I was kidnapped and sold at 5 by a relative, to a relative in another country, for a paedophile.
It all looked legal.
I was never allowed to forget that I was property.
The death threats were constant against me, against my family.
Abuse does not begin to describe what I experienced.
The immigration office saw no problem with tying my visa to him after deciding, in the end, not to deport me after my two years were up, aged 7.
I tried to seek help from social services when I was 10, but was not able to verbalise most of what was happening to me.
It ended with another threat of deportation.
I could make peace with being someone who fell through the cracks, but the truth is that there is no well-intentioned system here.
Victims still face the threat of deportation for speaking out. They would have sent me to my death.
End this inhumane practice.
I never thought I would make it past my tenth birthday.
I turned 31 today.
Life is good. But I was very, very lucky.