We Americans have been told, repeatedly, that the European Union is a paradise and nearly-perfect society where anybody who needs help (like Lilya) will get taxpayer-provided housing, education, and a job (or monthly check).
How can the events in this movie happen in the EU?
If you're talking about Sweden, the main problem is that she had no clue just what rights she would have had, had she gone to the police. She didn't even know where Sweden was before she left for the place, let alone anything about the country. And she was slowly "broken" by her pimp, and scared by his threats of what would happen if she did try to escape.
Once she finally did take the opportunity to escape out of desperation, she didn't know the language, didn't think she could trust anyone (she was aware she had entered the country illegally I think--what with the fake name on the passport, which she didn't have anymore anyway), etc. And police were probably people she was conditioned to avoid in her homeland as well--that too is the case in a lot of places, where police are so corrupt that dealing with them (from a position of powerlessness) is a real crapshoot at best. (And of course prostitutes are subject to arrest or harassment by cops in most places, likely her homeland as well, whether pimping is involved or not.)
Humans are trafficked everywhere, into Europe, the US and Canada, wealthier Asian countries, etc., from places and lives where they knew very little if anything of the concept of human rights, lives where they were virtually powerless. They had no real rights to speak of where they came from (or were treated all their lives as if they had none), so they don't expect any different in the new place. Couple this with the intimidation of being in a foreign land where they don't even speak the language or know how to fit in there. And of course the threats of those who imprison and "own" them. In the end, even in places where their basic human rights would be honored if they came forward, they still have to know to come forward--unless someone particularly conscientious of the human trafficking problem (who knows the signs of it), or police actually on such cases, notice them first (and aren't bribed to look away). Even in nations that regard human rights most highly, there are still going to be too many (well, even one is too many) who slip through the cracks.
I kept "telling" her through the screen, when she was being dragged through the mall by her pimp (who was all but manhandling her by the arm), to shout or scream or something, to make it obvious she was there against her will even if she didn't know the language. But of course she was too afraid to even do that. She obviously didn't expect anyone would come to her aid. She could never expect that in her old life in her home country, with the only one she (quite hesitantly at first) mustered the trust to accept "help" from (Andrei) having so completely betrayed her. It was so frustrating, sad, and unimaginable to me to watch this play out as it did to the tragic end.
Understanding is a three-edged sword.
Sad thing is that if the court found her to be there against her will, they'd help her.
"You'll be taking a soul train straight to a disco inferno where you never can say goodbye!"
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