the main source countries for trafficking women and children.
It all begins with the offer of a well-paid job in a world of dreams.
Acquaintances, close friends, relatives or boyfriends sell a girl for $200, $500, even $2000, depending on how attractive or financially appealing the girl is. Once arrived in the country of destination, the girls are taken into brothels, their passports confiscated, and immediately put to work as prostitutes. They are supposed to be free after they pay back this debt, but they invariably get sold to another pimp. It’s a vicious circle that generates a lot of money. It keeps the business running and the girls in captivity.
Every day they are raped, fisted, bent backwards, pissed on, badly beaten up. They never receive money from the client or the pimp. They are not allowed to contact anybody. Escaping traffickers is not easy. It’s not a simple case that one can just jump out of a window and she is free, especially when some of the regular clients are police officers. Being illegal out there can be more dangerous than living in a brothel. Most of the time their visas get renewed even though they are in captivity.
I met seventeen women who survived sexual slavery. I went to see how they managed to live with the traumas they had experienced in a world that knows nothing about their suffering. Some of them too fragile; some very strong, trying to leave behind an unwanted past. I explained the reasons for my work in detail to every woman I photographed. I had to be both discreet and protective. These women were still dealing with strong emotional issues.
Dana Popa is a London, England based artist and is the winner of Center's 2010 Project Competition Award
