Daughters’ Tragic Tale: Forced into UAE Prostitution by a Pakistani Mother. A Pakistani mother forces her daughters into prostitution in the UAE.
Emirates 24/7 reported in March 2016 that a Pakistani mother had been caught forcing her two teenage daughters into prostitution after bringing them to the UAE. The mother was heard before the Dubai Criminal Court following two undercover inspectors’ inspection of a massage center in Karama. Inspector Haitham Ibrahim of the Ministry of Labor testified, “When we entered the male massage center, the receptionist offered us three girls for services; one of them was very young.”
MA, the youngest girl with no ID, asked the inspectors for protection while the receptionist threatened her in Urdu. She told the inspector she had been working at the center for a year. Her mother reportedly “sold” her to the center’s owner in exchange for Dh8,000, who seized her passport and forced her to do this work.
Daughters’ Tragic Tale: Forced into UAE Prostitution by Pakistani Mother
According to MA, her mother took her and her sister to the UAE to “pursue their studies” and secured visit visas via the sponsorship of the center. FA, a 22-year-old Pakistani employee working at the center, met the two girls at Sharjah International Airport and transported them to an apartment where they were imprisoned for a month before being forced to work in the massage parlor. MA reported that “when we refused, other men beat us till we said yes. The men also threatened to bring our younger sisters if we refused.”
MA and her sister returned to Pakistan during the last ten days of Ramadan and refused to return to Dubai. Nevertheless, their mother threatened them and beat their siblings until they agreed to return. MA reported that her sister was “sent back to Pakistan after FA raped her and she got pregnant.” Once back in Dubai, MA tried unsuccessfully to seek police or customer help.
Police referred the three Pakistani workers in the center and two fugitives to the court in 2016 on accusations of human trafficking, physical assault, and exploiting the victim for sexual acts.
