Global human trafficking roundup (March 9, 2012)

NORTH AMERICA

Florida: Legislators passed a bill to make it easier to prosecute traffickers. If implemented, the bill HB 7049, will combine trafficking laws into one making it more practical to use for prosecutors. It also increases penalties against traffickers and includes pornography to "the sexually explicit performances in the legal definition of the crime."

EUROPE

UK: Police arrested three people for sex trafficking case in Northern Ireland. Police said that the arrest was a result of sex month investigation in the area. During the investigation, police seized cash and documents.

Malta: Many women from Eastern European countries, including Russia, are sexually enslaved in Malta. They are lured into working at entertainment industries in Malta. Upon arrival, however, young women are forced into prostitution.

Romania: A family is sentenced for bringing young girl and a man to UK and forced them into slavery. According to the report, the pair subjected the girl to working for a long hours, a poor living condition, and physical abuse. The 53 years old man was also forced to work without payment and subject to physical and sexual assault by the pair.

ASIA

Thailand: Experts say Thailand is on the brick of becoming the world's worst country for trafficking in person problem. Police recently rescued 11 boys forced into begging on the street. Five men forced them into begging after dressing them as monks. The trafficking ring forced hundreds of children into begging nationwide, according to the report.

Japan: Japan commits approximately $27 million to fight human trafficking. The funds will support projects to fight trafficking and migrant workers' rights in developing countries like Ivory Coast, Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, and Kenya.

AFRICA

South Africa: 16 girls were rescued from a brothel in Durban. According to the police, their boyfriends lured the girls with a promise of job offers. Upon arrival, the girls were forced into prostitution.

Italy: legislative loopholes leave some victims vulnerable to re-trafficking

Two weeks ago, Italian police busted 40 pimps selling Romanian girls' virginity on the internet. The investigation began in 2007, when the Romanian girls reported the police that they were forced into prostitution by the criminal organization and that they were willing to collaborate with the investigation. According to the report, the virginity of young Romanian girls were auctioned for 6000 euros ($8000), and the victims were rescued from the police and receive victim assistance programs from the Italian government. But, many other victims are not as fortunate as these victims at the mercy of Italian police. In fact, the legislative loopholes lead some victims to be left behind in the immigration detention facilities without even getting a chance to explain their situation to the police.

The legislative loopholes

Though Italy's legislation, like Article 18, provides a relatively good victim assistance programs, victims are eligible for the assistance only when they cooperate with the police in catching the predators. In Italy, though nonprofits is in charge of assisting victims to receive aftercare assistance, the police has the ultimate authority to grand the victims a residential permit and an eligibility to receive the victim assistance. And, more often than not, police grants the victim assistance and residential permits to those who are willing to collaborate in catching the traffickers. Therefore, if a victim is unwilling to collaborate with the police, she or he is not considered as a victim by the police and deported to his or her own country. In such case, a victim is often re-trafficked by the same exploiters.

Neglecting victims living under fear

The problem rises when victims are unable to collaborate with the police investigation because they are afraid of their traffickers. For instance, many Nigerian traffickers use voodoo to force victims into slavery. Traffickers control victims with the threat of "destroying their souls or making them crazy" through voodoo magic. Therefore, under such circumstance with a cultural misconception, it is difficult for many Nigerian victims to testify against their traffickers to collaborate with the police and become eligible to receive victim assistance from the Italian government. In fact, one research recalls that more than 100 Nigerian trafficking victims were deported to their own country without even being granted the chance to explain their situation during the period of spring and summer 2003. Meanwhile, nonprofit groups said that Nigerian made up more than a half of Italy's 19000-25,000 street prostitutes in 2008.

What needs to be done

The Italian government should extend the definition of trafficking victims so that victims will be eligible to receive the aftercare assistance even if they are not able to speak against the exploiters. Of course, the Italian government may only be willing to use victim assistance program as an incentive to the victims who helped the police out to crack down on traffickers. But, without receiving aftercare assistance, many victims become vulnerable to not just being re-victimized but to become traffickers themselves for survival. In fact, many female traffickers in Italy initially came to the country as victims but become traffickers after paying off their debts. Therefore, Italy's failure to grand victim assistance to all victims, in essence, is the very source of proliferation of sex trafficking in Italy.

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.

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