Canadian Police busts prostitution ring with 500 individuals.

http://www.nocutnews.co.kr/news/4392259

加 연방경찰, 한인 낀 성매매 조직원·여성 5백명 적발

• 2015-04-02 14:21
• CBS노컷뉴스 박종환 기자메일보내기

캐나다 연방경찰이 성매매조직 일제 단속에 나서 성매매 여성들을 밀입국시킨 한인이 포함된 아시아계 매춘 조직원과 매춘 여성들을 대거 적발했다. 

1일(현지시간) CTV뉴스 등 캐나다 언론에 따르면, 연방경찰은 이날 기자회견을 열고 "지난달 27일부터 전국의 성매매 조직 일제 검거 작전을 벌여, 토론토와 몬트리올 지역에서 핵심 매춘 조직원 6명을 체포하고, 성매매 여성 5백 여명을 적발했다"고 밝혔다. 

검거 작전은 핼리팩스와 몬트리올, 오타와, 토론토, 위니펙, 캘거리, 에드먼턴, 밴쿠버 등 전국적으로 이루어졌으며, 6명은 아시아를 주무대로 활동하는 국제 범죄조직의 일원이라고 경찰은 설명했다. 

경찰은 "범죄조직은 성매매 여성 5백 여명을 캐나다로 불법 입국시켰는데, 이들 대부분은 한국과 중국 여성들"이라고 강조했다. 

이들 여성들은 다양한 종류의 성매매 업소에서 성적으로 착취를 당하며 열악한 생활을 하고 있었다고 캐나다 경찰은 설명했다. 


핵심 조직원 6명 중에는 한인이 포함됐고, 2명의 수배자 중 1명도 한인인 것으로 전해졌다. 

경찰은 매춘 조직으로부터 컴퓨터와 휴대전화, 자동차, 현금 등을 압수했다.

Park, J. (2015 April 14). Canadian National Police busts prostitution ring with over 500 individuals.  (加 연방경찰, 한인 낀 성매매 조직원·여성 5백명 적발.)  No Cut News. Retrieved from http://www.nocutnews.co.kr/news/4392259

Global human trafficking roundup (July 20, 2011)

NORTH AMERICA

Canada: Hamilton police receives funding supports to fight human trafficking in the area. The funding will be used to increase education campaign, special investigations targeting sex trade, etc. Last year, Hamilton police arrested ten adults and a youth in connection to the largest human trafficking case in Canada.

Georgia: Authorities found a missing 15 year old Wisconsin girl and her infant son. The report says that she was a victim of sex trafficking in Georgia. The victim has been missing since May 2011, when she ran away from home in Belmar Hills, Wisconsin. Police are still investigating to discover who was involved in sex trafficking the victim.

US: U.S. authority launches a public campaign to fight against human trafficking. The campaign includes the ads based on the feedback from Homeland Security. The ads will run across the states including District of Columbia, Georgia, Florida, and North Carolina. The campaign's primary target is to countermeasure labor trafficking in the U.S.

North Carolina: human trafficking is an ongoing problem in the state, police says. The crime is so lucrative that it is difficult to track it down, according to the police. Currently, the legislation is available to help victims in the state, but the funding is for the initiatives are up for discussion in Congress.

EUROPE

UK: Home Secretary warned that human traffickers likely would target Olympics. The warning came as the Home Office launched a new measure to combat human trafficking. The Home Office will examine tougher penalties to seize assets from the convicted smugglers and traffickers.

Turkey: Human trafficking persists to be a problem in Turkey. One woman shares her story as a victim of sex trafficking in Turkey. She came to Istanbul to be a housekeeper after responding to a newspaper advertisement. But, upon arrival, she was locked into a house for several months and forced into prostitution. One law enforcement pointed out the male dominated culture and inadequate law enforcement as main causes of human trafficking in Turkey.

Czech Republic: Police dismantled sex trafficking ring that preyed on Czech women in Britain. The investigation was conducted in cooperation with British police. The police arrested six people that recruited young Czech women for sham marriages and prostitution.

ASIA

Myanmar: Myanmar steps up its effort to combat human trafficking. The authority established 26 new special police squads to curb female trafficking in the border region. It also increased its awareness raising effort by using pamphlets, billboards, etc. to combat human trafficking.

