Lucy's story

Lucy, a mother and wife now, was pleased to have moved on decades ago from her abuser. When she heard about the Telford abuse scandal; where children were sexually exploited and the authorities failed to react, it triggered something in her and made her realise that her experiences as a teenager were not her own fault but that she had been exploited too. She got in touch with the authorities again and was referred to The Salvation Army as a potential victim of slavery where she received outreach support.

Lucy had a normal childhood but then dropped out of school when her relationship with her mother was breaking down. At this point she met a man who became her boyfriend. His behaviour was emotionally abusive from the outset but because Lucy was isolated and had no one she could talk to, and because she cherished the attention he gave her, she put up with it. He knew she was alone and isolated and preyed on that vulnerability.

Eventually she moved in with him but he soon said they needed more money for the house and that he knew of a job she could have to help with this in a massage parlour. Lucy was young and naïve and genuinely thought it was a legitimate job, perhaps as a receptionist. Her ‘boyfriend’ said he would go with her but then disappeared and she was left with another girl who said she would show Lucy the ropes. Lucy was so scared that at first she just went along with the sexual exploitation but when she began to refuse – she had never received any of the money for sleeping with strangers – she would be beaten up. When she went to the authorities for help, it was seen as domestic abuse, as the perpetrator was supposedly her boyfriend and when she went to the police, as she feared for her life, she was told that if she went to court she would be treated as a prostitute and that she needed to stop what she was doing. Her step father was even told he would be prosecuted for living off illegal earnings and her mother was threatened by the traffickers with guns and weapons. No one checked out the facts, such as that Lucy was too young to drive; was being picked up by the police 40 miles from where she lived; that she was still a child. She felt utterly alone.

She still considered her trafficker to be her boyfriend because he provided food and shelter for her. She had to ask for anything she needed and he completely controlled her life. When Lucy found out that her ‘boyfriend’ was doing the same thing with other girls, she felt cheated on, and ran out of the flat and kept on running.  She moved to a different area as she didn’t think anyone would believe her and began to rebuild her life. She is in a relationship now, and has children and has tried to work but her DBS (with a criminal record from when she was being forced to act as a prostitute) stops her from progressing in the care profession or from helping out at her daughter’s school. 

Lucy wants to remove this noose from her neck. She has sought help from various agencies and received some advice from The Salvation Army. Lucy even went back to visit her trafficker, years later and found him a drug addict and a very sad and ill man, who begged her for money. She is still coming to terms with what she went through and with that encounter but she feels stronger now and is so glad she got away when she did. She said;” I don’t hate him, but I don’t have sympathy for him either. I don’t feel anything for him now.”