'Domestic slavery' cases on rise in England and Wales - BBC News

'Domestic slavery' cases on rise in England and Wales - BBC News:

Australia's 'hidden' abusive migrant marriages | Bangkok Post: news

Source:  Bangkok Post: news:

Thanks to

Jack Bear

who alerted me to this article.

SYDNEY - Kanya thought she was starting a new life in Australia after arriving from India to marry her husband, but it quickly turned into a nightmare. 

She was barred from going out on her own, forced to cook and clean for her partner's family, and made to sleep outdoors if she did not complete her tasks.

The fate of the 18-year-old, whose name has been changed to protect her identity, mirrors that of others in "slave-like" relationships that Salvation Army worker Jenny Stanger has taken in at a Sydney refuge for trafficked people in recent years. Immigration figures show women in such situations come from Thailand, China, India, the Philippines and Vietnam among others.

Continue:

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/asia/423594/australia-hidden-abusive-migrant-marriages

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• Forum targets domestic abuse in migrant population

Helen Grant: How Do We Stamp Out Profit From Human Misery?

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/helen-grant-mp/human-trafficking-misery_b_3140233.html

Source: The Huffington Post UK

Helen Grant

Minister for Justice, Victims’ and the Courts and Minister for Women and Equalities

 25/04/2013 00:00

Human trafficking is a scourge. It does not discriminate and permeates across age, race, sex and gender; it crushes self confidence and destroys lives. Its victims are often some of the most vulnerable members of society, separated from family and friends and with no access to financial help or support, they can become forgotten victims. As victims' minister my role is to ensure that they are not forgotten, but it is a job I can't do alone.

In October last year I met Mike (not his real name). He broke many of the myths that surround modern day slavery; he is a man, British and was trafficked for forced labour. It is not just women or foreign nationals that suffer at the hands of traffickers. He shared his story with me, the degradation and suffering he had experienced, the absolute misery that victims of this terrible crime suffer and how traffickers break the very spirit of their victims. Hearing from him how he was dehumanised and degraded by his traffickers, leaves me in no doubt that each of us must do all we can to stamp out this sickening crime.

But then the question follows - what more can we do? The answer doesn't lie in creating new processes or structures; the UK is already a leading force in combating human trafficking. It lies in two things; awareness and partnerships.

Over the past few years, real progress has been made to tackle modern day slavery. Public awareness-raising campaigns have helped members of the public to identify potential victims and give them the confidence to pick up the phone to help rescue victims. Six hundred and eighty-one victims in the last 18 months have been supported to begin the process of the recovery thanks to over £2million of government funding, and more offenders are being stopped.

Each of us must do what we can, whether it's speaking at our local community group, volunteering for a charity, tweeting, fundraising, speaking out publicly or talking to our friends so that as many people as possible know how to identify potential victims and do something about it.

None of us achieve as much in isolation as we do in partnership. Partnerships allow best practice to be shared and improved upon, ideas to grow and become a reality, resources to be pooled and ultimately see us united and therefore standing stronger against those who against all imagination choose to profit from human misery and degradation. I want more partnerships to be built, between the government and organisations, Local Authorities and frontline organisations, charities and businesses. Together we can create nets through which victims cannot fall. And where victims have been rescued from the hands of their trafficker, we need to work in partnership to help victims become rehabilitated members of their societies who can make a full contribution to their communities.

All through my life I have seen, worked for, and protected victims whether as a child at my mother's refuge centre that she set up for vulnerable women or as a domestic violence family lawyer. As victims' minister at the Ministry of Justice I now have the chance to do all I can to protect victims of trafficking and raise awareness of issues they face. I plan to do just that.

I hope that I can help ensure that victims of trafficking are not forgotten, that they get the access to support they so very much need and deserve to help rebuild their lives, and that more perpetrators are brought to justice to protect the men and women out there at risk of becoming victims of this sickening crime. But partnership means all of us refusing to sit back and let atrocities take place in our country.

Ultimately I've written today hoping that this blog will build more awareness. There is no room for half-promises. Every victim deserves to know that this government and indeed all of us will not give up on them. We must work together to stamp out trafficking and it will only be stopped if every one of us refuses to accept it. As victims' minister I will do all I can to protect victims of trafficking and raise awareness of issues they face, I hope you will join me.

