Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Moldova is one of the main source countries for trafficking women and children, with up to 10% of the female population sold into prostitution abroad. Poverty, the desire for a better life, and the need to escape broken families and oppression make them vulnerable to traffickers, who offer false promises of well-paid jobs abroad. Once arrived in the country of destination, the girls are sold to pimps and their passports confiscated.

Popa worked with the International Organisation for Migration and Winrock International in Moldova, where she photographed and documented the disturbing experiences of these women. She also collected the stories of those who remain disappeared, photographing their families, homes, and in some cases children who were left behind. Finally, she documented the spaces where trafficked women are forced into prostitution in the brothels of Soho, London.

Mark Sealy, Director of Autograph ABP, says, ‘Popa’s photographs are a powerful enquiry into a pervasive form of violence against women. They are a tragic reminder of just how vulnerable and powerless women are globally, and expose the futility of universal declarations’.