Dozens of women trafficked from Sub-Saharan Africa to the Middle East secretly recorded their experiences living under modern-day slavery. The women, among hundreds lured from Liberia, Uganda, Malawi and other African countries, were tricked into believing they would start stable, well-paid jobs in Oman, Saudi Arabia or Iraq. But upon arrival, they found themselves enslaved and trapped in cycles of abuse.
As a lifeline, dozens of them recorded a series of voice memos while navigating various stages of being trafficked. Their audio notes range from explanations to friends about what was happening, diaries that helped them survive day-to-day while being exploited and accounts of how they finally escaped. Many had started sharing the memos in survivor solidarity groups and began contacting their families and local media with their detailed accounts.
For Human Trafficking Diaries, journalist Jazzmin Jiwa travels to Uganda to meet some of the survivors whose recorded accounts helped them to make it back home. She documents their experiences and explores their audio diary archives to reveal candid, realtime accounts of living under and escaping from modern-day slavery.
This multimedia project for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation includes an audio documentary, a text piece and photographs.
