Slavery in the 21st century.

• Author: Trujillo, Amparo
• Position: Inter-American System

"From one minute to the next my life was never to be the same again," recalls Sara. Six years ago, Sara's world collapsed when she was kid napped as she walked to school in Managua, Nicaragua.

Now eighteen, Sara wants to give a personal account of her experience. She wants governments, parliaments, and diplomats, as well as the public to confront cite of the most degrading crimes a human being Call experience: to be sold like merchandise.

Trafficking in persons is a modern manifestation of the ancient crime of slavery. Deceit also has claimed many victims, most of them attracted by offers of work or study overseas. According to experts, trafficking in persons is an illegal business comparable to other transnational crimes such as arms trading or drug dealing. Traffickers earn between U854,000 and $50,000 per person, depending on the place of origin and destination of the victim. Such is the case of Sara, according to Colombian investigator Juan Sanchez, who has traveled throughout Central America interviewing victims of trafficking.

Sara's story began on a day like any other, when she left her house very early to catch the school bus. She was walking alone, as she did every morning, to meet with ten or more other children who got together to chat about their daily activities. A taxi stopped by and the driver asked her about an address. Sara remembers nothing more.

She woke up hi an unfamiliar place where there were other young girls guarded by three women. What followed could be the story of thousands of children, adolescents, and women used for commercial sexual exploitation in its various forms: prostitution, pornography, sexual tourism, and other criminal activities within the bounds of human trafficking.

Sara's parents went to the police and lodged a complaint, but as time went by inquiries yielded no positive results. They knocked on all possible doors: national security services, private investigators, the church, and any others that might shed light on their daughter's whereabouts.

The youngster, who at twelve could not understand what was about to happen to her, lived a nightmare. In less than a week, Sara was sold to some men who in turn sold her to others, until she was brought to the United States and made to serve in a brothel.

"I did whatever I could to get out of that place when I was eighteen, after being dragged front place to place and passed from hand to hand. Someone helped me to go to the authorities, but they deported...