Trafficked victim 'who was raped 43,000 times' helps girls escape life as sex slaves

A human trafficking victim who was raped "43,000 times" as a teenager now travels the world as a passionate human rights activist helping other young women escape this global pandemic of modern day slavery.

Karla Jacinto, who already had been sexually abused at five-years-old by a relative, was raped 30 times a day, seven days a week from the age of 12 to 16.

She was first lured by a trafficker who promised gifts and a better lifestyle, and who also sympathised with her by telling her he had also been abused as a child. He later convinced her to leave her family who had disowned her.

"When I saw the car, I couldn't believe it. I was very impressed by such a big car. It was exciting for me. He asked me to get in the car to go places," she told CNN.

"The following day, I left with him. I lived with him for three months during which he treated me very well. He loved on me, he bought me clothes, gave me attention, bought me shoes, flowers, chocolates, everything was beautiful."

Disaster broke when he then started telling her to service clients on a regular basis, how she had to treat and talk to them to get more money.

She then became a prostitute in Guadalajara, Mexico's largest city. She was later rescued in 2008 as part of an anti-trafficking operation in Mexico City.

She now travels the globe helping other women to recover from being trafficked and even met Pope Francis to raise awareness of the pandemic affecting her home city where an estimated 20,000 women fall prey to traffickers, according to the International Organisation for Migration.

Karla claims that some of her attackers were "uniformed police officers" including judges, priests and pastors. "I thought they were disgusting," she said. "They knew we were minors – we were not even developed. We had sad faces. Nowadays people are listening to me."

It is estimated there are around 20-30 million slaves in the world today. Around 80% of trafficking involves sexual exploitation, and 19% involves labour exploitation. DoSomething.org, a global movement of 5.5 million young people and A21 campaign, a non-profit organisation are both aimed at abolishing this injustice.