She Escaped Traffickers, Then Was Kidnapped Again
Mariana van Zeller
76,058 views
https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/HI... and use code HIDDENTHIRD and get $150 if you win your first $5 lineup!
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Sex trafficking survivor Lurata Lyon was kidnapped twice. First, at 17, by a trafficking network in Bosnia while fleeing the Yugoslav Wars. Then, after escaping, by Serbian paramilitaries who held her captive for six months.
In this episode of The Hidden Third, Mariana van Zeller speaks with Lurata Lyon about surviving war, sex trafficking, human trafficking, kidnapping, captivity, trauma, and the long road to rebuilding a life after violence.
Lurata was a teenager when the violence surrounding the breakup of former Yugoslavia forced her to flee her home in Serbia. She made her way to Bosnia, where she was kidnapped by a human trafficking and organ-harvesting network. She escaped. But after returning to her hometown, she was taken a second time by Serbian paramilitary forces.
Held in solitary captivity for six months, Lurata survived abuse, torture, and the constant fear that she would not make it out alive. Her father ultimately arranged for her to be smuggled out of the country in the back of a truck. She arrived in the United Kingdom as a political refugee and began rebuilding her life from scratch.
Today, Lurata Lyon is the author of Unbroken: Surviving Human Trafficking. She is an international speaker, public-speaking and presentation coach, and human trafficking advocate who uses her experience to raise awareness about sex trafficking, sexual exploitation, survivor recovery, resilience, and life after trauma.
Sex trafficking is not rare, and it is not limited to conflict zones. The International Labour Organization estimates that 6.3 million people were living in forced commercial sexual exploitation worldwide in 2021, nearly four out of five of them women and girls. In the United States, the National Human Trafficking Hotline received 50,123 signals in 2021, including calls, texts, online chats, and tips from people seeking help or reporting possible trafficking.
Even though human trafficking is often discussed through statistics, headlines, and criminal cases, Lurata’s story helps us understand the human reality of sex trafficking and survival. It also shows how war, displacement, fear, isolation, and the search for safety can make people vulnerable to exploitation.
0:00 Intro
2:40 Growing up in Yugoslavia, and the day the soldiers came
12:08 Leaving home alone at 17
16:51 The two soldiers who took her in
29:20 The black van
35:01 Inside the human trafficking network
45:08 The night she got out
52:39 The interview that changed everything
1:00:24 Going home
1:11:06 Six months without seeing sunlight
1:21:05 How her father found her
1:31:29 Smuggled out of the country
1:41:01 Starting over in England
1:51:19 Why she decided to stop hiding her name and tell the story as her own
2:02:54 Finding meaning in what happened, the parents she lost, and what she hopes people take from it
🎙️ From Emmy and Peabody Award–winning journalist Mariana van Zeller comes THE HIDDEN THIRD, a weekly dive into the underground markets that quietly power a third of the global economy. Every episode, Mariana sits down with people who know these worlds firsthand - the hustlers, smugglers, scammers, kingpins, and those trying to shut them down. The series reveals how they function, why they endure, and the profound ways they impact us all.
🔔 Subscribe for new episodes every Wednesday.
THE HIDDEN THIRD:
YouTube: @marianavanzeller
Instagram: Instagram: thehiddenthirdpodcast
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3n1BBoj...
MARIANA:
TikTok: TikTok: mariana_vanzeller
Instagram: Instagram: marianavz
20 Comments
I lived in Crete 1993-1996.
I met many beautiful young people that had escaped Yugoslavia. All were so strong, amazing, a joy to know. They weren't treated well by the police, many just disappeared. One day happy chatting with friends then suddenly gone overnight. I always wanted to understand more of what was happening
I remember walking into a tiny shack up in the mountain looking for a place to live in the winter. I saw personal belongings and baby clothes in this place and no one knew where the family had gone. I never ever forgot that period and those wonderful young girls I got chance to meet. I so hope they made it out and got to live a safe life.❤
Please continue with your sharing, bringing out the reality of human trafficking. It is so important.
Thank you again.
She Escaped Traffickers, Then Was Kidnapped Again
Mariana van Zeller
76,058 views
https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/HI... and use code HIDDENTHIRD and get $150 if you win your first $5 lineup!
Join The Hidden Third Patreon today! Patreon: TheHiddenThird
Sex trafficking survivor Lurata Lyon was kidnapped twice. First, at 17, by a trafficking network in Bosnia while fleeing the Yugoslav Wars. Then, after escaping, by Serbian paramilitaries who held her captive for six months.
In this episode of The Hidden Third, Mariana van Zeller speaks with Lurata Lyon about surviving war, sex trafficking, human trafficking, kidnapping, captivity, trauma, and the long road to rebuilding a life after violence.
Lurata was a teenager when the violence surrounding the breakup of former Yugoslavia forced her to flee her home in Serbia. She made her way to Bosnia, where she was kidnapped by a human trafficking and organ-harvesting network. She escaped. But after returning to her hometown, she was taken a second time by Serbian paramilitary forces.
Held in solitary captivity for six months, Lurata survived abuse, torture, and the constant fear that she would not make it out alive. Her father ultimately arranged for her to be smuggled out of the country in the back of a truck. She arrived in the United Kingdom as a political refugee and began rebuilding her life from scratch.
Today, Lurata Lyon is the author of Unbroken: Surviving Human Trafficking. She is an international speaker, public-speaking and presentation coach, and human trafficking advocate who uses her experience to raise awareness about sex trafficking, sexual exploitation, survivor recovery, resilience, and life after trauma.
Sex trafficking is not rare, and it is not limited to conflict zones. The International Labour Organization estimates that 6.3 million people were living in forced commercial sexual exploitation worldwide in 2021, nearly four out of five of them women and girls. In the United States, the National Human Trafficking Hotline received 50,123 signals in 2021, including calls, texts, online chats, and tips from people seeking help or reporting possible trafficking.
Even though human trafficking is often discussed through statistics, headlines, and criminal cases, Lurata’s story helps us understand the human reality of sex trafficking and survival. It also shows how war, displacement, fear, isolation, and the search for safety can make people vulnerable to exploitation.
0:00 Intro
2:40 Growing up in Yugoslavia, and the day the soldiers came
12:08 Leaving home alone at 17
16:51 The two soldiers who took her in
29:20 The black van
35:01 Inside the human trafficking network
45:08 The night she got out
52:39 The interview that changed everything
1:00:24 Going home
1:11:06 Six months without seeing sunlight
1:21:05 How her father found her
1:31:29 Smuggled out of the country
1:41:01 Starting over in England
1:51:19 Why she decided to stop hiding her name and tell the story as her own
2:02:54 Finding meaning in what happened, the parents she lost, and what she hopes people take from it
🎙️ From Emmy and Peabody Award–winning journalist Mariana van Zeller comes THE HIDDEN THIRD, a weekly dive into the underground markets that quietly power a third of the global economy. Every episode, Mariana sits down with people who know these worlds firsthand - the hustlers, smugglers, scammers, kingpins, and those trying to shut them down. The series reveals how they function, why they endure, and the profound ways they impact us all.
🔔 Subscribe for new episodes every Wednesday.
THE HIDDEN THIRD:
YouTube: @marianavanzeller
Instagram: Instagram: thehiddenthirdpodcast
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3n1BBoj...
MARIANA:
TikTok: TikTok: mariana_vanzeller
Instagram: Instagram: marianavz