Global human trafficking roundup (March 23, 2011)

NORTH AMERICA

Texas: Texas governor proposes a legislation to fight against human trafficking. The bill, if implemented, will toughen penalties for human trafficking. It will also impose life sentences on repeated offenders and provide civil remedies against traffickers.

Colorado: The bill to combat sex trafficking in Colorado passed the Senate Judiciary Committee. The bill will create hefty fines for soliciting, pandering, and patronizing prostitute. It would also create john schools for first time offenders.

Tennessee: A man was arrested for solicitation of minors. During the two month long operations, police discovered that he requested a person to arrange the purchase of a child in the age of 12 or under for purpose of sex. Police also confiscated his computer and other digital media.

EUROPE

UK: UK sings up for Europe wide measure against human trafficking. The UK government initially criticized for opting out EU directive against human trafficking. However, immigration minister said that by waiting until the final wording was agreed, UK's interest has been protected. The new legislation will, according to report, increase protection for human trafficking victims and increase the chances to prosecute traffickers.

ASIA

China: The authority arrested approximately fifty people on human trafficking and prostitution charges during the raid. Police also rescued twenty women who are smuggled into Taiwan. The gangs who ran trafficking rings offered cash rewards to Chinese women who help recruiting other women from China. Though some Chinese women voluntarily engaged in prostitution Taiwan, police continues to investigate whether any woman was forced into prostitution.

UAE: A group that provides assistance to human trafficking victims says that total 124 sexual abuse cases were reported since 2009. Many of them are foreign victims who are trafficked to UAE for sexual exploitation. Most of them come to UAE with visitors' visa through family and friends, but some of them come to UAE with a false promise of a good job.

Cambodia: Cambodian government calls for crackdown on labor trafficking. The prime minister in Cambodia announced the crack down and urged the public to seek employment within Cambodia. The announcement was made after the government faced the criticism from the human rights group on its regulation of training centers for Cambodians seeking employment abroad. They are often held against their will while waiting to be sent abroad.

The Philippines: Child prostitution and sex tourism receives criticism from child advocacy group. One 14 year old child prostitution victim was sold to an Australian man by her parents. She was literally kept as a sex slave. Although such child sex tourism or prostitution case is common, its prosecution is rare. Some locals even believe that a child should be rightly available for sexual gratification for foreign sex tourists.

Global human trafficking roundup (March 17, 2011)

NORTH AMERICA

South Dakota: The governor signs a new state human trafficking law. The new legislation will allow law enforcement to prosecute human trafficking. The new legislation will impose 10 year prison sentence and a $20,000 fine on convicted traffickers.

Oregon: The legislators are looking into the ways to crackdown on human trafficking. Law makers introduced at least nine bills to give law enforcement tools to deter child prostitution. One of the bills will impose a $20,000 fine on a john who solicited sex with minors. If he fails to do so, his name, address, and photo will be published online or a newspaper.

New Jersey: A 25 year old woman was arrested for pimping on several women, including two high school students. She was charged with human trafficking and promoting prostitution. According to the report, she allegedly operated in and around casinos.

Wisconsin: A man and two women were arrested for forcing minors into prostitution. The arrest was made after a 17 year old girl reported to the police that she was forced to perform prostitution against her will. The girl met one of the women at a party, where she was asked to become a prostitute. The woman also posted pictures of the teen only wearing underwear and advertised sexual favors on backpage.com.

ASIA

India: A 16 year old girl was rescued from prostitution. She was sold to a brothel owner by her uncle for $2200 while looking for a domestic worker job. She was rescued during the raid conducted by an anti-human trafficking organization. According to the report, she was placed at a government shelter for rehabilitation after the rescue.

Cambodia: Cambodia sets age limits on foreigners who pursue international marriage with Cambodian women. The new law will ban foreign men in the age of 50 or older from marrying Cambodian brides. Also, foreign men earning less than $2580 per month will be forbidden from marrying Cambodian women.

Global human trafficking roundup (February 17, 2011)

NORTH AMERICA

Alabama: An FBI agent says that human trafficking happens in Alabama, and the residents should be aware of the crime. One sex trafficking survivor says that she was sold and exploited when she was 6 years old. She doesn't remember her biological parents, and she ran away from her traffickers in the age of 11 but was exploited again by another family with selling drugs.

California: A sex trafficking survivor receives award from the community. She came to the U.S. from Mexico in 1997 to work at a restaurant as a waitress. But, she was locked into a warehouse with thirty other women and forced into prostitution. When the restaurant shut down, she was able to escape from the tragedy.

