A Brazilian woman is freed from trafficking after connecting with a survivor previously helped by The Exodus Road

Bruna* was scrolling social media one day when she saw a story that must have taken her breath away.

A young man named Phelipe from her home country, Brazil, was talking about his experience of being labor trafficked to a scamming compound in Myanmar. Boldly and without shame, this young man talked about the conditions he’d endured while being forced to scam others and about the way that The Exodus Road Brazil had worked around the clock to get him and his fellow survivor Luckas home.

Bruna was hooked by the story for a very important reason: it sounded eerily like her own.

For two months, Bruna had been in a Myanmar hotel where she was exploited. Like Phelipe and Luckas before her, she had pursued what she believed to be a legitimate job offer. Instead, she found herself in a torturous trap where long working hours left her exhausted, underpaid, and underfed

Bruna came across Phelipe‘s (left) story while scrolling on social media. From her home country, Brazil, Phelipe spoke about his experience of being labor trafficked to a scamming compound in Myanmar—and it sounded eerily like her own. 

Desperate for help, Bruna used social media to connect with the same organization Phelipe credited with bringing him home: The Exodus Road.

Immediately, The Exodus Road Brazil’s Country Director was in contact with Bruna. Working with government officials and other NGOs, the team worked tirelessly to find a way to extricate Bruna. Finally, we managed to coordinate the escape by subtly deceiving the Chinese mafia, who had recruited Bruna in the first place. 

“The entire transportation was controlled by the mafia,” our Country Director explained in a later interview with Globo. “They changed the route, switching cars at least three times, to avoid the route and bypass the various toll booths. The mafia also only allowed her to leave because they didn’t realize we were in talks with the victim and that we would give her the money [for travel and repatriation]. Her repatriation to Brazil was facilitated because we received support from the state government where she lives. The cost of her travel was covered by the NGO RESGATE.”

That escape operation took a full month to coordinate. When Bruna finally landed back on her home soil in Brazil, two of the traffickers involved in her exploitation were immediately arrested. 

Today, Bruna is able to recover her strength and reconnect with her sense of dignity and self after months of grueling exploitation. Her case is a clear example of the ways that connection — across countries, across cultures, across professional and personal sectors — can turn the tide in the fight against human trafficking.

*Pseudonym used to protect the survivor’s identity