"I don't have any pleasant grownup memories. The only place where I find my happy memories is in my childhood passport photograph". -- Uche.
The Dark Memories Project is a thought-provoking photographs that tells the stories of victims of child trafficking in Nigeria, who have overcome unimaginable adversity, forced labor, domestic slavery, and sexual exploitation and now seek to rebuild their lives.
The girls and I collaborated in this project to reveal their shared experiences of being exploited by their wards and trafficking criminals and the inhumane treatment in the hands of their "buyers".
This partnership also reveals their courage to speak out after escaping the grasp of their handlers, to provide insight into the atrocities and abuses that they have experienced, and to raise awareness about the issue of human trafficking and the need to take action to prevent it and support victims, as well as their motivation to set out on the quest to reclaim their lives through counseling and their dignity through formal education.
The victims attend periodic counselling section organized by christian counsellors in Warri, Delta State, Nigeria. In a reminiscence therapy, the subjects express themselves through their infant photographs, which are their happy memories but remain blurred until they are ready to fully reveal themselves on their journey toward discovery, healing and recovery.
Testimonies from victims of human trafficking can provide insight into the horrors and abuses that they have experienced. These stories can help raise awareness about the issue of human trafficking and the need to take action to prevent it and support victims.