Salma dreamt of becoming a nurse and was training at a local college near her home in Bangladesh when one day, as she walked to classes, she was abducted.

The traffickers responsible took Salma across the border into India. There she was forced to work in a brothel where she was raped multiple times a day, beaten and abused. ‘I was physically and mentally tortured.  They told me they would kill me if I did not do what they said.’  

We helped Salma’s family to report to police that she was missing. Her mother remembers they had little hope ‘Salma is our only daughter so when she went missing we were mad with worry and didn’t know how to get her back.’

But Justice and Care were able to work  with partners and investigators to help locate the teenager and ensure she was brought to safety. Soon after, in an Indian shelter home, she discovered she was pregnant. 

As soon as she was released from the brothel, our Country Director in Bangladesh Tariqul Islam, travelled to meet Salma’s family – a meeting he’ll never forget: ‘I still remember the night I was told that Salma had been rescued in India. I was shown a photograph of her and I went down to her parents so they could identify Salma as their daughter.’ 

Justice and Care then worked to bring Salma home from India, reuniting her with her family. ‘The day I got my daughter back was the happiest day of my life,’ Salma’s father said. We have since helped Salma rebuild her life – providing counselling, medical care and support to establish her own tailoring business. She has also now learnt to drive and recently passed her professional driving license to allow her to earn money as a driver.

A few months ago, Salma got married. Tariqul says he couldn’t be more proud: ‘Human trafficking is a far too common crime. We will not rest until it is eradicated. Salma’s story reminds us how lives can be rebuilt and hope restored.’

*Name changed to protect identity