Kenya is a high-risk country for human trafficking, being a destination, source and transit country for victims. People are trafficked while taking long and dangerous journeys, often across continents, in search of work elsewhere. Migrants believe that a better life awaits them in unknown countries, although, on the way, many fall prey to smugglers, traffickers and armed groups. The push factor that makes such victims vulnerable to trafficking is mostly poverty.

These are the real stories of two survivors of such experiences.

Monica, a 38-year-old mother of three, was trafficked from Kenya to Lebanon under the false pretences of a better job, which turned into a form of modern slavery.

Shannice, a 25-year-old graduate, travelled to Dubai to work as a teacher but was forced into domestic work instead, enduring physical and emotional abuse in the process. Luckily, they both managed to escape and were able to return to Kenya.

Kenyan journalist Judie Kaberia, one of the GI-TOC’s 2020 Resilience Fellows, speaks to Monica and Shannice to draw attention to this pervasive criminal market in the country.