Human trafficking: Red Light District abuse detailed

Two Hungarian prostitutes who were exploited by pimps in turn exploited three women in the red light district. The human trafficking case, which has been dragging on since 2009, appeared in court on Monday. 37 year old Eva L. and 27 year old Andrea R stand accused of forcing two 18 year old girls and a mentally handicapped woman in her 20's to work in the Amsterdam window brothels in Molensteeg. All three victims are also from Hungary. Prosecuor Jolanda de Boer demanded 30 and 27 months in prison against the perpetrators respectively, Het Parool reports. According to the prosecutor, the two perpetrators constantly watched their mentally handicapped victim in the summer of 2009. Tapped telephone conversations reveal that the perpetrators referred to the victim as "the stupid", told her to fight through the pain when she was sick and gave her a minimum amount to earn. In a phone call the victim told her mother, in tears, that she was disgusted by her condition and "was totally ruined". When she was eventually allowed to return to Hungary, Eva L. encouraged her to look for new women that could work in the brothels. The two 18 year old victims were put under heavy pressure to work and forced to give their earnings to the perpetrators. The perpetrators were heard discussing that the girls would have to be searched to make sure they have handed over everything. Eva L. said that she wanted to beat one of the girls to a pulp. One of the girls finally went to the police. She told that she came to the Netherlands by bus with Eva L. Eva L. gave her a place to sleep and to work. On her first day she had to pay 920 euros - all her earnings. When she refused to hand over her money, she was threatened. According to the prosecutor, the two perpetrators exploited the three "easy targets" from May 2009 to August 2009 through coercion, threats, deception and abuse of their dominance. She called their behavior "barbaric". The two perpetrators' lawyers, Michiel Hoppenbouwers and Jan-Jesse Lieftink, want acquittals. According to them, the tapped conversations do not prove human trafficking and the girl who went to the police is unreliable.