Texas: Authorities raided two business premises in eastern Houston in search of human trafficking victims and suspects. According to the FBI, the women came to the U.S. believing that they would work, but were forced into prostitution by their traffickers to pay off the debts. It is unknown how many were arrested, but the further details will be released later this afternoon.

Canada: Canada's first human trafficking case ended with three people pleaded guilty of keeping a common bawdy house but without conviction on human trafficking or any related criminal charges. According to the report, the arrest was made after the police found three immigrant women who were forced into prostitution. Despite of the terrified victims, the prosecutor had to dismissed human trafficking charges based on the lack of evidences.

ASIA

China: Police rescued about 19000 women and children and arrested more than 3500 suspects during the crackdown on human trafficking. According to the report, Vietnamese women and children are particularly becoming more vulnerable to human trafficking in China.

Cambodia: A British nationale is on trial for prostituting two children. He was arrested at a guesthouse for allegedly purchased sex from two underage girls in 2006. According to the report, the victims testified that they had sex with him at least three times in 2006, and their lawyer said that he paid between $50-$100 per each session.

New Zealand: ECPAT representative says that child pornography trade is common in New Zealand. Child pornography is multi-million dollar industry which is closely connected to underage prostitution and child trafficking. According to ECPAT, child approximately 20 percent of internet pornography is child pornography since 1997, and the number of child pornography has increased 1500% .

Global human trafficking roundup (January 29-31, 2011)

NORTH AMERICA

Texas: Authorities say human trafficking is hard to prove at the court. Cases involving human trafficking are not only hard to tease from immigration or prostitution offenses but also some victims are unaware of their victimization. Therefore, they are difficult to prosecute.

New York: Buffalo law enforcement says that human trafficking hits close to home. Her youngest victim was 12 and the oldest one was in her 60s. Some cases of human trafficking so horrific that some investigators have to walk out of the scene or have hard time hearing the details. However, human trafficking cases are still difficult to prosecute unless victims cooperate.

Hawaii: A new prosecutor in Honolulu says that Hawaii does not need an anti-human trafficking law. However, he acknowledged that it is an ongoing problem in the state. He argued that while the bill was well intended, it was repetitive form of existing law.

Massachusetts: Senate joins the fight to make forced labor and prostitution illegal in the state. The new bill, if implemented, will not only create new crimes but also make a new task force to fight human trafficking in the state. It will also amend penalties regarding existing statutes to address the demand side of human trafficking.

Michigan: Federal prosecution in Detroit says that child pornography is getting uglier. The victim are becoming younger including infants and toddlers. Some are as young as six month old. According to the report, half of the child pornography circulated in the U.S. are made in the U.S., rather than Eastern Europe or South Asia.

ASIA

Cambodia: Police work with U.S. special operation agents to fight against child prostitution. One 1o year old victim was interviewed by BBC after her pimp and her aunt who sold her to the foreigner were arrested.

AFRICA

Zimbabwe: IOM assists Zimbabwe to create a comprehensive law against human trafficking. The legislation is intended to protect women and children trafficked in and out of Zimbabwe by prostitution rings. It will focus on raising awareness among government officials and law enforcement.

**Looking for volunteers to post human trafficking roundup during the summer. Please leave a comment if you are interested. Thank you!!!!!!!!!

Global human trafficking roundup (January 19, 2011)

NORTH AMERICA

New York: The Supreme Court refuses to hear the appeal to overturn a conviction of a couple enslaving two Indonesian girls. The wife is now facing a sentence to 11 years in jail, and her husband is facing 3 years in jail for forced labor case in 2007. The wife argued that "pre-trial publicity prevented her from getting a fair trial, while her husband argues that he shouldn’t have been convicted for aiding and abetting because he didn’t stop his wife."

Texas: The Coastal Bend Addressing Human Trafficking Coalition, a new group to fight human trafficking, held an inauguration meeting yesterday. This was the first group of people gathering together to combat human trafficking in southern Texas. According to the report, there had been a handful of human trafficking cases in Coastal Bend, including a 14 year old found working at a local strip club.

Hawaii: Justice department announced yesterday that two more people were charged with human trafficking case in Hawaii. Grand Jury returned the indictment that two men were co-conspirator to trafficking 400 Thai nationals in Hawaiian farm for labor exploitation. According to the indictment, Thai workers were forced to work as indentured servants after defendants incurred insurmountable debts with high recruitment fees. They were also worked for little or no pay.

EUROPE

Ireland: Police in Northern Ireland says that human trafficking is on the rise in the region. Police also stated that fifteen people were rescued between April and December last year, and 4 people were charged with links to the case.

UK: Human trafficking ring in Munchester exposed. Two victims were from poverty stricken region in Romania and forced into prostitution by a father and his 23 year old son. The women were starved and live under violence to perform commercial sex for their traffickers. Even after being remanded, the father and the son tried to silence the victims with threat.

