Thursday, December 9, 2010

Global human trafficking roundup (December 9, 2010)

NORTH AMERICA

Washington: Tacoma woman uses her donut shop for child prostitution. She took two 13 year old girls and forced them into prostitution after taking pictures and post them online. She often met up with johns at donut shop and took the men to the apartment, where two girls are held against their will.

Texas: A 44 year old man was indicted on charges related to human trafficking incident in 2007. He was arrested for kidnapping a 13 year old for more than a week for prostitution in 2007. The victim testified that he and his four accomplice tied her up, drugged, and locked her in a bedroom at a house. If convicted, the man is facing life sentence in prison.

Kentucky: Two men are facing charges on human trafficking. According to the police, they victimized a 15 year old who was under one of the men's care. They both are facing multiple charges including human trafficking, sodomy, rape, and sexual abuse of a minor.

Florida: FBI found 27 people who may be human trafficking victims during the raid. The raid was conducted inside of two homes and one local restaurant. The FBI spokesperson said that 8 of them were found in a residence in Clearwater and 19 people in a Largo home. He also said that they were Asian and Hispanic origin cramped in a small house all together. But, they had all of their basic needs.

Canada: Federal justice minister expressed his disappointment on Craigslist for its failure to remove adult service section. He sent a letter asking Jim Buckmaster, the CEO of Craigslist to remove adult service section on Craigslist Canada last month, but Craigslist has yet to removed the adult service section on its Canadian website. The minister once again urged the company to shut down adult service section as critics say Craigslist facilitate child prostitution and sex trafficking in Canada.

EUROPE

The Netherlands: The council of Armsterdam began a campaign to combat human trafficking. The campaign will focus on sex trafficking of women in the city. Since 2007, the city provided aftercare assistance to the victims including, medical care and social care. Each year, it assists 150 victims, among which 20 are minors. The campaign effort will include awareness raising among johns in red light district, advertisement through media outlets, etc.

ASIA

Indonesia: A woman returned home blind from Saudi Arabia, where she worked as housemaid. She was physically assaulted by her employer for no reason and continuously tortured. She lost her eyesight when her employer repeatedly slammed her head against the wall. According to the statistics generated by a nonprofit, 43 percent of the migrant workers working in Saudi Arabia are exploited by their employers.

AFRICA

Egypt: Approximately 250 refugees from Eritrea are treated like slaves by their traffickers. The refugees paid smuggling fee to their traffickers to enter Israel. But, instead, they are kept in hostage to demand money from their families and friends. The refugees are kept in chain and live under threats and violence.

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