In late 2010, the Medical Missionaries of Mary in Ireland invited a young woman, named Iris, to Ireland to speak with students at DKIT (Dundalk Institute of Technology) - and tell them her story. During her time in Ireland, the 'Documentary on One' was granted exclusive access to record with Iris.

In 2004 Iris was a student going through a troubled part of her life. Like many others, to her human trafficking was something that she came across from time to time through a news piece or newspaper article. The idea of being kidnapped during a job interview and forced to work as a prostitute was something she only saw in Hollywood movies. However, this was about to become her nightmare reality when she was betrayed by a friend and coaxed to a false interview, where her kidnappers pounced.

This documentary tells the story of how Iris was befriended and betrayed by a woman she had shared intimate details of her life with. Unbeknown to Iris this woman was working for a criminal gang and when she met Iris at a vulnerable stage in her life she saw an opportunity. To her Iris was profit and with this in mind she built her trust before selling her into slavery.

For three days Iris was beaten and raped before being forced to take heroin and left in a darkened room. She vividly remembers her first clients coming to her and the reality that faced her hit her hard. Regularly forced to phone her mother and tell her lies so as not to arouse suspicion, Iris lived as a slave until the day she saw her chance to escape.

This documentary is Iris telling her story as her brother sits next to her, hearing the intimate details of her enforced prostitution for the first time. Iris bravely recalls how she was kidnapped and what daily life was then like, how she was moved from house to house, how she never had any contact with anyone else and how she eventually escaped and regained her freedom.

Site with more information (RTE does not endorse external sites):

APT - Act To Prevent Trafficking

Medical Missionaries of Mary

‘Sex slave: A Survivor's Story' was produced by Brian Kenny.
Sound Supervision by Anton Timoney.
Production Supervision by Ronan Kelly.

First broadcast Saturday 29th January 2011.

An Irish radio documentary from RTÉ Radio 1, Ireland - Documentary on One - the home of Irish radio documentaries.