Carina’s Story

Pregnant with her second child, Carina* was eager to make some money to support her family. She answered a job ad for a marketing role and travelled to Brazil to start work. However, as she landed in Brazil, two men bundled her into a car and took her to a run-down neighborhood.

For three weeks, Carina was locked inside a flat, raped repeatedly, beaten and given little food. She was then told that she would smuggle drugs to Hong Kong. Carina refused, but her traffickers threatened to kill her family. Carina was held down while 2 kg of cocaine was strapped to her legs.

Upon arrival in Hong Kong, Carina was searched and arrested for drug trafficking. However, despite providing clear evidence, her human trafficking experience was never investigated by the authorities. She was sentenced to 25 years where she remains in prison here in Hong Kong today. 

After losing her criminal appeal in March 2020, Carina reached out to Dignity Institute to seek assistance. We are now pooling their know-how and resources together to gather new evidence about Carina’s experiences so that her criminal matter can be reopened. Recently, one of Carina’s children fell sick and Dignity Institute has also been helping with her family’s difficulties back home.

*pseudonym used