ASIA

India: Police rescued two teenage girls trafficked to countries in Gulf region. According to the report, victims stated that they were lured and forcibly taken into brothels, where 20 other Indian girls were working as prostitutes. The two girls, in the age between 14 and 17, had been missing since 2007 and 2008.

Cambodia: Three Cambodians jump into river to escape from a fishing boat, where they were forced to work and held against their will. According to the report, one of them reported to the police, which led the rescue of six people, but two people are still missing.

Human trafficking roundup (January 11, 2010)

NORTH AMERICA

New York: A woman suspected of trafficking Korean women for prostitution in New York and other areas in East coast was arrested while gambling at a casino in Connecticut. The 52 year old woman has been sought by the police since August 2006. She is facing numerous charges including conspiracy to engage in human trafficking.

Wisconsin: Jury found a man guilty of 11 felonies related to human trafficking. His case was the first prosecution for human trafficking at state level in Wisconsin. The details of the case is not stated on the report.

California: Riverside county launches anti-human trafficking program. Operation Safe House, an organization that runs network of shelters for runaway teens, is hosting session to train law enforcement officials and social service providers. The organization representative emphasized the importance of law enforcement individuals treating victims as victims to provide rehabilitation and assistance programs to them.

Florida: Federal agents said that a couple allegedly forced 39 Filipino workers at a few exclusive country clubs in South Florida. The couple also set up a staffing agency and sent out the workers to posh the clubs for long hours with little pay.

ASIA

Cambodia: A 54 year old British man was arrested for sexually exploiting four boys. According to the report, he molested the boys who were working at his Souvenir store as book sellers. The arrest was made after the boys reported the police of the incidents.

Pakistan: Authority announced that approximately 250 children in the age between 10 and 18 have been trafficked for sexual exploitation by an organized crime. The criminals first lure the children with alcohol and other substance abuse, which normally become very expensive habits to afford for many children. After their substance dependency, children are forced into pornography or other sexual activities in order to obtain more substance by the organized criminals.

AFRICA

Global human trafficking roundup (January 7, 2011)

NORTH AMERICA

California: A man was convicted of keeping a child sex slave. He spent 29 years as a fugitive after being convicted of child molestation in Orange County in the 1970s. He was again convicted in Florida of bringing child across the state lines for sexual purpose. According to the report, he brought a girl from Vietnam and molested on daily basis and even encouraged her to bring her friends so that he can molest them too.

Ohio: Two siblings were charged during the state wide investigation on human trafficking rings in nail salons. Along with two other women, they face multiple charges including, "fraud, submitting false documents and tampering with documents." One state cosmetology board authority stated that human trafficking in nail salons by using fraudulent identities is a multi-million dollar scheme.

South Carolina: Advocates pushes for a bill to make traffickers pay for the crime. On January 11th, the advocates plans to lobby for SC H4522, asset forfeiture laws. If passed, the traffickers will be mandated to turn over all of their assets to the state, which will be used for victim assistance programs.

New Hampshire: Police is investigating online brothel involving child prostitution case. A teen girl was sold as a prostitute at a local hotel by out of state suspects. The police said that the girl was exploited through backpage.com. Because of the ongoing investigation, police said that further details could not be disclosed.

South Dakota: A man was arrested for allegedly pimping on high class call girls. He is charged three counts of pimping and two counts of hiring prostitutes for sexual activity. But, the state's attorney said that he can be charged with fifty additional counts and may qualify for human trafficking.

ASIA

Cambodia: A woman was charged with trafficking her mentally disabled 13 year old daughter after allegedly sending her to Malaysia to work. Police said that the woman was arrested at her residence. The woman allegedly forged documents to indicate that the girl was 19 years old. The investigation began after World Vision informed the police that the girl was only 13 years old and working in Malaysia.

South Korea: A 37 year old man was sentenced to 17 years in jail for killing his Mongolian wife's friend and severely injuring her husband. The crime occurred after the 37 year old visited their residence in search of his wife who ran away from the man's domestic violence. The incident caused public stir over increasing reports of domestic violence and human trafficking.

India: Ten Nepalese women who were trafficked into India were sent back to their country upon rescue. According to the nonprofit advocates who worked with these women stated that these women are lucky to be able to go back to their country. Many of them are left in brothels, shelters, or even in prison instead of finding their ways to go home.

AFRICA

Uganda: Immigration officer testifies against pastors for trafficking a 17 year old girl. According to the report, the two pastors allegedly lured the girl from her hometown into flying to Dubai for a job opportunity. They also allegedly falsified the document stating that the girl is 19 years old to obtain a passport.