India: Police arrested a placement agency owner for running a human trafficking ring. He allegedly recruited girls from rural area in Assam for domestic servants. The victims, however, never received the wages.

The Philippines: Three women were charged with trafficking other women and children. According to the report, the arrests were made during the operation conducted by IJM and the Intelligence Unit. Police also rescued eight victims during the operation.

AFRICA

Nigeria: The national authority announced that over 20,000 girls were sex trafficked in Mali last year. Young women were subject to forced prostitution as well as emotional and physical abuse by the traffickers. They were also required to see at least 20 men a day. The critics point out the Nigerian government's failed effort to combat human trafficking in the country, such as Operation Timbuktu.

South Africa; A woman was sentenced to life in prison for trafficking three girls from Mozambique. According to the report, the convicted trafficker locked the girls in the age between 14 and 17 in a house and forced them into prostitution.

Global human trafficking roundup (May 19, 2011)

NORTH AMERICA

Nebraska: U.S. authority says that corporation needs to wake up to fight against human trafficking. Currently, awareness raising led to legislations in many states to punish traffickers and protect victims. But, authority says that further action is necessary to include corporation to collaborate with countries across the regions to trace supply chains of cheap goods to fight against slavery.

Tennessee: The recent study on human trafficking in Tennessee shows that many children in the age between nine and 17 are transferred from city to city and sexually exploited. Hamilton County, according to the study, is one of eight in the state to report more than 100 cases of adult sex trafficking for the past 24 months. Because of it's geographical proximity to Atlanta and interstates that cross the state, it is conducive to a traveling business.

Canada: RCMP says that the case against a woman to enslaved an African woman is solid. According to RCMP, the woman is a well respected in the community without any criminal record. However, he lured a 24 year old victim from Africa and forced her into long hours of labor without pay in her home for years. The woman is now facing one count of human trafficking and one count of smuggling charges.

Florida: FBI arrested a couple who forced children into prostitution. They are facing charges of recruiting, providing and maintaining minors for commercial sex in a house. According to the criminal complaint, the couple prostituted children as young as 14 year old to have sex with men. One victim said that there were many women and children dancing in front of men when she first walked into the house. She also said that she had sex with the suspect who told her ti was part of orientation.

EUROPE

Belgium: EU proposes better help for victim protection. Currently, the level of protection and assistances for victims differ in each member state. EU argues that this creates confusion about their rights among the victims. EU further argues that a new directive will provide a more unified protection for the victims regardless of where they are from or where they are located in Europe.

ASIA

India: Police busted a human trafficking ring and arrested two people. During the raid, police rescued nine children who were trafficked. The children, including three boys and three little children, were sold to Delhi as domestic servants. The allegedly traffickers received the initially payment from the employers. But, neither the parents nor the children received any monthly salaries for their labor.

AFRICA

Congo: Children are vulnerable to commercial sexual exploitation, a report says. Many of them grew up in a poor family, and they often share financial burdens of their parents. Some are neglected by their own parents and ended up being forced to beg for living on the street or recruited by a brothel madam. While child protection law is in place, it is rarely enforced, according to the report.

Global human trafficking roundup (May 18, 2011)

NORTH AMERICA

Canada: The Manitoba government gets tough on child sexual predators. A new legislation is introduced to allow asset forfeiture from the convicted traffickers. The legislation will also allow the victims to file civil lawsuit against their predators.

Georgia: Advocates praise the state's new legislation to combat human trafficking. The new law will treat those in sexual slavery as victims and allow them to provide affirmative defense "when coming forward and for penalties that allow the state to seize any real or personal property used or purchased by a convicted trafficker."

EUROPE

Estonia: Advocacy group say that human trafficking is ongoing problem in Estonia. According to the report, the group's helpline received 71 calls from victims in March alone. In 2010, the helpline received total 643 calls, receiving in average 50 calls in each month.

UK: The government says sexual grooming of children is a much bigger problem than that has been recognized before. The children's minister says that the UK government launches action plan to tackle child sexual exploitation. Experts say that children as young as 10 year old are sexually exploited in UK. The action plan will likely look at obstacles that child victims experience to bring their abusers to justice.

