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A former “sex slave” says she was coerced into having sex with undergraduates in Cambridge when she was as young as 14.

The woman, who is now 55, grew up in Cambridge. When she was only 14, she says she was inducted into an underground world of sex slavery in the city, enduring violence and coercion as she was sold to men, including undergraduates.

The woman, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, says she was abused by violent men, and that Cambridge students were among those paying for sex.

Speaking to Cambridgeshire Live, the woman said: “I was the youngest one there. A lot of the men were people who wanted to be quite violent. There were men who had a lot of money and would pay for a long time.

“Some of it was Cambridge students. A lot of them were rich students who you could tell were training to be politicians and saw themselves as very privileged people. The way they treated us was as if they could do what they liked with us.”

She said the men would meet the girls in a (now closed) city centre bar. She said girls with poor self-esteem were made to feel good by their abusers, who would buy them drink and drugs. From the bar, they would be taken to flats in nearby Hills Road where she says they would be abused.

'It was really quite horrible, especially for underage girls'

“All the men were at least ten years older than the girls,” she said. “You had to sit at the bar and the men would choose somebody. But you would get a lot of free drinks and drugs.

“A lot of it seems really fragmented in my mind. But I remember the flats you were taken to were nearby. It was men queuing up to do what they liked with you. There was a lot of gang raping and really violent men. It was really quite horrible, especially for underage girls.”

She says girls with low self-esteem were targeted and that, once they had become part of the system, it was really hard to escape. She said violence and coercion were used to keep girls under control.

“I think sex slavery is something you do that you have no choice about,” she said. “There was violence involved and it was really hard to get out of it.

'I thought I should either kill myself or run away'

“There is mental abuse as well as violence, and you are made to feel as if you are not really human. The most important thing for me is it was not work. It was done without a choice."

The woman is safe now, having left Cambridge.

“I had a punter who hurt me so badly I ended up in Addenbrooke’s hospital,” she said. “I had a chance to think about what was going on, and I decided to run away.

“I thought I should either kill myself or run away. I went to Manchester and it kind of changed my life. I realised I deserved more out of life. I needed to get away from Cambridge to live. I didn’t feel safe.”

Anyone experiencing something similar, or who has information about it can contact the NSPCC on 0808 800 5000, or call Cambridgeshire Constabulary on 101.