The Salvation Army has a 24-hour confidential helpline (0300 303 8151) for professional advice and support and referrals seven days a week.

Related articles

• Experts call on UK government to appoint human trafficking commissioner
• AVODAH: Hidden in Plain Sight: A Story of Human Trafficking
• Trafficking In America Task Force presents, Creating a Culture Free of...

Ohio agencies win grant to fight human trafficking - CBS News

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505245_162-57508495/ohio-agencies-win-grant-to-fight-human-trafficking/

Source: CBS

September 7, 2012

CINCINNATI — A federal grant announced Friday will allow two Ohio agencies fighting human trafficking to hire two new investigators and a victim advocate and pay for gaps in services for those rescued from the practice that has been likened to modern-day slavery.

The $700,000 in U.S. Justice Department grants will go to the Ohio attorney general's office and the Salvation Army, which have partnered to combat human trafficking with two inseparable prongs — law enforcement and social services.

"People shouldn't be exploited. People shouldn't be sold in any capacity," said Michelle Hannan, director of professional and community services for the Salvation Army in central Ohio. "This is something that has remained hidden for so long, and people have just had to endure the most unspeakable situations."

Hannan and her agency began to focus on human trafficking in Ohio in 2007 after a national group identified Columbus and Cincinnati as being among 24 cities in the country with high risk factors for sex trafficking.

Both cities began their own coalitions targeting the problem that same year and have increased their efforts since then.

Hannan said that in the past year, her coalition has been working a lot more closely with law enforcement and the federal grant will strengthen and provide funding to that partnership.

"It's really going to be amazing to have some of the resources to make a difference," she said, adding that the funding also will go toward gaps in services for victims rescued from human trafficking.

That could include, for example, short-term emergency housing for a woman who has been forced into the sex trade, medical services and outreach into at-risk communities, Hannan said.

Attorney General Mike DeWine said in a statement that he "can't stress enough how serious of a problem human trafficking is in Ohio."

"With this new partnership we aim to prevent traffickers from escaping notice by moving from one jurisdiction to another and improve the opportunities available for trafficking victims to get the help they need," he said.

More than 1,000 Ohio children are trafficked every year, according to a 2010 report by the state Human Trafficking Commission, which cited weak laws in Ohio compared with other states and the state's proximity to the Canadian border as driving factors.

Ohio lawmakers have since passed legislation known as the "safe harbor law," which went into effect in June. The law makes human trafficking a first-degree felony with a mandatory prison term of 10 to 15 years. It also allows victims to sue their traffickers for damages and to have their records expunged if they were convicted of prostitution or solicitation charges as a result of being forced into the sex trade.

Related articles

• Ohio is hot spot in human trafficking: Hundreds forced into labor, sex; state laws weak | cleveland.com (trafficking-monitor.blogspot.com)

Bay Area law enforcement adopt victims-based approach to combat human trafficking - CDDRL

http://cddrl.stanford.edu/news/bay_area_law_enforcement_adopt_victimsbased_approach_to_combat_human_trafficking_20120301/

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Source: Stanford University Center on Democracy, Development, Rule of Law

March 1, 2012 - PHR News

Sgt. Kyle Oki, Helen Stacy, Captain Antonio Parra and Lt. John Vanek.
Photo Credit: NM

By Nadejda Marques

The Program on Human Rights presented the seventh installment of the Sanela Diana Jenkins International Speakers Series on February 28, which focused on anti-trafficking measures in the Bay area. Lt. John Vanek and Sgt. Kyle Oki from the San Jose Police Department Human Trafficking Task Force and Captain Antonio Parra from the San Francisco Police Department Human Trafficking Task Force spoke about their unit’s recent implementation of a victims-based approach in law enforcement, speaking frankly about its importance and the challenges it presents.

Lt. Vanek explained how the San Jose Police Department had transitioned from a criminal approach to prostitution to a multi-disciplinary model to combat modern-day slavery. The San Jose human trafficking task force was created in 2005 but the victim-centered approach is still developing. He spoke about some of the ongoing challenges, namely that all police officers need training on program management and victim assistance, and also deeper expertise on criminal investigations of human trafficking cases.