AFRICA

South Africa: Two Chinese women are facing a trial for human trafficking related charges. They allegedly lured women with a promise of a good job in South Africa and forced them into prostitution. They are facing charges of human trafficking and running an illegal brothel in Cape Town.

Global human trafficking roundup (May 17, 2011)

NORTH AMERICA

Canada: BC woman was charged with human trafficking and smuggling. She allegedly lured an African woman to come to Canada with promise of job and forced her to work as a domestic slave. The victim was forced to work 18 hours a day and seven days a week without a pay.

North Carolina: Federal law enforcement charged a man with running an online prostitution ring in Charlotte and other cities in South. When the woman said that she wanted out, the man became violent, pulled her hair, striking her face and threatening more harm to force her to continue on prostitution.

Oregon: Lawmakers approved a bill to combat child prostitution in the state. The new bill, if implemented, would create tough penalties for people who pay for sex with minors. It would create $10,000 fine for John's first offense and a $20,000 fine and jail time for additional offenses.

EUROPE

UK: ECPAT UK says that efforts to protect victims have suffered since coalition took power last May. The group claims that the coalition brought lack of leadership and funding. While the UK government says that it is working on a new strategy to combat trafficking, the group's director says that it will have no separate section on combating child trafficking.

ASIA

Japan: Major Internet service provides block access to internet child pornography. The measure came about after the Cabinet's crime countermeasures conference concluded that the law allows blocking access to child pornography under certain conditions. However, some people raise the concern that such move will affect freedom of expression.

Global human trafficking roundup (April 28, 2011)

NORTH AMERICA

Missouri: A man was sentenced to five years in federal prison for his role in labor trafficking scheme. He was convicted of providing an expertise on how to exploit temporary work visa. The scheme brought 1000 workers from abroad, exploited them with labor, and placed them in a poor living condition.

Canada: Police have arrested six men and two women for trafficking in person. The arrests were made during the investigation, Rescue Innocence that police rescued several women and girls from sex industry. The victims' age ranged between 14 and 23.

Rhode Island: The state's first indoor human trafficking case was settled in Superior Court. The two defendants who are convicted of running a prostitution ring out of an apartment received the maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. According to the Attorney General, the case shows that prostitution is not limited to immigrants sold into servitude.

EUROPE

Ireland: A Nigerian woman was charged with running a brothel in Dublin. She was arrested during the Garda National Immigration Bureau's Operation Mast investigation. The police also rescued 11 victims and arrested 40 others during the two year long investigation.

ASIA

Thailand: Authorities raided two brothels that exploited underage girls on Wednesday. During the raid, they rescued more than 30 children in the age between 14 and 17 from Laos. According to the report, the children were lured into working at brothels and prostituted under debt-bondage. The traffickers also starve the children until they were willing to prostitute themselves.

AFRICA

Angola: The vice Attorney General said that Angola lacks the legislation to combat human trafficking. He mentioned that the National Assembly is working on a new and more effective legislation to fight against the crime. He also pledged to train the staff in his department to combat human trafficking.

Global human trafficking roundup (March 26-28, 2011)

NORTH AMERICA

Illinois: A 46 year old man faces up to 3o years in prison for running a prostitution ring in and around Chicago. According to prosecutors, the man rented motel rooms and forced the women to see up to 25 men a day. The women said that he threatened to beat or kill them if they refused to follow his order. He also told the women to call him "Magnificent."

Canada: A Montreal based company that provides caregivers is facing charges against forced labor. According to the report, the company allegedly has been trafficking Filipino women under the federal government Live-in Caregiver program. The victims were came to Canada with a promise of high paying salaries and a residence in Canada within 36 months after their arrival. However, upon arrival, they were forced to sign a lease to live in a slum and open a bank and life insurance account that the company thought was best for them. The company also collected $4000 agency fee and airfare to come to Canada from each woman.

Kansas: Labor department cracks down on work visa fraud. The proposed rule changes are aimed at closing the loopholes of H-2B program that are exploited by traffickers. If it is made to final, the new rule will eliminate job contractors from the program.

