A teenager has told how her parents sold her into prostitution when she was just 13 years old.
The girl, who is Iraqi and is now 17, was brought to Dubai on a fake passport and forced to have sex with men every day for money.
Her new owners were raking in thousands of dirhams a night by exploiting the teenager.
She told how she would be taken to bars and hotels in Dubai where she was offered to men. If she refused then she would be beaten.
Her ordeal, which went on for more than three years, emerged during the trial of her alleged traffickers at Dubai Court of First Instance yesterday.
The court heard that the girl had been sold by her parents because they were desperately poor. Prosecutors said the couple were paid four million Iraqi Dinnar ($3,000) for their daughter in 2005.
“I was living in Iraq with my parents when one of the defendants came to my parents and offered to buy me and they agreed,” the teenager said.
“The woman handed over the money and took me from my home.”
The woman and the girl flew to the UAE, landing in Sharjah, where they were met by the woman’s husband.
“He gave me a fake passport saying I was their daughter and then they got a residence visa for me in the UAE,” the teenager said.
“I lived with them and they used to take me to parties and force me to be a prostitute. I had many customers. “Every day I would work in the sex industry for their benefit and they would beat me if I refused,” she added.
The situation continued until January, when police caught the couple at Sharjah International Airport. The court heard they had been planning to take the girl to Bahrain.
The victim is now recovering at a women’s refuge, where she is receiving help to cope with her ordeal.
The defendants, an Iraqi couple, have gone on trial in connection with the girl’s abuse, charged with human trafficking.
They have pleaded not guilty and the case has been adjourned.
The case emerged just days after a report from the US Department of State urged the UAE government to do more to tackle human trafficking.
The UAE’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Dr Anwar Gargash, described the report as “disappointing and distorted”.
Oh my God, look at what the Minister says
The UAE’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Dr Anwar Gargash, described the report as “disappointing and distorted”.
Is he blind to all the prostitutes readily available in Dubai? Or is he trying to take us for suckers? Well, I am not a sucker, Doctor Gargash. Take a nice walk down Khalid Bin Waleed Rd., at 2 am in the morning, and see for yourself if you get "disappointing and distorted" by what you see.
Pathetic parents!! They shouldn't even call them parents!
there are parents who risk their lives to save their children when in danger, and these selfish a**les sold their daughter!