Ilja Abbattista spent years hiding her traumatic secret - now she's finally ready to talk and help others. Get the news presented through a female lens and a little shot of inspiration in your inbox every week with our new newsletter, Grace.
We have more newsletters. My hand was rested on the board and they said are you sure? That's when I buckled and said fine, I'll work for a week. This was just the beginning of the gruelling two and a half years that Ilja Abbattista suffered while trying to pay off a debt. Speaking to me from her home, I asked if she was comfortable going into detail about her ordeal to which she replied, "I can talk, as long as I don't feel, once you remember how it feels it's difficult.
Hearing her dog playfully bark in the background, I understood she now lives a life far from what she endured in her 20s. Though not fully healed from the traumas of the past, she stands as a strong woman, sharing her story today as a successful businesswoman who works regularly in Tower Hamlets, East London, empowering women through business coaching. She's now looking to raise awareness of human trafficking and exploitation.
Mum-of-two, Ilja, 50, says her life changed after she turned six. She said: "Up until my sixth birthday life was very normal.
I was born in the Netherlands and moved to the UK at six and half. I went to school and I don't remember being able to speak English, me and my brother were quite lost and thrown into the deep end.
