As published by the Vancouverite
NEWMARKET, Ontario – A 19-year-old woman told police a horrific story of being kept as a slave, beaten, choked and forced to perform as an exotic dancer.
York Regional Police say they have now charged a 24-year-old Mississauga man in connection with human trafficking and forcible confinement of the woman who finally managed to flee.
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As published by the Greenwich Diva
A 24-year-old Toronto man was charged last Thursday with human trafficking amid allegations he forced a young woman to share his apartment and work as an exotic dancer.
It is alleged that Marlo Williams befriended a 19-year-old woman between August and September and persuaded her to work as an exotic dancer.
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As published by China View
MOHAN, Yunnan Province, Oct. 17 (Xinhua) — China and Laos have set up a liaison office for law enforcement cooperation in southwest China’s Yunnan Province to crack down on the abduction and trafficking of women and children in border areas.
The office, set up at the Mohan branch of Mengla County Public Security Bureau, will promote the exchange of crime information, investigation and evidence collection, suspect search and victim repatriation between the two countries, said Yuan Xiaoyin, an official with the criminal investigation department of the Public Security Ministry.
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As published by the Malaysian National News Agency:
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 8 (Bernama) — Malaysian police, working closely with the Australian Federal Police, have succeeded in busting a human trafficking syndicate that has been using Malaysia as a transit.
At 1am on Thursday, police raided a house in Pandan Perdana, Cheras and arrested a couple aged 44 and 55 before rescuing nine women, comprising eight Malaysians and a Chinese national.
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A girl under the age of 12 was among those who had been rescued from forced labour in recent months, having been trafficked to Ireland from abroad.
The girl had been engaged in domestic labour in a house in the Dublin area and was now safe in the care of the HSE, according to the executive director of the Department of Justice’s anti-human trafficking unit, Marion Walsh.
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The legislation creates a new offence for trafficking of people under 18 and sets five years as the mandatory minimum sentence upon conviction. The bill sets six years as the minimum sentence for trafficking minors with aggravating factors such as sexual assault.
Currently convictions of human trafficking don’t separate victims by age. The maximum sentence is 14 years (life with aggravating factors) but there is no minimum.
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At last count, a minimum 1.8 million children are enslaved in the global sex trade, which actively operates in nearly every country in the world. At last estimate, as many as 200,000 children risk entering into sex trafficking in the United States alone (The Polaris Project).
The centuries-old phenomenon of human trafficking is far from extinct, yet an innovative new partnership among The Body Shop, ECPAT International (End Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes), and The Somaly Mam Foundation seeks to change that.
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Much of our information comes to us from The Initiative Against Sexual Trafficking.
To join their mailing list send an email to: anti_sextrafficking@usn.salvationarmy.org
The Initiative Against Sexual Trafficking
c/o The Salvation Army USA
National Headquarters
http://www.iast.net/
U.S. Department of State Releases 2009 Trafficking in Persons Report
On June 16, 2009, the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons within the U.S. Department of State released the Trafficking in Persons Report 2009 , which describes foreign governments’ efforts to eliminate human trafficking. You can download the report from the following website: http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2009/
By MATTHEW LEE – 1 day ago
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration on Tuesday expanded the U.S. watchlist of countries suspected of not doing enough to combat human trafficking, putting more than four dozen nations on notice that they might face sanctions unless their records improve.
The State Department’s annual “Trafficking in Persons Report,” the first released since President Barack Obama took office, placed 52 countries and territories — mainly in Africa, Asia and the Middle East — on the watchlist. That number is a 30 percent jump from the 40 countries on the list in 2008.
Several previously cited nations were removed from the list, but new countries cited for human trafficking problems include Angola, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Iraq, Lebanon, Nicaragua, Pakistan, the Philippines, Qatar, Senegal and the United Arab Emirates.
Also,
The William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008, was signed into law on December 23, 2008. It contains new provisions regarding Federal benefits and services for potential child victims of human trafficking.
A Federal Register notice requesting comments on the above form is available at http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2009/E9-8139.htm
The story continues….
MUMBAI, India – The makers of the hit movie “Slumdog Millionaire” have bought a new home for one of the two child stars discovered in Mumbai’s slums.
Both children lost their homes last month when authorities demolished parts of their slum.
The purchase of a 250-square-foot (23-square-meter) one-bedroom apartment for the family of Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail, 10, was completed Monday, said Nirja Mattoo, who helps oversee the Jai Ho trust set up by the filmmakers to help Azharuddin and his 9-year-old co-star Rubina Ali.