EUROPE

UK: Two women are facing child prostitution charges. They allegedly prostituted four children in the age between 13 and 17 and facing four counts of arranging the prostitution of child and one count of controlling a child to prostitute. Children were taken into social services after the women's arrest.

Kosovo: A former trafficker talks about human trafficking in Kosovo. He says that sex trafficking in Kosovo is highly organized from top to bottom that no law enforcement can stop the crime. He also pointed out corruption involved in human trafficking.

Scotland: Police began investigating a possible human trafficking case after an Eastern European woman claimed that she was forced into prostitution. She turned up at a sexual health clinic in Capital last week and told the staff that she feared for her life in the hands of her partner and begged for help. The police however stated that the inquiries are currently at an early stage.

ASIA

India: The authority in Orissa establishes anti-human trafficking unit. The anti-human trafficking unit will gather intelligence to investigate traffickers and rescue victims from the trafficking rings. In the state of Orissa, women and children are particularly vulnerable to human trafficking as they are forced into domestic servitude or prostitution, according to the report.

UAE: A woman was sentence to five years in prison for forcing another woman into prostitution. The 38 year old Uzbek was found guilty of forcing a 21 year old Moldovan victim into prostitution by using coercion, beating, and false imprisonment.

AFRICA

South Africa: Two Chinese women are facing criminal charges for running a brothel and trafficking women. According to the report, police received a tips from local newspaper advertising massage parlor at a residence. During the raid, police found two Chinese women in the age of 25 and 29 that were forced into prostitution. The women also told the police that they were raped and told that they would be engaged in prostitution upon arrival in Cape Town.

Global human trafficking roundup (March 4, 2011)

NORTH AMERICA

Texas: Law makers propose new human trafficking bills to toughen up the measure against the crime. The House bill 7 and HB 1122 each addresses pimps and johns who exploit children. Governor Perry is in support of the bill after hearing the crackdown report during the Super Bowl game.

Canada: Heath care workers are surprised to find out about rampant human trafficking in Canada. They were shocked to hear that many migrants in Canada live in debt bondage or sex slavery. One health care worker said that she was overwhelmed to think about how many victims that she might have come across in the past and didn't realize it.

Maryland: An NJ man was arrested for trafficking a 19 year old victim. The victim initially came down to Maryland voluntarily with other three women for prostitution at local motel. But, when the victim said that she wanted to go home, she was held against her will and denied the mail she reached out to her relatives in NJ.

EUROPE

Ireland: An alleged human trafficking case in Belfast moved to Scotland. A 47 year old Scottish man was initially charged with human trafficking and controlling prostitution, running a brothel, and converting criminal property in Northern Ireland. He is scheduled to appear before Belfast Magistrates Court to be arrested on Scottish warrant.

UK: Police arrested a convicted pimp who has been on the run since last November yesterday. He became a fugitive since he failed to appear before the court for two hearings. He was convicted of "trafficking women within the UK for sexual exploitation, conspiracy to traffic women within the UK for sexual exploitation and controlling prostitution for gain and converting £67,075 of criminal property."

ASIA

The Philippines: Police rescued three minors from child labor along with thirty other adult victims. The three minors were recruited with a promise of high paying job with free lodging and food. But, they only received 1/7th of what was promised, and the fees for using utensils and food were deducted from the salaries. The thirty adults were also subject to forced labor.

Global human trafficking roundup (March 2, 2011)

NORTH AMERICA

Canada: A sex trafficking case involving two Fijian women failed to fall through after the prosecutor couldn't locate two key witnesses. The two women came to Canada to find a better job opportunity, but ended up being forced into prostitution at a massage parlor. They were rescued after the police raided the parlor. However, because of lack of key witnesses available, the prosecution had to drop multiple charges against the alleged trafficker, including human trafficking, unlawful confinement, etc.

Iowa: A special agent says that sex trafficking is a problem in Iowa. He said that since Craigslist was censored, the traffickers moved their venues to other sites to carry out online prostitution. Many victims do not realize that they were in sex slavery because of pimps' manipulation. Also, pimps recruit many young people from Iowa City.

