The first question you ask yourself when you meet her is: how can this woman, who has survived so many terrible things in her life, have eyes that convey such profound peace and joy? There was only one thing she wanted: to thank Pope Francis for his efforts in combatting human trafficking. Elise Lindqvist is the same age as Pope Francis: both were born in She has the same tireless energy, condensed into a body that is only 5 feet tall.
He was referring to the nights Elise spends offering support and comfort to women working as prostitutes on the streets in Stockholm. She has been doing that for over 20 years: mothering them and reminding them there is a life beyond the street. Elise Lindqvist was born in a small Swedish village. She was sexually abused from the age of five. It was not her father who abused her, she clarifies, but individuals who were close to her family. Terrified into submission, she became convinced that abuse was something all children had to endure.
Then she would run back home, threatened with death if she told anybody. Part of Elise's pain was not being able to trust adults. Any adults. She was abandoned by those who should have defended her. Her own mother looked the other way when men took her to another room. At school, the teacher used to send the pupils out to play during recreation, making her stay behind alone with him. Her father was the only one who occasionally gave her some signs of affection.
Everyone else punished her for being "ugly and stupid". Her mother's new partner was an alcoholic and attacked Elise constantly. He did pull the trigger. Elise ran away from home when she was fourteen. A kind family in a nearby town took care of her. Instead, she only took off my clothes to wash me, which she did very gently".
In the case of Elise, it was a woman who approached her one day and said: "You are so pretty No one had ever told me I was pretty before, and from that moment, I was completely in her power. I would have done anything for her. One day she told me I had to work for her, selling my body to her clients. I was I did as I was told". Elise does not know exactly how many years she worked for this woman.
