The Madeline Dane Ross Award 2008

William Finnegan traveled the byways of human trafficking in Moldova and Dubai to create a saga of depth and insight. He weaves a whole cloth of "desperation, violence, betrayal and sorrow," as he ties the fate of these women to the fortunes of a humbled, post-Soviet country. He shows how the suffering of these women often begins before leaving home and lingers well after their rescue, points out the remarkable ironies of some victims-turned-recruiters, and highlights the work of rescuers who work tirelessly, even with the knowledge that for many of these women, much will never be right again. His haunting work broke new ground in one of today's ongoing horror stories.