No mistake had been made, rather a systematic attempt to exploit the vulnerable woman. Susan says she had been brought from Africa by her Australian employer when the family relocated to Sydney and remembers arriving at the nondescript two-bedroom home. "[My employer] just changed immediately in the way she started treating me. The way she started training the kids that I'm nobody. They opened the door in the morning and stepped on me, said 'Wake up'." Forced to work unpaid 18-hour days and sleep under the dining room table with three dogs, Susan says she was given a single bag of rice to eat and had her passport taken away. She says she was verbally abused and had no idea where she was living. For the promise of about $15.65 a month, she had become one of Australia's modern slaves, of which there are an estimated 3000, according to the Walk Free Foundation's 2014 Global Slavery Index. It was a fear for her safety and that of her three children in Africa that drove Susan to escape, she says. Finding an unlocked padlock on the back gate, she recalls running to a neighbour's house for help and being chased and attacked by her employer's friend. The police were called.

Traumatised, injured and confused, she was moved to Australia's first safe house for victims of trafficking, slavery and slavery-like practices, run by The Salvation Army. "I don't deserve this, I didn't ask for this. I can't believe somebody who knows me, somebody I can rely on, somebody I was looking up to can turn to take advantage of me and make me vulnerable in a way that I wasn't expecting. "I was in denial. No, it can't be happening to me. I'm in a new country, so what will happen? The person who brought me here is no more on my side. I'm in the hands of total strangers. I need to get out of this dream," she says. Since opening in 2008, the community-owned 10-bed shelter has supported 400 people. Fewer than 20 per cent of those report to the police, said Laura Vidal, a caseworker for the Salvation Army. Because of threats to her family and the very limited criminal justice avenues open to her at the time, Susan did not pursue justice through the police. Forced labour was criminalised in 2013 but the offence is yet to be tested in the courts.

Susan's case went to the Refugee Review Tribunal, in which she claimed she was a victim of human trafficking. She was granted a Refugee Protection Visa, and began the long process of bringing her children to Australia. "Susan doesn't necessarily count in statistics as a victim of human trafficking," said Ms Vidal. "People need to be recognised and supported as victims of crime irrespective of their participation with the criminal justice system." A spokesperson for the Australian Federal Police said that fear "can be an issue" in preventing victims from obtaining help. "Human trafficking and slavery prosecutions often rely heavily on the evidence of victims. This reliance can prove an impediment as human trafficking and slavery victims can be reluctant to give evidence, particularly if they (or their families) have been the subject of violence or threats of violence." Between 2004 and 31 December 2015, the AFP took 619 referrals for human trafficking, slavery and slavery like practices, such as forced labour and forced marriage, according to a submission by the Attorney-General's Department to the current parliamentary inquiry into human trafficking.

Since 2004, there have been 17 criminal trials resulting in convictions for human trafficking and slavery offences. Sixteen of those convictions related to sexual exploitation and one related to labour exploitation in a commercial kitchen. There has been an increase in labour trafficking and forced marriage cases over the past year. Now an advocate for the Freedom Partnership, Susan shares her story with others with the hope that victims may come forward. On Wednesday, she shared her story alongside Lucy Turnbull at the launch of the Salvos' annual Red Shield Appeal. "This is happening in Australia, it is happening behind each and everyone's backyard," she says. She claims to have met victims of slavery in her community who will not speak out about their situation. "It's like a stigma. Especially from my background in Africa, it's a label and it's going to be a permanent one."

Jennifer Burn of Anti-Slavery Australia said that attempts to avoid the stigma of slavery are not unusual and form another hindrance to investigating cases of forced labour. "Often people don't want to have the stigma of exploitation attached to them, people don't want to carry around a label, to be known forever as a slave." There is little community awareness within the Australian community, including state and territory government agencies, community service organisations and frontline professionals about forced labour, said Professor Burn. "In the community, there has been growing awareness around forced marriage, but here has not been a growing awareness of labour trafficking and slavery linked to labour." This week, Susan very publicly faced her fraught start in Sydney.

"I've healed, I've come out of it. Back then, I couldn't talk, but to see how far I have come and what has happened, it's been a long journey but it's worth sharing," she says of her speech. She has a diploma in community services and is an assistant in nursing. She sings with the church and occasionally misses her extended family, thousands of miles away. "The first day I went to the safe house, I was given a bottle full of milk and some bread. That day I drank tea. "People can say these things are simple, but to me, it wasn't simple. To be free and to be independent, to have that peace is very important." *Not her real name.



If you or somebody you know would like assistance from The Salvation Army Trafficking and Slavery Safe House, please call (02) 9211 5794.