On New Year’s Eve in 2019, British photographer Angus Thomas spent 48 hours in Dubai during a layover on his way home to London.
A chance encounter changed the course of his life forever.
On the way to the pharmacy to buy medicine for his wife, four young African women in bodycon dresses called out to him.
One grabbed his arm desperately and asked if he wanted to pay to have sex with her.
Thomas declined, then asked: ‘Do you want to be here?’ The girl told him no.
The following morning over coffee before his flight, he photographed the girl’s passport and her scars, gathering evidence for her rescue.
‘I was responsible for what I knew and had to do the best I could to get her home,’ Thomas told Daily Mail.
Amy* explained she’d been tricked into coming to Dubai, having been recruited from Nigeria. The woman later explained how she and 22 other women were under the control of a woman named Christy Gold.
Christy Gold, whose real name is Christiana Jacob Uadiale, thrived in Dubai’s underbelly and evaded capture for years – even topping Nigeria’s most-wanted list for human trafficking
Earlier this year, 20-year-old Maria Kovalchuk – who was not a victim of Gold’s – was found seriously injured at the roadside in Dubai. She claimed she was abused by wealthy Russians after a wild party in a hotel. Her ordeal has sparked public debate on sexual slavery in the UAE
It was the first time Thomas had heard her name, but it would not be the last.
What followed was four and a half tireless years of Thomas trying to put an end to Gold’s human trafficking ring in the UAE.
‘When I got on the plane, Amy called me on FaceTime and in the background all hell was breaking loose. There was a big fight going on then the call cut off,’ he said.
‘I was left thinking, “Oh my god, I have been given this mission and I’m the only person on the planet who knows what’s going on. I need to take responsibility for this.”‘
Over nine months, Thomas uncovered five separate human trafficking rings and helped to rescue Amy, along with eight other women who claimed to have been forced into prostitution and held against their will by Gold.
Meanwhile, global debate over sexual slavery in the UAE erupted as 20-year-old OnlyFans model Maria Kovalchuk was found seriously injured at the roadside in Dubai. Kovalchuk, who was not a victim of Gold’s, later claimed she was abused by wealthy Russians after a wild party in a hotel.
Gold, whose name appears in court records as Christiana Jacob Uadiale, thrived in Dubai’s underbelly and evaded capture for years – even topping Nigeria‘s most-wanted list for human trafficking.
Young African women were lured to Dubai with false promises of a better life, only for their passports to be taken. They were forced into prostitution and held captive in tiny apartments where they were subjected to brutal conditions.
It wasn’t until March 21, 2024, that Christy Gold was convicted in absentia by a federal high court on six counts of sex trafficking, but sentencing was postponed until her arrest. On New Year’s Eve that year, she was apprehended at Abuja International Airport in Nigeria
Sex trafficking methods include psychological controls such as threats, debt bondage, and – unique to African women – spiritual manipulation.
‘Juju is a very powerful tool that Africans use in binding people in to do things they don’t want to do,’ Thomas explains.
He describes it as being like a ‘spiritual contract’ with your traffickers.
Victims also know that if they escape and make a police report, there’s a good chance they will be treated like criminals themselves and ‘spend a month in prison’.
Gold’s victims claimed they had to ‘earn their freedom back’ by making up to $10,000 through prostitution.
Thomas describes Gold’s apartment as ‘like a den of vipers, because you’re always under constant surveillance’.
Within Gold’s operation, there was a ranking system: ‘senior’ women who have been in the network for a long time were trusted to look out for the ‘junior’ women.
‘The seniors have a lot of power and also mentor the others through the ordeal. After getting a taste of the money, one of the senior girls went on to become a madam herself,’ he said.
‘Even though you’re not getting the money as a senior, you can see that somebody’s benefiting from it.’
Meanwhile, in May 2022, Gold was flaunting her lavish Dubai lifestyle and even celebrated her 45th birthday on a yacht.
On Instagram, she appeared to fund her extravagant lifestyle through selling gold jewellery. Behind the scenes, her lifestyle concealed a horror story.
Eventually, on March 21, 2024, Gold was convicted in absentia by a federal high court of six counts of trafficking in persons, but sentencing was postponed until her arrest.
On New Year’s Eve that year, she was apprehended at Abuja airport in Nigeria.
Angus Thomas, anti-human trafficking campaigner and founder of The Hope Education Project
Three victims came forward to speak of the horrors they endured under Gold’s control, two of whom are women Angus helped rescue.
The women lived in Gold’s two-bedroom apartment with at least 18 other women.
They claimed if they didn’t do as Gold told them, they would be punished – or worse, killed and dumped in the desert.
They said they were given just one meal a day and worked on the streets of Dubai as prostitutes. If they didn’t make enough money each night or were disobedient, they said they would have hot chilli paste smeared between their legs.
Gold denied the allegations.
When Gold was sentenced, she was given a choice: 12 years in prison or a fine of 11 million naira (US$7,900, AU$11,550 or £6,250) to the government, plus compensation to the victims who served as witnesses.
Court documents show prosecutors were pushing for victims to be compensated – and in the judge’s opinion, it was easier for restitution to be made by a convict who was not incarcerated, hence why Gold was given the option.
She paid the fine and walked free.
The decision outraged victims and human rights advocates who saw it as a miscarriage of justice that failed to adequately punish Gold.
Angus Thomas described the sentence as a ‘sucker punch for the victims’.
‘The victims don’t want money – they want justice for the pain they’ve suffered,’ he said.
In a statement at the time, Thomas wrote: ‘I have spent the last four and a half years working relentlessly to bring Christy Gold to justice on behalf of the women she trafficked.
‘In early 2020, I provided the Nigerian authorities and UAE police with detailed intelligence on her location and properties.
‘I personally supported the rescue of several women from her trafficking network and stood by them as they bravely testified, at great personal risk, in court.
‘The sentence handed down… ignores the letter of the law and gives a convicted sex trafficker the chance to buy her freedom for a pittance.’
Today, Gold posts freely on her TikTok account and, according to Thomas, seems ‘very into herself’.
She purports to sell gold online as her legitimate source of income. She also appears to travel regularly between Dubai and Manchester, which Thomas finds suspicious.
‘There must be something going on in the UK – someone must know something.’
Each year, thousands of women are lured with offers of free holidays, jobs and A-list parties. But behind the glamour is a web of exploitation, Angus Thomas says (stock image)
Gold flaunted her lavish Dubai lifestyle on social media and continues to post TikTok videos advertising gold jewellery for sale
Together with the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Thomas has worked tirelessly to rescue up to 20 Nigerian women and girls from Dubai’s shadowy recruiters.
Gold remains free.
‘The thing that concerns me personally about this sentence is there are lots of unanswered questions,’ he said.
‘Has anybody been to those two apartments in the last five years to check out there aren’t girls still being held?
‘How can a female judge dealing with a female trafficker, with female victims, and come out with that interpretation of the law?’
Thomas said no one can be sure if there are still victims under Gold’s control and encourages local authorities to do their due diligence.
‘I stand with the survivors. I stand with the law. And I will not stop speaking out until justice is done,’ he said.
For more information on The Hope Project, click here.
*Name has been changed
