Her Dreams: Survivor pursues law career after taking on her own trafficker

This Spring, donations* to Justice & Care will be doubled through our match-funding campaign – Her Future, which shines a light on the disproportionate impact of modern slavery on women and girls. Donate between April 16 and May 31 to double your impact and support survivors on their journey to freedom, justice and empowerment.

Tumpa**, a young student in Bangladesh, dreams of pursuing a degree in law and becoming an advocate for human trafficking survivors. Like many others, she is driven by a keen sense of justice. But for her, this fight is personal, as she has first-hand experience of this brutal crime.

After being sexually exploited, Tumpa courageously took on her traffickers and helped put them behind bars. Her story shines a light on the brutality of trafficking and its prevalence against women and girls. But it is also one of hope, empowerment and immense strength.

‘After passing my HSC exam, I’ll pursue Bachelor of Laws and Master of Laws degrees and eventually become an advocate’, she says. ‘As an advocate, I aim to serve Justice & Care and provide support to marginalized individuals who cannot fight legally against their perpetrators.’

Tumpa was just 16 when she met a man who promised her marriage. The relationship turned out to be a lie when she was trafficked to West Bengal in India. Here, she was kept in a tin shed in an isolated field, repeatedly raped and faced threats to her life.

Tragically, her story is echoed by tens of thousands of girls in Bangladesh, with an estimated 1.2 million people living in modern slavery in Bangladesh on any given day. Women and girls are regularly exploited in legal and illegal sex establishments, hotels and households, lured with fraudulent promises of work and trapped by fake debts.

The realisation that her traffickers planned to sell her gave Tumpa the courage to make a daring escape. Fleeing the tin shed she’d been kept in for nearly two months, she ran as fast as she could until she finally reached a road and begged for help from a stranger, who took her to police.

After spending months in a shelter home, the teenager was helped to return safely home to Bangladesh by our team in 2020. Here, she faced challenges reintegrating into society and was severely judged by her community for the brutal sexual exploitation she had faced – an issue many of the female survivors we work with in Bangladesh face.

Tumpa was traumatised from her experiences and our aftercare team – including one of our Aftercare Case Facilitators, who have lived experience of slavery themselves – launched emergency support to help her through this incredibly challenging time. This included counselling, rehabilitation and medical care. But Tumpa also had another battle on her hands: she wanted justice.

With the support of Justice & Care’s legal team, Tumpa and her family launched a case against her traffickers. This set into action a lengthy legal battle, which saw her traffickers attempt to bribe Tumpa’s father to drop the case and spread vicious gossip that she was ‘a bad girl involved in prostitution’.

Tumpa says the intense harassment left her feeling ‘mentally broken’, causing her to drop out of school for a period of time. Despite ongoing pressures for an out-of-court settlement, she bravely held her ground and saw the ringleader in her trafficking sentenced to life in prison. Three other traffickers were each sentenced to five years in prison.

Tumpa and our legal team made history with this battle – with Tumpa becoming the first ever trafficking survivor to be awarded compensation by a court order in Bangladesh, a substantial amount totalling ৳160,000 (£1,030).

Since her return to Bangladesh, our team has supported Tumpa to return to school and provided vocational and life skills trainings. Today, the young woman is thriving in school – having passed her Secondary School Certificate exam with a good GPA and enrolled in higher secondary education.

Tumpa is also one of the women working at JoyJatra Food Corner – a small restaurant recently set up by five survivors we have supported. [Insert link to article on food corner here]. The steady employment, along with Justice & Care’s support for Tumpa’s father’s ice cream business, has enabled her to become economically empowered and pay for her education.

‘I’m completely happy with my job and education’, Tumpa said. ‘When I received my first salary and went home for a festival, I bought some dresses for my parents. They proudly showed off their new clothes, saying, “Hey, look, my daughter bought these beautiful outfits with the money she earned!” I was overwhelmed and burst into tears of joy.’

Deeply affected by her experience of trafficking, Tumpa is now determined to dedicate her future to helping others. She plans to pursue law and use her expertise to help other survivors take on their traffickers – and, like she did, win.

*Up to £235,000.

**name changed to protect identity

Our work in Bangladesh is made possible by UK International Development and the Home Office Modern Slavery Innovation Fund