EUROPE

Azerbaijan: The national authority reports that 70 out of 183 criminal cases were related to human trafficking. According to the report, there were 39 individuals who were prosecuted for human trafficking, and 34 victims were rescued.

ASIA

Qatar: A nonprofit in DOHA says that it received over 140 complaints from trafficking victims last year. The victims requested assistance for different needs including shelter and lodging, but many of them were asking for legal remedies against their traffickers. According to the advocates, Qatar is on the process of implementing an anti-human trafficking legislation.

The Philippines: The U.S. citizen was charged with child pornography and human trafficking. He allegedly videotaped seven topless women, including three minors. Police seized the camera and a battery pack that he used to record pornographic images of the women. The victims are currently taken into the shelters, and the man was denied on bail.

AFRICA

Uganda: A 58 year old witchdoctor was sentenced to 50 years in jail for trafficking a boy. He was convicted of kidnapping a seven year old boy and cutting off his genital with his three accomplice. The arrest was made after the boy identified him to the police before he lost his consciousness.

Global human trafficking roundup (March 1, 2011)

NORTH AMERICA

Texas: A man and a woman were jailed on Monday for forcing a Houston girl into prostitution. They allegedly recruited the 17 year old victim on a social network site called Mocospace for commercial sexual services. The arrest was made after the man responded to the phony profile posing a 16 year old girl, which was set up by the undercover cop. They exchanged the text message and agreed to meet at Fort Worth bus station for sexual flavors and prostitution.

Massachusetts: State rep. and joins state Attorney General, Martha Coakley to announce a comprehensive state human trafficking law. Massachusetts currently has no legislation against human trafficking. The bill, if implemented, will therefore give a tool to law enforcements to investigate and prosecute the crimes and attempts to address all aspects of human trafficking.

Missouri: Two men were sentenced to federal prison for labor trafficking foreign workers. They were two of twelve individuals who were charged with trafficking more than 1000 workers with labor. The workers were exploited with lower wages and substandard living conditions. If they complained, they were threatened with deportation. Each of the two men received 41 month and 21 month long prison sentence in federal court.

Tennessee: FBI says many people are trafficked in Memphis. According to an FBI agent, many men, women, and children are locked down and beaten to a point that they are too afraid of leaving their traffickers. A local anti-human trafficking group, Operation Broken, Silence, says that based on its four month long investigation, most of cases are sexually exploitation carried out on Backpage.com.

District of Columbia: Child trafficking is rampant in the U.S. advocates in D.C. say that most johns who commercially exploit children with sex are affluent, including politicians, college students, business men, etc. Experts estimate that the average age of a child entering prostitution is 13 years old, and at least 300,000 children are at risk of human trafficking annually.

Canada: A new court document reveals allegedly child bride incident in 2006 -2008. According to the court document, the children in the age between 12 and 18 were taken to be wed to polygamists in the U.S. It also alleges that three girls in the age of 12 and 13 were taken to the U.S. by their parents to be wed to the jailed polygamist leader, Warren Jeffs.

Oregon: Local legislators say that new bills proposed will increase protections for minor trafficking victims. One Senate says that five Senate and one House bill will provide "money for human services and special law enforcement squads, to fining offenders up to $20,000, to placing minors in foster care when they are found with an adult in sex trafficking."

LATIN AMERICA

Argentina: Women's groups propose to penalize johns to fight against human trafficking. The government agencies also agree that prostitution degrades women in prostitution and must be banned. According to the U.N., though Argentina implemented anti-human trafficking law, its ineffectiveness calls for an urgent reform.

Peru: National authority rescued 54 trafficking victims during the raid in downtown. The rescued victims included four minors and young women in the age between 18 and 21. According to the report, the victims initially denied the allegation that they were forced into prostitution, but the investigators discovered their victim status based on their contradicting testimonies.

EUROPE

Croatia: Police arrested a couple for selling their daughter to a father and a son. Their daughter was sold in exchange for horse and cash, which the report estimates 1080 euro. According to the police, the girl was believed to be sold for forced labor on a farm.

