Global human trafficking roundup (April 26, 2011)

NORTH AMERICA

New York: Lawmakers proposed a new bill to increase more convictions on human trafficking. The new bill will extend interagency task force on human trafficking until September 1, 2013. The Task Force is set to expire in September 2011. New York has the fourth highest occurrences of human trafficking after California, Texas, and Florida.

Washington: Child trafficking is rampant in the Puget Sound area. Children as young as 11 are sold into prostitution by men who promise them to take care of them. Last year, 23 out 69 child victims were rescued from child prostitution in the Puget Sound area.

South Dakota: U.S. attorney is looking into a 34 year old man's alleged internet operation pimping on women in Chicago, Las Vegas, and South Dakota. He is charged with 24 total counts of pimping and hiring sexual activity and may face charges of human trafficking.

ASIA

Thailand: Police began its investigation on labor trafficking of 60 Burmese workers in garment factory. The workers were freed last week from the slavery labor in the garment factory in Bankok last week. Migrant workers are currently kept at guest houses without a work permit.

Global human trafficking roundup (March 19-21, 2011)

NORTH AMERICA

South Dakota: A nonprofit group named "Be Free" plans to open a safe house for trafficking victims. The shelter will provide a space for 8 to 10 women and offer other services and support to them. According to the Be Free director, sex trafficking is underreported and is likely to increase in the state.

Georgia: Delta Airways becomes the first airline company to sign the code to fight against child trafficking. Upon agreement, the company pledges to train and educate employees to identify child trafficking victims so that the employees can report child trafficking incidents to the authority.

Colorado: Lawmakers tackles johns to crack down on prostitution. The new bill proposed will require the first offenders to attend johns school, where they will learn about human trafficking. As a result of participation to the program, the first offenders will be able to avoid jail sentence.

New York: Police arrested five women on the charges of prostitution during the undercover prostitution sting. One of them also was charged with endangering the welfare of child for bringing a 15 year old girl to engage in prostitution acts under her direction. They used the internet website, Backpage.com to set up a meeting with johns for commercial sexual services at motels.

LATIN AMERICA

Jamaica: Police rescued seven human trafficking victims and arrested one person on human trafficking charges last Friday. According to one former employee of the arrested individual, he was allegedly brought to Jamaica from India with a promise of a good job. However, upon arrival, his passport was confiscated and was forced to work for months without pay.

EUROPE

UK: A report reveals the reality of human trafficking in UK. Many sex traffickers bring women from abroad and forced them into prostitution. However, even if they are jailed for committing such horrendous crime, they rather brag about their wrong deeds. Also, children from Vietnam are trafficked to UK and exploited with labor in cannabis farm. One Vietnamese teenager came to UK with a promise of a good job and a new life, but ended up being locked up in a cannabis farm and exploited with labor. For many foreign victim cases, however, police is faced with difficulty to crack down on the crime because of language and cultural barriers.

ASIA

Malaysia: The national authority announced that over 300 people were arrested for human trafficking between February 2008 and February 2011. What's more, approximately 1900 people have been rescued during the same period. The government representative further warned the childless couples of child trafficking among adoption agencies.

The Philippines: The government launches a hotline for human trafficking victims. The hotlines will be available for 24 hours to the victims in Manila City and providences in emergency situations.

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 16, 2011)

NORTH AMERICA

South Dakota: The Senate passes on the anti-human trafficking bill. The new bill will outlaw forced prostitution, labor, or involuntary servitude. It also will particularly benefit victims as anyone under the age of 16 will be considered as victims.

Georgia: The new Georgia attorney seeks new powers to prosecute human traffickers. The bill 200 aims to boost penalties and remove loopholes that have hindered prosecutions in the past. The bill is currently pending in a House committee for approval.

Maryland: A Craigslist undercover sting led to a possible sex trafficking case. The woman was 46 year old illegal migrant from China. She barely spoke English and believed to have a child in New York and another one left back in China. The undercover detective also said that she found evidences to promote him to turn her case over the Federal Human Trafficking Task Force.

EUROPE

UK: A Detective in Wales was told to ignore sex trafficking allegation by her superior. In 2007, her superior officer told her to leave the sex trafficking victim in the hands of the brothel owner, who was a suspect of another sex trafficking case. A month later, she discovered that seven women were forced into prostitution at the brothel while interviewing another victim in a London safe house. The Detective is currently on the process of suing the police for discrimination under whistle-blower laws.

ASIA

Thailand: Police rescued 13 girls from Karaoke during the raid. The police also arrested the bar manager and his three associates on human trafficking and pimping charges. Police seized three motorcycles that were used to transport victims for prostitution and account books.

The Philippines: A man who has been on the wanted list for pimping was shot dead by the police while escaping from the police arrest. He has been wanted by the police for a long time for pimping on a 13 year old girl on several occasions.

Macau: Authorities said that despite of the decrease in overall crime rate, the number of kidnapping soared last year. According to the government report, the number of kidnapping in 2010 was 98, up from 67 in 2009. Kidnapping was also recorded 46.3 percent increase, the biggest one out of all reported crimes.

Global human trafficking roundup (February 15, 2011)

NORTH AMERICA

Texas: Police charged 59 people on prostitution related crimes in Arlington during the days leading up to and on the day of Super Bowl. According to the report, thirteen of them were visitors in the area, three men were believed to be pimps, and one faces a human trafficking charge.

Washington: Two men have pleaded guilty to forcing young women into prostitution. According to the federal prosecutor, they facilitated women's prostitution by providing cell phones, transportation, and motel rooms. They also used threats to force them into prostitution. The arrest was made after the 17 year old victim called her brother and said that she was held against her will at a motel.

South Carolina: The state authority creates a sex offender watch website to protect children from the criminals, including child traffickers. The new website allows a family to monitor registered sex offenders who are prohibited from residing within 1000 feet from school, day care, and children's recreation center, etc.

South Dakota: Three men from South Dakota and Iowa face commercial sex charges after online sting. If convicted, they all can face life in prison. The men were arrested after responding to the online ads posted as part of undercover operation by Homeland Security and the South Dakota Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

EUROPE

UK: A Nigerian female pastor is facing a jail term for trafficking children and a woman to keep them as domestic servants in UK. According to the court document, she allegedly smuggled the victims into UK with false passports in 2000. Since then, the victims were kept as domestic workers and routinely subjected to physical abuse.

ASIA

UAE: Four women received jail term for sex trafficking other women in two different cases. One woman was sentenced to three years in jail for sex trafficking another women. Another woman and her assistance each received two year and a year jail sentence for forcing a victim into prostitution. The other woman received three year jail term for sex trafficking her victim. All of them will also face deportation after serving their jail terms.

The Philippines: Police intercepted nineteen victims of human trafficking before they were leaving for Malaysia, according to the report. The victims were illegally recruited by an agency and was about to board a commercial ferry. The interception was part of anti-human trafficking operation at ports in Zamboanga City.

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.