Sgt. Oki argued that a victim-centered approach is often restricted to identifying and rescuing victims of human trafficking. He noted that while it would be ideal to prosecute offenders, that is often not possible because police officers must ensure that they respect the victims’ agency and also guarantee their safety and confidentiality. He mentioned that sometimes trafficked children are safer in juvenile hall than in shelters, where they could be repeatedly exposed to traffickers.

Although the San Francisco Special Victims Unit (SVU) is relatively new – it was created in October 2011— it already includes 60 members. “The SVU represents a philosophical transition that shifts from enforcement to investigation,” explained Captain Parra. “The SVU maintains a proactive stance and integrates related disciplines to investigate specialized crimes such as: human trafficking, elder abuse, internet crimes against children, financial crimes, missing persons, domestic violence and sex crimes,” he continued.

The three presenters agreed that cooperation and coordination is key for a successful victim-based approach. There is need for coordination mechanisms established to stimulate deeper reflection and cooperation in dealing with the problem among different counties, states and countries.

Related articles

• Human trafficking series elevates issue of global importance - CDDRL (trafficking-monitor.blogspot.com)
• Protecting children from sex trafficking continues to be elusive goal | PRI.ORG (trafficking-monitor.blogspot.com)
• Google's Human Trafficking Ad Policy Questioned - Search Engine Watch (#SEW) (trafficking-monitor.blogspot.com)
• Private Sector's Pivotal Role in Combating Human Trafficking (trafficking-monitor.blogspot.com)
• Two-fifths of UK trafficking victims are male, survey reveals (trafficking-monitor.blogspot.com)

Two-fifths of UK trafficking victims are male, survey reveals

http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/2012/apr/26/two-fifths-human-trafficking-male?newsfeed=true

Source: The Guardian

Salvation Army findings contradict public perception that crime predominantly affects women who are being sexually exploited

• • 
    
  • 
    

• David Batty and agencies
• guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 25 April 2012 19.24 EDT
• 
  

Men account for 41% of adult human trafficking victims in England
and Wales, according to the Salvation Army.
Photograph: OJO Images / Rex Features

Men account for more than two-fifths (41%) of adult victims of human trafficking in England and Wales helped by the
Salvation Army, contrary to the public perception that the crime almost exclusively affects women.

The finding comes in a survey by the charity, which 

provides specialist support for the adult victims of

 trafficking on behalf the Ministry of Justice.

The Salvation Army, which began the support service six
months ago, also dealt with the first recorded case of an
 individual being trafficked to Britain to have their organs harvested. The case, involving an unnamed woman brought
 to the UK by an organised gang, is understood to be the
subject of a police investigation, the Telegraph reports.

The charity's survey found that 45% of those it supported
had been forced into sexual exploitation, 43% were involved
in labour exploitation and 8% were trafficked into domestic servitude.

This contradicted a survey of English and Welsh adults
carried out by YouGov, which found that respondents
thought 29% of all trafficked victims in England and
Wales were male, and 68% of all trafficked victims were
sexually exploited.

Between 1 July and 31 December 2011, the Salvation
Army and its 12 subcontractors provided housing support, counselling, medical care, translation services and legal counselling to 112 women and 78 men.

The victims came from all over the world, with 58% from]
 eastern Europe, 25% from Africa, 12% from Asia and
 4% from within the UK.

Major Anne Read, the Salvation Army's anti-trafficking
response co-ordinator, said: "Male or female, we are
helping all people caught up in all types of trafficking to
get them the support they need, when they need it."

Minister for justice, Crispin Blunt, said: "Human trafficking
 is often seen as predominantly affecting women – meaning
 that male victims are often overlooked and are forced to go without the support they so desperately need."

Two male victims from the Czech Republic were trafficked
to the UK into forced labour after answering a newspaper
 advert for work as factory supervisors in England. They
were sold several times to other gangmasters within
 the UK.

The Salvation Army gave them temporary accommodation
 and support until they moved to Scotland to start a new life.

Aleksander said the Salvation Army saved him. "It's sad
 but it's true; there are hundreds of people with similar
stories to me, people who have been fraudulently bought
and sold," he said.