ASIA

Nepal: Many teen girls are forced into prostitution at restaurants in the capital city, Kathmandu. They were lured into coming to Kathmandu from their poor villages. One nonprofit says that sex trafficking at restaurants in the city are not uncommon. Also, sex with victims are available along with food and beverages at restaurants regardless they are mentioned on the menu.

AFRICA

Ghana: IOM is ending rescue mission of child trafficking victims in fishing industries due to lack of financial resources. The program launched in 2003 to rescue many boys and girls from forced labor in fishing industries. Also, the program rescued more than 700 child victims and provided extensive medical and other extensive assistances to them since 2003. IOM has relied on the U.S. government funding up until recent. The IOM represent urged the needs to find other funding sources for ongoing efforts to rescue the children from forced labor.

Global human trafficking roundup (February 26-28, 2011)

NORTH AMERICA

Colorado: A missing teen's father traveled to speak against human trafficking at a rally. Her teenage daughter was missing since December 28, 2010. The police is spotlighting the ex-boyfriend of the teen's mother as a suspect, since he was the last person who saw the teen. The missing teen's father also said that the police officers wasted a week in search of his missing daughter because of their lack of experience in missing person's case.

Canada: An international watchdogs say domestic helpers may be victims of human traffickers and sexually are abused by the employers. The report recommends that the government must regulate domestic work and recruitment agencies.

EUROPE

Finnland: Many foreign migrants are exploited with labor at shipyards. Twenty workers lived in a small flat room and worked as long as 12 hours a day. They are also placed in industrial buildings even during the winter. However, according to the report, the law is far from protecting these migrants' basic rights.

ASIA

UAE: A carpenter was sentenced to 15 years in jail for sex trafficking seven girls. According to the report, the 28 year old Bangladeshi man locked the victims in an apartment room on the third floor and forced them into prostitution. Police discovered the prostitution ring after one of the victims from Indonesia escaped the apartment by using a rope and reported to the police.

India: Many young women, particularly Muslim girls, are trafficked for forced marriage. One victim from Assam was trafficked to another village and sexually and physically abused when she was 18. Later, her abuser re-sold her to another husband who also physically and sexually exploited her. According to the report, 80% of 100,000 trafficked annually are trafficked for forced marriage.

Indonesia: Three women escaped from a human trafficking ring. They were promised a high paying jobs at a five star hotel in a beach resort. However, after the recruitment agency deducted their salaries, they were forced to drink, sing, and dance erotically with the customers at a local karaoke bar.

AFRICA

Nigeria: Immigration service has installed information technology equipments to fight against human trafficking. The equipments include document fraud readers, scanners, and passenger registration, which will assist the immigration officers to closely monitor who is traveling in and out of the country.

Global human trafficking roundup (February 18, 2011)

NORTH AMERICA

Florida: A new york man receives the maximum penalties in a federal sex trafficking case. He was convicted of "sex trafficking by force, threats of force and fraud; transporting women across state lines for prostitution; enticing, inducing and coercing a woman to travel across state lines for prostitution; and conspiracy to transport a woman across state lines for prostitution." He now faces "two consecutive life sentences plus 35 years in federal prison for his crimes."

Georgia: The state legislators holds the first hearing on a new bill to combat child trafficking. The bill will not only impose longer penalties on traffickers but also allow the authority to seize the traffickers' assets.

Texas: U.S attorney says that ten people, including the local bar and restaurant owners were arrested on human trafficking charges. According to the report, they brought women and girls from Mexico to Houston and forced them into prostitution.

Hawaii: Domestic sex trafficking survivor said that she wants harsher penalty for traffickers. She shared her story before the legislators yesterday during the informational briefing to implement new anti-human trafficking bill 576 in Hawaii. She said that she was raped with a gun pointed on her head and forced into prostitution for three months by her pimp. She also said that she lives in fear and hopes that her pimp will never find her.

Canada: A sex trafficking survivor says that she was saved by a newspaper article. She was 19 when she came to Canada to be a domestic worker. But, instead, she was forced into sex industry as a exotic dancer upon arrival. When she read the story of another trafficking victim and the local police asking other trafficking victims to come forward on the article, she was able to find her way to escape from slavery.

