A 30-year-old Australian woman has shared the harrowing account of how she was "almost trafficked" during a solo holiday in Paris, prompting the Australian Embassy to move her flight home early.
Djanaya Hampton, from Perth, had travelled to the French capital in May last year for a fortnight-long trip marking her 29th birthday. She had originally planned to visit Africa, but switched destinations after her chosen accommodation was being renovated.
After spending her first days visiting tourist attractions including Disneyland Paris, Ms Hampton reserved the Eiffel Tower for the evening before her birthday. She settled in for a picnic, waiting for the landmark's lights to illuminate.
"I was sitting there for ages because I didn't realise the sun doesn't go down for so long," she told news.com.au.
Around 8pm, two young men sat beside her, with one repeatedly glancing over and smiling.
The man, wearing designer clothes, initially addressed her in French before switching to English. He began pressing her with questions about whether she was alone, who she was travelling with, and whether she had a boyfriend.
"It was so weird, it felt like something out of [the movie] Taken. But I told myself it was all in my head," she said.
After Ms Hampton declined his persistent invitations to a house party, the man grabbed her for an unwanted photograph while his companion snapped pictures on his phone.
What happened next left her blood running cold. The man walked to the base of the Eiffel Tower, handed money to a local vendor and pointed directly at her.
"That's when my heart sank. I wasn't feeling cold before, but suddenly I was freezing," she recalled.
Ms Hampton FaceTimed her best friend in Perth, who told her to alight at the next stop. She got off at Notre Dame, but the entire group followed, positioning themselves around her at various points on the platform.
Trapped and in tears, she was eventually approached by a Spanish-speaking man she had earlier asked for help. Her friend communicated with him over the phone, and he turned out to be a security guard.
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"He said for to me to stay close or they will grab me," Ms Hampton recounted.
The man wrapped his jacket around her, kept his arm on her and escorted her off the train to an Uber. Her driver told her she was extremely fortunate, as "not many people do" escape.
She reached her hotel around 11.30pm and went straight to the Australian Embassy the following morning.
Staff there arranged to bring her flight forward, cutting short the remaining five days of her trip.
"After I gave my statement, the lady at the front desk said, 'we need to get you home'," Ms Hampton said. The embassy staffer warned there was a strong likelihood she had been listed on the black market and advised her to disguise her appearance before heading to the airport.
Her Instagram post detailing the ordeal has since amassed more than 7 million views, with hundreds of women recounting their own frightening encounters in Paris, Bali and elsewhere.
Despite the experience, Ms Hampton has continued travelling solo, visiting the Bahamas for her next birthday.
"I refuse to let fear dictate how I live my life," she told news.com.au. "My faith has taught me to live with wisdom, not fear, and I won't let one terrible experience take away my love for travelling."
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