Protecting children from sex trafficking continues to be elusive goal | PRI.ORG

http://www.pri.org/stories/politics-society/the-fight-for-protecting-children-from-sex-trafficking-continues-9394.html |

Source: PRI.ORG

12 April, 2012 08:00:00 The Takeaway

Volunteers pose in support of The Salvation Army's campaign to end human trafficking. (Photo from Flickr user Rob Sombilon.)

Underage sex trafficking is in the news again after Washington state enacted a law requiring websites like backpage.com to maintain documentation proving the age of escorts advertising on the site. Some argue that escort websites are better than the alternative, but, there does not yet appear to be a model for ending child prostitution.

Recently, the Washington legislature enacted a law requiring websites advertising escort services, likebackpage.com, to obtain documentation that escorts advertising on their sites are at least 18.

The industry is already required to disclose the age of its employees, but Nicholas Kristof, a columnist for The New York Times, said the age disclosures are not always truthful.

"And, indeed, on backpage that girl, or any girl, will be listed as 18 or 19, and some of the girls who have been trafficked in the past who told me that 18 is really code for 15 or 16 and 19 means 17 or 18," Kristoff said.

"Now, backpage says it is now more rigorous about that, and it is trying to eliminate some of the words that used to be code for underage girls, like 'fresh 18-year old,' things like that, but there is no doubt that a lot of girls are underage and are marketed on backpage, even though they are under 18."

However, Kristof said that backpage is not driving underage sex trafficking, rather demand is. He said addressing the problem may require reducing demand.

"There are some initiatives around the country to crack down on johns, and I think that is promising," Kristof said. "But at the end of the day, when that demand looks for finding a girl, it goes to backpage more than anywhere else. About 70 percent of the market is on backpage.com — 70 percent of the online prostitution market is on backpage, and there is, I think, some evidence that if one were to take out that channel that there would indeed be less trafficking. There would be less prostitution and, with it, less of this underage prostitution."

Often those paying for sex are not arrested. In a discussion over whether to criminalize paying for sex in Britain, some argued that arresting johns would be "unworkable." Kristof described the online market as asymmetrical between escorts and johns. Those paying for sex are able to almost always remain anonymous while escorts are advertised online.

"I just came across a case in Michigan where a 16-year old went missing. Her family was desperate to try to find her. They found an ad for her on backpage, and so they contacted law enforcement, and it (the ad) had a phone number. Law enforcement, the police then made a raid, and they found this 16-year old girl, and they arrested her," Kristof said. "You know, here she is. She's 16-year old girl. She's a victim of trafficking, and she gets arrested and the johns don't."

Kristof said he couldn't think of another situation in which the victims are arrested and the perpetrators, the pimps and johns, largely are not.

But critics of Kristof argue without backpage, a black market would emerge or other websites would crop up, and those would invariably be less cooperative with law enforcement. Kristof disagrees with that notion.

"Backpage, to its credit, it responds very quickly to subpoenas. It does, to some degree, try to screen ads that show very young girls. I wouldn't say it tries as hard as it should, but it does try," Kristof said. "I just don't buy that argument. You know, backpage told me, for example, that in Seattle they had been able to identify two girls that had been trafficked, and because of their tips, law enforcement rescued them. On the other hand, I came across 23 girls who had been underage, who had been rescued separately, independently by authorities, all of whom had been marketed on backpage, so I just think that it is a major forum for this kind of trafficking.

"There's some evidence, for example, that when Craigslist went out of the escort ad business that business did drop, and I find that promising."

Kristof said he used to be in favor of complete legalization of prostitution among consenting adults but now believes it does not work. In the Netherlands, where prostitution is legal and regulated, human trafficking in on the rise.

Related articles

• Goldman Sachs Frantically Sells Off Stake In Sex Trafficking Website (inquisitr.com)
• WA lawmakers seek to ban sale of underage sex ads (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Age verification for 'sex-ads' now the law in Washington; first in nation : NPR (trafficking-monitor.blogspot.com)

World's first sex trafficking opera to premiere in UK - News - Classical - The Independent

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/classical/news/worlds-first-sex-trafficking-opera-to-premiere-in-uk-7534762.html

Source: The Independent

Groundbreaking production about women forced into prostitution opens in Liverpool this week

EMILY DUGAN

SUNDAY 04 MARCH 2012

As an art form, opera is more traditionally associated with overblown tales of romance, but this week the world's first opera about human trafficking will premiere in Britain.

