For personal entertainment, the daughter of Nina’s employers, together with her friends, would force Nina to undress and pose in front of a video phone.

“They would pull up my bra. Then they would also pull down my panties. They would take pictures and videos of me with their camera. After some time, they would say ‘we can earn from this,’” Nina vividly recalls. Later on, Jean, her employer’s daughter, circulated the photos and videos to her friends. Soon after, Nina escaped and, after almost getting lost in the city, filed a case against her abusers.

Poverty taught 16-year-old Nina to take risks no matter what. “I wanted to help my family and to study. If I finished my studies, perhaps I would be able to find my father,” she says. Life in her native mountains of Ilocos, in the northern part of the country, had always been harsh, and Nina had never so much as seen her father. Her mother single-handedly supported their family with her daily income of P80 ($1.50) from selling vegetables.

“There was a woman who was going around our neighborhood, looking for people who wanted to work in Manila as domestic workers,” Nina recalls. “I was one of those who really wanted to work. The woman, named Cynthia, came to our house and asked me if I wanted to work in Manila. I said yes, so she told me she would bring me there and help me find an employer.”

Cynthia knew exactly how to convince Nina’s mother. Cynthia assured her mother that Nina would be treated well by her employers, and that money would come easily at P1,700 a month as long as Nina did the laundry and cleaned up her employer’s house.

In reality, Nina’s job turned out to be far from easy. “I would wake up early in the morning, at around 4:30 am, to prepare the children’s breakfast,” Nina narrates, describing an ordinary day. “While cooking, I also clean up the kitchen. While cleaning, I also prepared the clothes for laundry. After preparing the children’s breakfast, I also prepared the breakfast of my employers, who usually left at 7:15 am. When they woke up, I would set the table for their meal. Then I would wash the dishes after they had eaten. After that, I washed the clothes that I would have been soaking for a short time. At around 9 am, I would start cooking their lunch. While cooking, I continued washing the clothes at the same time. I also bathed the pet dogs. After cooking and doing the laundry, I would iron the clothes that I had washed the previous day. In the afternoon, I would clean up the house again and scrub the floor.”

Nina’s only real opportunity for rest came when she took a bath. After taking her bath, however, she would start working again. “I had no day off. But I would sometimes go out with my employer to buy groceries. Then I would return to the house and resume my work. I just did whatever they asked me to do,” Nina said.

Despite her grueling daily routine, Nina got along well with her employer, who eventually went to the United States. Her real problems started when Jean, her employer’s daughter, brought home her friends from the neighboring boarding house, who took an interest in Nina.

“When Jean and her friends were drinking, they would make fun of me and force me to drink too. When I refused, they would threaten not to give me my salary,” Nina said. She only yielded to their demands because she was afraid to lose her hard-earned pay, which she needed to send back home and to save for her studies.

“They would start undressing me and would take videos of me on their cell phones. They said they would post it on the Internet and earn money from it. They said they would also give me my share, so I would have extra income. But I didn’t want to earn money that way. They would force me at first, but eventually I would simply give in because I couldn’t fight them,” she said as she demonstrated how the group would force her to pose.

This degrading form of amusement continued for some time, with Jean physically abusing Nina whenever the latter refused to cooperate. “She would hit me and beat me up. I tried to escape once but I seemed to have gotten used to the beatings. I endured the pain just to earn money,” Nina explained.

Every time the beatings would happen, Nina felt humiliated and disgusted, but she could do nothing but cry. She had nobody to talk to and was afraid that no one would believe her. The abuse happened a number of times until Nina finally learned how to say no. “I felt so dizzy. But they just shook my head; my head was spinning… While I was lying down, they pulled my legs up and then spread them apart. I fought back. They let go of me and left. I escaped that same night,” said Nina with a glint of triumph in her misty eyes.

She ran to a nearby church where she sought the help of a barangay official. But Jean’s group found her and managed to convince the official to release her back to them. After that incident, Jean locked her up in the house for good. “She didn’t want me to work. They also didn’t want to feed me anymore. They said I could no longer do any of the household chores. I asked her permission a number of times to just let me go back to the province, to my family, but she said I still have to wait for her mother to come back from the States. Then, I decided to escape again,” she said.

Nina pulled off her escape when Jean was in school attending her summer classes. Only the houseboy was around at that time to watch over Jean’s friends in the boarding house and a few cousins who were sleeping over for a birthday party.

“After the celebration, I saw where the houseboy kept the key. I took the key and opened the gate, so I could be free. Once I was outside the gate, I got nervous because I didn’t know where I’d stay. I had no money, where would I go? I was afraid because I didn’t know anybody who could help me. I didn’t know how my friend would react. What would she tell me? Would she help me? I was also worried that I might get lost, that I would not be able to see my family again. Then I called up my friend to fetch me,” Nina narrates.

Her friend referred her to a barangay official who brought her to the Philippine General Hospital for a medico-legal examination. Then she was brought to the hospital’s Child Protection Unit whose staff referred her to VF for temporary shelter.

“During my early stay at the safe house, I would always cry because I thought that I wouldn’t have the chance to see my family again. I had lost hope of fulfilling my dreams. The VF staff and the members of SUMAPI would always say that it’s not too late to get up after a fall. They said they would help me in my studies. I thought of everything they told me and realized that I should not give up or let my negative experiences in the past get in my way,” she said.

Healing was difficult for Nina and the people around her. In her first few weeks at the shelter, she would kick and punch the walls and scream out to release her frustration. She refused to be with the other children and at times would quarrel with them, until they began disliking her too.

It was through games and counseling sessions that Nina finally started opening up. Her transformation was simply remarkable. She even decided to file a case against Jean and her friends.

“At first I didn’t want to file a case, but the social workers explained to me my rights as a person, what others shouldn’t have done to exploit me,” Nina reflects. “I can also help my fellow domestic workers who may have experienced the same thing and also educate others on what they shouldn’t do to their domestic workers.” All the same, Nina is frustrated by the slow resolution of her case and is thinking of just going home. Fortunately, her mother has visited her once and, along with other members of Nina’s family, is supporting her in her fight.

“VF helped me find my father, so I finally got to see him,” Nina adds. She has also become more optimistic and takes pride in being enrolled in a non-formal course in cosmetology. In addition, she is a very active member of SUMAPI.

“My friends told me that I should not give up despite what has happened to me. I experienced being poor without any education and having people look down on me. That’s why I want to finish my studies – so they will not look down on me. Though we are poor, at least we are able to study so we can uplift ourselves and other people will no longer call us ignorant,” she ends.