A children’s park in the temporary transit centre for migrants and refugees "Vinojug" in Gevgelija, North Macedonia.
Abandoned by her family, forced to sleep with men, and living inside a box – and all by the time Agnija* was only 11 years old.
She was still only a child, but she had already lost all hope of escaping the nightmare she had been living.
Her story is one of thousands of child victims of human trafficking, who make up over 30 per cent of all identified trafficking victims globally - a figure that is five times higher than it was 15 years ago.
“Children are trafficked for sexual exploitation, domestic servitude, forced labour, forced marriage or forced begging, often by family members, relatives and friends,” said Marija Todorovska, who works as Programme Director at the non-governmental organization Open Gate – La Strada, based in Skopje, North Macedonia.
Agnija experienced almost all of these.
“Most child victims come from a context of poverty, disadvantaged background, dysfunctional families and parental neglect,” Todorovska added.
It all began after her eighth birthday. Agnija lived on the outskirts of a North Macedonian city with her mother, a cleaner, her father, who occasionally did odd jobs in the neighbourhood, and five siblings.
Her father started to drink too much, and her parents began to quarrel often. Whenever her mother cried, the children would cry, too.
Soon, Agnija could no longer go to school. Her older sister, who had started begging on the streets some time ago, encouraged her to do the same. Often, the children had nothing to eat, and begging was the only way to get food.
One day, the sister invited Agnija to an abandoned hotel. “I have friends there, they’re helping me,” she said.
Welcomed by a middle-aged man and a woman with a small baby, Agnija felt she had found someone who could help. The couple would give the children food and clothes.
The girl trusted the couple and went there often. The couple took drugs, and then Agnija started taking them, too.
Before long, all the money she earned from begging ended up in the hands of the couple. This would go on for a long time.
When Agnija was left with nothing – again – the couple told her: “Today, you'll get into a taxi with a man, and he'll take you somewhere.”
Agnija had heard rumours about what those adults did to children, so she was afraid. But there was no one to protect her.
From that day on, Agnija was forced to go with other men for money: the woman with the baby told her she had to pay back the debt for the clothes she had received.
When Agnija turned 11, her mother moved to Germany, leaving her children behind.
This is when Agnija met an older guy who promised to love her and protect her. He did not help. On the contrary, he continued to exploit her, offered her to men for money and kept all the proceeds for himself.
At that time, Agnija often had to sleep in a cardboard box. She had no money and no food. Once again.
Her mother returned three years later. She took Agnija, now 14, to live with her grandmother. But the girl was not accepted there.
“There they abused me, made me clean all day, and only gave me what was left to eat.“
In less than a year, the grandmother forced Agnija into two violent and harsh “unions” with older men, even though child marriage is illegal in North Macedonia.
Child marriage is one of the most common forms of child trafficking worldwide.
One husband sexually abused her, so she ran away. The other wanted to keep her in the house without letting her leave.
Her mother, meanwhile, had requested an official divorce from her own husband – a move which prompted the police to search for her underage children as a matter of procedure.
When the police eventually found her, Agnija was convinced they were going to put her in jail: the girl had taken drugs and stolen things to feed herself.
But at the police station, social workers approached Agnija. “You are safe now,” they said.
Identifying victims of trafficking can be a challenging task: "Frontline workers such as police, law enforcement, social workers, medical professionals and teachers must be proactive," said Marija Todorovska.
“They should be able to recognize the signs of ongoing exploitation. These can be physical marks of violence, absence from school and behavioural changes,” she added.
“When investigating and prosecuting trafficking cases, children need special attention,” said Ilija Trpkov, a judge at the Basic Criminal Court in Skopje, who has worked on trafficking cases for years.
“We are careful to interview child victims in the presence of specially trained professionals to avoid secondary victimization.”
“It is important to ensure the reintegration and adequate social inclusion of children who may have suffered severe trauma during trafficking,” said Stojna Atanasovska Dimishkovska, National Project Officer in the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in North Macedonia.
UNODC works with experts around the world to strengthen the fight against child trafficking.
“UNODC's work is producing tangible results in improving and promoting a victim-centred and trauma-informed approach," Dimishkovska said.
Life at the shelter was difficult at first. After years of exploitation, abuse and terror, Agnija did not trust anyone. It took a long time for her to recover.
She could finally breathe again. She felt happy. “The social workers gave me the courage to believe that things can change,” she said through tears.
The girl enrolled in school, learned to read and write, started learning languages and attending creative workshops.
“I didn't believe a stranger could change my life, but now I'm different. There are good people in the world.”
When she is older, she wants to have a good job and her own home.
______________________________________________* The name of the victim has been changed