Guam: A jury found a brothel owner guilty of sex trafficking women from Micronesia. According to the report, she preyed on nine victims, including a 16 year old girl, by forcing them into prostitution after promising them a good job at a restaurant. The brothel owner is now facing a maximum of life in prison at a sentencing set for May 18.

LATIN AMERICA

Mexico: A mother sells her infant to pay for her elder child's cancer treatment. She sold the infant to a midwife for a little more than $400, who, in turn, handed over the baby to a U.S. citizen for $1670. Both the midwife and the U.S. citizen are in custody and may be prosecuted for human trafficking.

EUROPE

Switzerland: The new IOM report on human trafficking criticizes lack of victim assistance from some countries. It argues that lack of victim assistance also leads to re-victimization of many women and children. The report is based on the close studies of 79 cases of human trafficking victims and shows that none of the victims in the studied cases were offered neither a temporary nor a permanent residency from the country of their destination. According to the report, the international victims who received no assistance from the country of their destination are re-trafficked within the country of their origin after the initial rescue.

ASIA

The Philippines: Local police rescued eighteen people who are believed to be trafficking victims. According to the police, the alleged victims came from various parts of the country and failed to present proper documents or working visas. Police also believes that the victims were illegally recruited to work in Malaysia.

AFRICA

Ghana: A couple are on trial for trafficking six women to Lagos. According to the police, they recruited six women from their hometown and another state in Ghana and transport them to Lagos to sell porridge. However, the victims were forced into selling porridge without compensation during the day and prostitution at night.

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 27, 2011)

NORTH AMERICA

Michigan: Experts said that over 160 underage girls are exploited online in a month during the town hall meeting. According to the study conducted last year, about 159 children were exploited in August and 158 in November, which was up from 117 in February.

California: Police arrested and charged 10 Bay area residents for running a prostitution and human trafficking ring. Each of them is facing five felonies, including pimping and human trafficking. The defendants are part of a human trafficking ring which sexually exploited immigrant Asian women. The victims are brought from Thailand and China and cycled throughout the brothels in Bay area.

Louisiana: Governor Bobby Jindal proposed a bill to strengthen the state anti-human trafficking bill. The proposed legislation will expand current law to include anyone who "advertises children or women for sale or who promotes prostitution involving young people."

Texas: Love146 is launching a campaign against to raise awareness about child sex trafficking ultimately to provide long-term prevention programs for at risk and exploited youth in Dallas.

Indiana: A Marion Superior Court jury makes first conviction of human trafficking case in the county. A 28 year old Chris Smiley was accused of holding a 19 year old woman against her will and and forced her into prostitution and working at a strip club.

Canada: Police circulates mugshots of dozens of suspected pimps to 10,000 strippers at 115 strip clubs to help prevent them from being lured into prostitution in Ontario. The strip club owners are working with the police to post suspected pimps mugshots which they believe will protect their staff.

EUROPE

Ireland: New research has found that prostitution and sex trafficking are rising in Northern Ireland. According to the report, 18 out of 29 police areas across the region reported incidents during the six month period. Also, last year, 17 victims of sex trafficking were identified, highlighting the growing problem of sex slavery in the region.

AFRICA

Nigeria: An authority in Sokoto region stated that 500 victims of human trafficking have been rescued since 2006. Also, he said that approximately 102 cases were received and investigated during the same period. According to the authority, though the number has been reduced recently, this does not mean that human trafficking has completely eradicated in the region.

Global human trafficking roundup (January 5, 2011)

NORTH AMERICA

California: California based anti-human trafficking organization, CAST, will host a National Human Trafficking Awareness Day on Tuesday next week. The executive director of CAST argues that many people are unaware of the problems of human trafficking. Meanwhile, she said that between 12 million and 27 million people are trafficked around the world, and approximately 18000 people are trafficked into the U.S.

Canada: Edmonton cops are overwhelmed by victims of human trafficking, according to the report. After rescuing one Chinese and two Fijian women, police said that they were not ready to deal with the level of trauma and damages experienced by the victims.

Oregon: Multnomah county will launch john school this Saturday for people who were arrested or charged with purchasing sex. According to the report, the program will allow the first time offenders to clear their record if they attend the one day john school and remain arrest free for six months. The program is modeled after those from Seattle and San Francisco.

