Romanian woman testifies against organised crime group
Safety
November 2024
With IJM’s support, 20-year-old Ofelia*, a survivor of sex trafficking in Romania, testified against the organised crime group who exploited her.
After over a year of exploitation across Romania, Ofelia was referred to IJM to receive vital support to heal – enabling her to provide valuable information to police.
Ofelia’s nightmare began when, aged 18, she met an older man in her hometown who showed great interest in her. Lacking affection and understanding from her family and friends, Ofelia was flattered by his attention. They became friends on social media and started talking daily.
Ofelia fell in love and accepted his proposal to move in with him. But immediately, the man confiscated her identity documents, prevented her from leaving and subjected her to physical, sexual, emotional and verbal abuse.
Ofelia was taken to an area popular with tourists, where she was sexually exploited by the perpetrator’s son.
The family continued exploiting Ofelia across different cities in Romania for ten months, keeping all the money for themselves. Ofelia was forced to use drugs and continuously subjected to violence.
Eventually, the perpetrators planned to fly Ofelia to another European country to further exploit her. Thankfully, Ofelia managed to get hold of her phone and called the police to ask for help.
The police brought Ofelia to safety, and she was reunited with her mother. Ofelia is currently attending university, while receiving ongoing support from IJM.
Read more about our work to end sexual exploitation across Central and Eastern Europe >>
*Pseudonym. The image is an actor and does not depict an IJM survivor.