Monday, February 7, 2011

Human trafficking roundup (February 5-7, 2011)

NORTH AMERICA

New York: FBI is investigating Church of Scientology regarding human trafficking incidents. Former Scientologists claim that they were pressured to have abortions as teenagers in order to focus on their efforts on their religious works. Also, many former members reported brutal treatment by the sect, including financial exploitation, censorship, and invasion of privacy.

New Jersey: The state Senate proposes a new bill to open john schools. The bill, if implemented, will allow the first time offender of sex buyers a chance to walk in exchange of completing the program in John school. In john schools, the offenders will learn how their actions affect proliferation of human trafficking and sex trade.

LATIN AMERICA

Barbados: The government sector and nonprofit groups raises the concern over human trafficking on the island during the debate to implement Transnational Organized Crime bill. The senior government official gave an example of a Ghanaian females who were forced into prostitution in Barbados and subsequently disappeared afterwards.

EUROPE

Romania: Romania has become a major transit of human trafficking in Europe. Victims are as young as 12 years old, and they are trafficked to as far as Honduras, Afghanistan, the Congo, and China. According to the report, the country's admission to European Union in 2007 brought lax border regulations and attracted more traffickers to the country.

UK: Child trafficking in London is alarming, a report says. British Campaign against human trafficking reveals that many children become human trafficking victims in London and forced into drug trade or slavery. London Council launched a new set of tools to help agencies protect child trafficking victims. The guidelines aim to support social workers, government staff, healthcare professionals and law enforcement to better identify child trafficking victims. During the 14 month testing period, the pilot identified 56 child trafficking victims.


ASIA

The Philippines: The Philippines vowed to curb human trafficking. The vice president of the country, who is visiting Washington D.C., promised the U.S. authority to curb human trafficking and take the country off of the US TIP watch list next year.

AFRICA

Zimbabwe: Police busted a human trafficking ring which sexually exploited young women. Many victims are Zimbabwean females fleeing the country for better life. The victims were forced into prostitution in South Africa and falsely imprisoned in a confined place.

Swaziland: A school for deaf children tightens security system to protect children from traffickers. The authority tightened security system around the school after few children are disappeared after school. They were later discovered in other towns. The government also mandated the school to have 24 hour security guards around the school.

Looking for volunteers to post human trafficking roundup over the summer. If interested, please email me at ybdale@gmail.com. Thank you!!!

No comments:

Post a Comment