Trafficked.

I am reading a book at the moment.
Not the relaxing type.
Nor romantic.
Not really a thriller.
More like a real life horror story.
It's called 'Trafficked' by Sophie Hayes.
You wouldn't describe it as a light hearted read, that's for sure.
However, if like me you have daughters (in my case 7) who are all quite adventurous and whom I encourage to travel and see the world, it is certainly a book I would recommend.

I don't tend to 'do' the Disney version of life for my teenagers.
I don't think it works.
Years in Secondary Schools has taught me that a few shock tactics work better.
At some stage, our children have to realise that the 'disney' version of life is lovely, but there is a much darker side as well.
I am not talking 'Twilight' here either!
I want my girls to love life, to embrace it fully, to travel, to do as much as they want.
But I want them to be aware too.
Aware of the dangers out there.
Not to scare them into never moving from North Wales.
Rather so they perhaps can foresee situations before they may happen and thus avoid these.
We cannot prepare for every eventuality, but we can try.

A long time ago , we used to drive from Prague all the way back to England.
Before all the motorways were build it was a very , very long drive.
It involved a lot of bumpy, badly constructed roads, no sign posts and ill lit at night to say the least. In many places there were no lights at all, and rather deep ditches each side of the roads.
We had a few near misses. It was pretty hair raising.
On our journey out of the Czech Republic was a somewhat infamous road.
There was never a good time to drive along it, especially if you were a singe man (as friends have told us!)
Along this road were lots of ladies in bikinis (as my eldest, then age 6 described as we past them all). Of course they were not in bikinis at all, but rather a selection of dubious undergarments.
It was very strange and very creepy.
At night it was even worse, they appeared from trees and bushes along the way. Houses had red lights and dancers. Thankfully the children slept! I prayed we would not brake down or crash.

I am not sure, since they build the motorway, if the road still exists. I am sure the ladies have moved on as it would be far quieter now.

In many of the cities we have visited we have seen some disturbing sights. Not quite as unnerving as these, but rather strange.

Reading Sophie Hayes book has made me uncomfortably aware that I may well have witnessed women, like herself who were forced into prostitution.
Did I just pass them by?
Did I judge them?
Did I just not stop because I was worried about my own family?
Maybe I could have helped more?

Stop the Traffik is a sobering website to visit.

It clearly shows that the slave trade is alive and well, just in a modern 21st century format.

Take a look.

Because of Sophie's experiences she has set up a foundation http://www.sophiehayesfoundation.org/

to help and support other victims of these appalling crimes.

Sophie was somebody's daughter.

An ordinary girl, with an ordinary job, who went out to Italy to stay with a boy who had been a close friend for 6 years.

He changed her life.

If like me you have grown up daughters, I would read this, pass it onto them to read.

This is not a Hollywood movie, it's real life and it happens.