Shyima Hall

Short Biography

Shyima Hall (born September 29, 1989), from South Alexandria, Egypt, is known for advocating against human trafficking by sharing her personal experiences as a child slave. At eight years old, she was sold into slavery by her parents to a rich family in Cairo. Hall was given to the family in order to repay her older sister's debt of about thirty dollars. She worked for Abdel Nasser Eid Youssef and Amal Admed Ewis-Abd El Motelib for two years among other slaves. The family moved to Irvine, California where Hall was forced to live in the family's basement and do chores for the family's three children. A neighbor reported their suspicions to child protective services. In 2002, immigration officers came into her captors' home and took Shyima away. She was put into foster care and lived with three foster families until she was 18. In 2014, she and Lisa Wysocky published Hidden Girl, which detailed her childhood as a salve. She now lives in Banning, California with her boyfriend and four-year-old daughter, advocating against human trafficking by sharing her story of her captivity and rescue.