A human trafficking victim who claims she was forced to sleep with at least 30 men a day over four years as a teenager has vowed to help other sex slaves.

Karla Jacinto, now 24-years-old, is travelling around the world to help other victims of sexual slavery.

She estimates that she was forced to have sex with 43,200 people by the age of 16.

Originally from Mexico, she was first targeted at the age of 12 by a trafficker who lured her away from her dysfunctional family with gifts and money.

She is currently trying to raise awareness about Mexico’s human trafficking crisis – where it is estimated that 20,000 women are trafficked every year, according to the International Organisation for Migration.

"They would beat me with sticks, they would beat me with cables, they would beat me with chains,” she told CNN.

Karla says she was abused for as long as she can remember and felt rejected by her mother.

"I came from a dysfunctional family. I was sexually abused and mistreated from the age of 5 by a relative.

"They forced me into prostitution at age 12.

"There were people who would laugh at me because I was crying. I had to close my eyes so I wouldn't see what they were doing to me."

Karla recently met with Pope Francis at the Vatican to discuss the issue of sexual slavery.

She claims that some of her attackers were "uniformed police officers" - as well as judges, priests and pastors.

"I thought they were disgusting," she said.

Karla was rescued in 2008 during an anti-trafficking operation in Mexico City.

She says she has endured a lifetime of horror that will stay with her as long as she lives, but now she wants to help other women who have also suffered at the hands of human traffickers.

Travelling the world giving help and advice to other victims, as well as speaking at public events about her horrific experience, is her way of trying to make a difference.

CNN reports that Karla is now in fact "not just surviving, she's thriving" as a human rights activist speaking out against modern-day slavery.

Online Editors