Teen forced into prostitution

DUBAI // A mother who forced her 16- year- old daughter to work as a prostitute has been jailed for two years.

At Dubai Criminal Court in August, the 42- year- old Pakistani denied a human-trafficking charge.

The court heard the girl became pregnant during her work. A 50-year-old Pakistani man was also charged with human trafficking because he was allegedly responsible for arranging liaisons with customers, but was found not guilty. Records showed that the mother brought her daughter from Pakistan last year after telling her she had found her a job in a beauty salon. The girl arrived with both of her parents.

“They told me that I was here to work as a prostitute,” said the victim. “I refused, but my mother started yelling at me and telling me I had to repay the costs they paid.”

She was sent to a hotel where she was forced to have sex with men. She continued to work as a prostitute until her mother’s visa expired after which both of them returned to Pakistan. “We came back to Dubai in June last year and my mother started sending me to customers. On one occasion she sent me to Sharjah, where I was arrested.” She said that she had once asked a customer for help and to call police but he refused.

The teenager is currently being cared for by the Dubai Foundation for Women and Children. She was seven months pregnant when her mother appeared in court on August 15.

The mother will be deported after serving her jail term.