NOT NATASHA (Moldavia, 2006)
Since the fall of the Iron Curtain trafficking in women has become the most profitable illegal activity in Eastern Europe. Women from there are sold into Western Europe, Saudi Arabia and Dubai, among other destinations. Victims tell horrifying stories of exploitation, rape and abuse. Often they become infected with sexually transmitted diseases such as hepatitis or AIDS. Moldavia is a main source for Eastern European sex slaves. Dana Popa photographed a shelter there for women who had been freed from their ‘handlers’ and returned to their country. Popa wanted to record how these women live in secret with a ‘broken soul’: they cannot tell their mother or husband what happened to them, for fear of being thrown out on the street.
