For Sale: My Fight Against Sex Trafficking in Europe

"Ionela is 15 years old and a sex slave. That's pretty much all I know about her, but for me, it's more than enough: I need to save her."

Eastern European countries have become the continent's main suppliers of prostitutes. It is estimated that more than 300,000 women currently work as call girls in Europe. The overwhelming majority of them have been sold and will be resold multiple times.

Every year, thousands of young women are traded like pieces of meat, circulating throughout the European continent and the rest of the world. Victims of sexual exploitation, they are torn from their home countries and work as call girls, under the neglectful eyes of society and under the threat of being beaten or killed by their pimps and traffickers.

Every year, thousands of teenage girls are dumped on sidewalks across Europe. Torn from their childhood prematurely, they are forced into prostitution in exchange for a few euros. This money goes to none of them, but to the pimp, who is just one end of a powerful, lucrative, and corrupt human trafficking system, in which even authorities are implicated.

These girls endure all kinds of torture, humiliation, and physical abuse. But along the way, some of them may encounter people like Lana Matei.

In "For Sale ," Lana narrates the stories of the girls she rescued and cared for in her shelter for victims of sex trafficking. Their suffering, their reactions to life after the trauma, the constant persecution by traffickers, and the daily struggle of those willing to confront this network of crimes so obvious—and yet ignored by the public and many authorities—are all present in this powerful book.

For Sale is a sensitive and realistic portrayal of human trafficking and youth prostitution in Europe and around the world. Lana Matei delivers a moving and shocking account, sparking reflection on the value of life and human dignity.