Serena Franken (35) from Tilburg was abused, raped and abused in her youth. At a young age she had a partner who gave her manipulated, drugs and sexually exploited her. Later she ended up in a wrong relationship with a man who wanted to sell her as a sex slave. Every year, around five thousand people fall victim to human trafficking. Serena now helps other victims with her story.
At the age of fifteen, Serena met a man who at first sight seemed very nice. “In the beginning I felt seen by him. I had never felt that, so that was very nice,” she says. But the longer the relationship lasted, the more violent the man became. “It was a circle of violence and abuse. He threw my head against the wall and I had to have sex with him wherever and when he wanted it. He also put me naked in front of the webcam and wanted others to watch if we had sex. It was terrible.”
According to Serena, her boyfriend was addicted to Speed and also gave her drugs. As a result, she also developed a drug addiction. “I couldn’t stand up for myself, so I didn’t know how to leave. I all have traumas.” In the end she managed to get out of the relationship.
“In the beginning he was very charming.”
When she was in the early twenties, Serena got a different relationship. “He was very charming and had a lot of prestige. He gave me a lot of attention and I really liked that.” After a while the man asked if she voluntarily wanted to go into prostitution. Serena already had a prostitution history and she agreed.
Beautiful things were promised and she received a lot of gifts. But according to Serena the man manipulated her and also gave her drugs. “I was in love and did not listen to my gut feeling. Because of my traumas and everything I had experienced in the past, I had also developed a sex and porn slavy. That made sure that I ended up in a very wrong world. I was completely lost.”
In the end, her boyfriend suggested going on vacation to Turkey together. According to Serena, he wanted to smuggle drugs and she had to bring her passport. The fact that she had to take her passport was explicitly said several times.
Serena was planning to come along until she was warned by an acquaintance. “That knowledge came to me completely upset. He said a plan was set up to sell me as a sex slave abroad,” says Serena. “Because of the way he warned me, I knew it was serious and that I had to be gone. I broke all the contact with my friend.”
She was left alone by the man. “But it could have turned out very differently,” she realizes. “At that time I made the good choice and that really saved me,” she says.
Serena has now been kicked and has thrown her life over a completely different bow. “It went so badly that at some point I really felt: it has to be different, otherwise I really go under it and I just die. I have had to fight very hard to overcome my traumas, but it worked,” she says crying. “I am really proud of myself because I had to come from very far.”
She now helps other victims of sexual exploitation and human trafficking. She also gives guest lessons and lectures, including at Avans Hogeschool in Den Bosch. There she also tells her life story. “Recognizing the signals of victims is very important. Someone can withdraw, be quieter, it is not always visible immediately.”
“I am grateful that I can now help others.”
“Human trafficking has different forms. A girl who is forced by her friend to have sex with his friends is also a form of human trafficking. If I now look back on everything I have experienced, even the worst, I feel gratitude because I can now help others,” she says with tears in her eyes.
The week against human trafficking
In the Netherlands, according to the National Rapporteur Humanhandel, there are an estimated five thousand victims of human trafficking per year. A large part of the victims is not visible to care providers and police. Some dare not make a declaration. In 2023, 868 reports of human trafficking were made to CoMensha, the coordination center against human trafficking, but this is only a small part of the actual number of cases.
There are different forms of human trafficking, such as sexual exploitation, labor exploitation or forced crime.
In the Zeeland-West-Brabant region, 37 municipalities work together with various partners, such as the police, the Public Prosecution Service, TF-Riec and the Dutch Labor Inspectorate in tackling human trafficking. From September 29 to October 5, the week is against human trafficking.