Anya17 will open at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall on Wednesday. It tells the story of a woman brought from Eastern Europe to work in the UK's sex industry. The show's official supporters include the United Nations, Anti-Slavery International and the Salvation Army. Special performances are already being mooted for the House of Lords and the Council of Europe in Strasbourg.

The drama is set in a brothel in an unnamed UK city and in an unspecified Eastern European country. The protagonist, Anya, is trafficked into Britain and forced into prostitution by a man pretending to be her boyfriend. The number 17 in the title comes from the practice of numbering girls on a "menu" in brothels. It is estimated that 800,000 women are trafficked into the EU every year. Nine out of 10 of these are forced to be sex workers in brothels.

The opera's librettist, Ben Kaye, who came up with the concept, said: "We're so used to hearing shocking news bulletins about subjects like this that we can become immune to it. Sometimes you need a different approach to engage people. I did a lot of research to make it accurate – going through stories and talking to case workers who worked with women who had gone through this."

The opera director Sir Jonathan Miller said the project showed no subject should be off-limits. "I think you can do whatever you like in opera. The Death of Klinghoffer was not something you'd expect in an opera, but it works. It's in the nature of any art form that it accommodates novelty. Genres that are thought to be closed turn out to be open-ended."

The cast, taken from the Royal Northern College of Music, went to meet survivors of sex trafficking at sheltered housing in London as part of their research. Andrea Tweedale, who plays Anya, said: "Most of the characters I play are in romantic stories about love, whereas this is very different. As an opera singer you never normally get the chance to raise awareness about serious issues. There are lines I never thought I'd sing: words like 'rump' and 'sodomised'."

The production is directed by the award-winning Caroline Clegg, with music by Adam Gorb.

Iqtadar Hasnain, a spokesman for Anti-Slavery International, said: "As far as we're aware, there has never been an opera on this subject. We hope that people will see it and realise that this is a form of slavery that is happening on their doorstep today."

Anya17 is at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall on 7 March and the Royal Northern College of Music Concert Hall on 9 March

Tip-off leads to trio of young Thai women who were 'held as sex slaves'

http://www.smh.com.au/national/tipoff-leads-to-trio-of-young-thai-women-who-were-held-as-sex-slaves-20120202-1qvnu.html#ixzz1maSJYM3I

Source: The Sydney Morning Herald

Rachel Olding

February 3, 2012

The women were living in 'harsh' conditions, AFP officers say.

A TIP-OFF to the Salvation Army uncovered their ''abhorrent situation''. Three young women, allegedly lured to Australia from Thailand on the promise of student visas, had been allegedly held against their will to work as sex slaves in a Sydney brothel.

Yesterday, the Australian Federal Police announced they had arrested the 42-year-old Chinese-Cambodian owner of the Diamonds 4 Ever brothel in Guildford and charged him with human trafficking offences.

The three women, believed to be under 18, claim they were told they were travelling to Australia on student visas but, once here, their passports were confiscated and they say were taken to the brothel and forced to work as prostitutes.

The brothel's website boasts of ''dream ladies'' and an excellent reputation for luxurious, prestigious services.
But the reality was ''abhorrent'', the AFP's national co-ordinator of human trafficking operations, Glyn Lewis, said.
''It's our general experience [that] these women live under very harsh conditions,'' he said. ''Their freedom's restricted, they may be forced in various ways coercively, threatened with deportation by the owners [and] lied to. They often have [poor] language skills so they're really in a very frightened state when we get to meet them.''
Jennifer Burn, director of Anti-Slavery Australia at the University of Technology, Sydney, said a client or co-worker may have raised the alarm to the Salvation Army, which runs a safe house for victims of human trafficking.
The women chose to speak to police, leading to a long investigation culminating in late-night raids on the brothel as well as four residential and business addresses in Cabramatta, Casula and Canley Heights on Wednesday.
The brothel owner, Phnom Penh-born Song Chhoung Ea, was arrested and charged with several offences carrying a maximum of 25 years' imprisonment. The charges include conducting a business involving sexual servitude, facilitating entry of persons into Australia knowing they would be exploited and allowing persons to work knowing they were in breach of visa conditions.
The women have been referred to the Red Cross for a three-month recovery program and may be granted special witness protection visas.