Survivor Stories: Abigail

Abigail left Ghana to travel for a job she had been promised would help provide for her struggling family. Instead of a good job, she experienced exploitation and violence at the hands of her traffickers.

Trouble started for me when my father married a second wife and stopped providing for my mother, siblings and I.

Since I  am the oldest child, my mother needed me to help support the family. When a job agent came to my small village promising good pay if I travelled to Lebanon to become a domestic worker, I went with him.

The agent lied to me. When I arrived in Lebanon, my passport was confiscated, and I was forced to work in several different homes where I was physically and psychologically abused.

After two years of experiencing this kind of abuse and receiving no pay, I ran away. Luckily, I found a shelter who helped me get into contact with IOM. The Emergency Assistance Fund (EVA), coordinated and paid for my flight back to Ghana and provided reintegration assistance so that I could start a small business once I settled at home.

Although inflation in Ghana continues to rise, with EVA’s reintegration assistance I’ve been able to invest in a small cocoa farm and my mother and I have started a shop selling beverages.

I recently gave birth to a son, and even though I don’t know what the future holds, I want to continue growing my business so that I can support him and the rest of my family.

With support from IOM Ghana through the Emergency Victim Assistance Fund (EVA), funded by the U.S. Department of State Trafficking in Persons Office, Abigail was able to return to Ghana and received reintegration assistance, which is helping her and her family invest in their cocoa farm.