ASIA

Lebanon: Prostitution and human trafficking is increasing in Lebanon. According to the report, thousands of women from Eastern Europe, Asia, Syria, and Egypt work at sex industry both legally and illegally. One organization providing shelter to the victims says that it receives approximately 80 women every year, but this number is only a tip of the iceberg.

AFRICA

South Africa: A former madam works for child prostitution victims. She says that many children who are in sex industry are often forced into prostitution. She also says that Many children and women in prostitution feel that prostitution is the only way of earning a living they know, which is why they need constant support from community.

Global human trafficking roundup (January 4, 2011)

NORTH AMERICA

District of Columbia: A woman joins to push a bill to fight against human trafficking around the world. She met up with a few representative to receive support for the bill. The bill, if implemented, will provide multi-year assistance to build criminal system to investigate and prosecute traffickers.

Canada: An organization based on Edmonton launched a national hotline to assist victims of human trafficking. The hotline will provide adequate psychological counseling to the men and women who are victims of human trafficking. The organization representative said that many victims have no place to turn for help. She hopes that the hotline will be available 24 hours a day by spring. Currently, it is open from 12:00 p.m. and 6 a.m.

EUROPE

Ireland: The authority steps to tackle human trafficking. many teens are forced to into prostitution and surrender the profits to their pimps under the threats of violence. But, pimps rarely are brought to justice. A recent case of an Irish man prosecuted for controlling prostitution and money laundering broke the myth that Ireland is immune to human trafficking, according to the report.

UK: A South Yorkshire MP stated that human trafficking conviction on Government report is unbelievably low. According to the Government report, there were only 139 conviction between 2004 and June 2010. The MP further argued that unless the authority began tackling demand side of human trafficking, there would be little change to the shocking figure.

ASIA

Lebanon: Lawmakers will soon pass legislations to combat human trafficking in the country.

According to the report, though Lebanon has separate legislations to fight against human trafficking, the country lacks a comprehensive measure to do so. The judges often make decisions contrary to the international standards because no national legislation in agreement with international laws is available.

UAE: A woman is accused of forcing two women into prostitution and is facing trial. According to the report, the victims stated that the woman met them in their country and lured them into coming to Dubai to work at an African restaurant in Dubai. However, the woman denied the allegation claiming that she never left Dubai.

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.

Global human trafficking roundup (December 8, 2010)

NORTH AMERICA

New York: CBS report says that many people are living in slavery in New York City. One victim testified that she just escaped from her trafficker who is also her husband not long ago. She met her husband in the Philippines when he posed as a business man in the U.S. Upon arrival, she was forced to work as his sex slave and threatened for life if she ran away from him. She was also tortured with electrodes by her trafficker. An advocate says, however, that this is one of many stories happening to victims in New York City.

Texas: Two brothers are on trial for trafficking a 13 year old teenager for sexual exploitation in San Antonio. According to the prosecutor, the two brothers kept the victim in captive and forced her into prostitution for three weeks in 2007. They also sold drugs to johns who only had to pay a little bit of money to buy sex from the victim.

Canada: A University professor is planning a massive boycott against Craigslist next year. The boycott is in response to Craigslist's refusal to shut down adult section in Canada. The boycott will involve students, advocates, and victims' group. RCMP officials are also in ongoing discussion with Craigslist to prevent its adult service section from being used by traffickers.

EUROPE

Ireland: Police busted a human trafficking and prostitution operation out of an apartment in Gorey last week. The raid is part of the investigation conducted in Dublin, Gorey, and Meath. Police also arrested several people and rescued a few women. Investigators believe that human trafficking is held in different premises, and women are brought from Eastern Europe and held against their will.

ASIA

Australia: Many women from Asia are sexually enslaved in Australia under debt bondage. One victim from China came to Australia as a waitress but was forced to work as sex slave fro three month. She was lucky enough to be awarded compensation for the damage caused by the traffickers through a legal action, this was only the second case, in which a trafficking victim was compensated fro their slavery and torture. According to the report, many victims are from Malaysia and Thailand. But, recently, women from South Korea and China increasingly become victims of human trafficking.