They were beaten, sexually assauted, forced to have sex during their menstrual cycles, torturered and subject to other "degrading circumstances."
That was - and potentially still is - the life for some women forced into a multi-provincial human trafficking operation, based out of the GTA.
Two of the those women were "at the end of their rope" last October and made a call that sparked a major investigation.
"For them to have nowhere to turn and to call police, takes a lot of guts, takes a lot of courage," Insp. Thai Truong with York Regional Police said Wednesday, annoucing the results of 'Project Convalesce.'
The year-long investigation has resulted in 31 arrests and over 300 charges, Truong said, including the arrest of kingpin Jonathan Nyangwila, aka "Skulls."
The investigation has identified 45 women involved in the operation, with 12 of them so far confirmed as victims.
Truong said officers are working to try and identify more victims, as well as make more arrests, but because of fear, many are too scared to come forward.
"They are controlled emotionally, they are controlled through violence," he said. "They are controlled some with drugs and alcohol and they're manipulated and psychologically beaten down on a daily basis."
Despite making the call to police last year in an effort to leave Nyangwila, Truong said the two women were still scared to cooperate, but eventually enough evidence came through to start bulilding a case.
Truong added what became unique about this investigation was that it went beyond the usual prostitution rings they see of a single pimp involving a certain set of women.
The criminals on the lower end of the pyramid would commit crimes like identity theft and fraud, to then finance operations at the trafficking level, such as paying for hotel rooms and travel.
Many of the women - ranging from early 20s to the mid-30s - would be recruited or targeted out of Quebec and brought to the GTA, while some also were trafficked to locations in western Canada.
Nyangwila alone is facing almost 40 charges and was still orchestrating operations from jail following his arrest in July, Truong said.