Lily arrived in Barcelona from Moldova in 2012, when she was only 23. Soon after, she reportedly told the Spanish police that she was a trafficking victim and requested assistance. But, when they asked her to name her traffickers, she recanted, seemingly afraid that the trafficking network would hurt her children if she gave them up.
Lily never attempted to make another police report. But she never stopped asking for help. For seven years, she explained her situation to anyone who would listen. Organisations, lawyers, social workers, elected officials, even her neighbours knew that Lily was being sexually exploited by traffickers.
But time and again, Lily was told that unless she reported her traffickers to the police, the system could not protect her. In early April 2019, her trafficker beat her so badly she ended up in the hospital. Once there, she was also diagnosed with leukaemia, though she died from those injuries.
