Human Trafficking in [Australia Street Children in [Australia] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [Australia] [other countries] |
Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery Commonwealth of Australia [ Country-by-Country
Reports ] Australia is a destination country for
women from Southeast Asia, South Korea, Taiwan, and the People’s Republic of
China (P.R.C.) trafficked for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation.
Prostitution is legal except for in the states of Western Australia and South
Australia. Many trafficking victims were women who traveled to Australia
voluntarily to work in both legal and illegal brothels, but were subject to
conditions of debt bondage or involuntary servitude. There were reports of
several men and women from India, the P.R.C., South Korea, the Philippines,
and Ireland migrating to Australia temporarily for work, but subsequently
subjected to conditions of forced labor, including fraudulent recruitment,
confiscation of travel documents, confinement, and debt bondage. -
U.S. State Dept Trafficking in Persons Report, June, 2008 [full country
report] |
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CAUTION: The following links have been
culled from the web to illuminate the situation in ***
FEATURED ARTICLE *** Paying for
Servitude: Trafficking in Women for Prostitution in Australia Traffickers routinely respond to
women’s initial complaints, including their requests to return home, with
sexual, physical and psychological violence. Threats can include something as
subtle – I use the term advisedly – as threatening to send a woman’s child a
pornographic picture of her. As with women deceived about doing prostitution,
this violence aims to teach women that they have no other option, cannot
access help and cannot escape. One of the great skills of traffickers is
their ability to move beyond simple brute force. In this way, women can be
effectively imprisoned with well-applied and strategic physical violence,
that may appear minimal to outsiders, cemented by devastating psychological
violence. Traffickers engage with women’s psychology. They learn what women
value, and work to their strengths and weaknesses. In this, I suspect we can
learn something from them. I am sure if government agencies spent more time
trying to understand how trafficked women see things, rather than seeing them
as problems that don’t understand how we work, we would have more success in
challenging trafficking. ***
ARCHIVES *** Bur of Democracy,
Human Rights & Labor - Country
Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2005 TRAFFICKING
IN PERSONS – Some
women, primarily from In response to the report's
recommendations, in June the government expanded existing anti-trafficking
laws to include new offenses for debt bondage, child trafficking, and
domestic trafficking, with penalties of up to 25 years in prison, and in
September ratified the UN Trafficking Protocol. Concluding
Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) - 2005 [67] While the Committee welcomes
some positive developments in the context of prevention of trafficking and
forced prostitution, such as the adoption of the National Plan of Action to
Eradicate Trafficking in Persons of October 2003 and the changes to the
Criminal Code in 2005 whereby, inter alia, trafficking in persons and child
pornography have been criminalized, the Committee is concerned that Australia
continues to be a destination country for trafficked women and girls in the
sex industry. [69] The State party is also
encouraged to become a party to the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish
Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the
United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime,
to which Govt
taking poor approach to human trafficking: report A new report by an international
alliance of non-government organisations suggests Australia's anti-people
trafficking measures should be reviewed.
The Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women argues Australia puts too
much emphasis on law enforcement instead of protecting victims. In a report to be released today, the
organisation also raises concerns temporary skilled work visas under the 457
visa scheme could expose migrant workers to exploitation. Human rights lawyer Eleanor
Taylor-Nicholson from the Alliance says there is a focus on the sex trade in
Australia at the expense of other workers. Falling Short
of the Mark: An International Study on the Treatment of Human Trafficking
Victims [PDF] AUSTRALIA - Australia is complying with its
international obligations under the Trafficking Protocol related to the
protection of victims of human trafficking. Since 2003, it has implemented a
phased system of protection for victims of human trafficking with enhanced
residency status being tied to enhanced support services, which are
government funded. Specialized investigative teams have facilitated the
unique needs of trafficking victims being promptly addressed. RESIDENCE - The new Australian approach to
residence of trafficking victims is three-phased. First, the “Bridging Visa
F” lasts for 30 days while an investigation into trafficking claims are being
made. Secondly, if the victim agrees to assist with the investigation, they
are eligible for a “Criminal Justice Stay Visa” (“CJS Visa”) which is valid
for the duration of criminal proceedings in the case they are assisting with.
Thereafter, victims may apply for a “Witness Protection (Trafficking) Visa”
enabling them to remain in Australia on a temporary or permanent basis,
depending on individual circumstances. Ellison
rejects estimate of sex slave numbers "I believe that the number of
people who have been deceptively recruited into the industry in Australia
acts on forced marriage Sex
trafficking under the microscope Mr Milroy said the syndicates
might now be shifting their operations to other crimes. "I think a lot
of the attention ... has raised the level of awareness in the
community," he said. "Those
who are involved and are affected by this, as all criminal groups are when
you pay them attention, step back and realize this is too difficult and that
there are easier ways of making money." Trafficked Women 'Being Raped, Starved' There are at least 1,000 adult
women in Children
'Handed Over To Sex Ring' "The picture is painted of
young girls and boys who were frightened, unable to protect themselves and
make disclosure and who were abandoned by their carers [care givers],"
says the report by Ted Mullighan, the commissioner of the inquiry into the
sex abuse of state wards. The report
finds that young boys from Freedom
House Country Report - Political Rights: 1 Civil Liberties: 1 Status: Free Human Rights Overview by Human
Rights Watch – Defending Human Rights Worldwide AFP agent Josephine Accetta said
Ho and another suspect, Hoting Yeung, ran two Melbourne brothels where
foreign women were forced to work as prostitutes. Hoo helped by keeping three Thai women
locked in a house and driving them to and from the brothels, Accetta told the
court. The women were among a group of
at least seven who told police they were slaves. Accetta said a year-long
investigation had produced a "very strong case" including telephone
intercept evidence. Ho was recorded
trying to sell a 21-year-old woman for A$21 000 (about R95 000)
after flying to Sydney with Yeung in August this year. Yeung fled overseas on
November 4 and was not expected to return, Accetta said. Paying for
Servitude: Trafficking in Women for Prostitution in Australia Traffickers routinely respond to
women’s initial complaints, including their requests to return home, with
sexual, physical and psychological violence. Threats can include something as
subtle – I use the term advisedly – as threatening to send a woman’s child a
pornographic picture of her. As with women deceived about doing prostitution,
this violence aims to teach women that they have no other option, cannot
access help and cannot escape. One of the great skills of traffickers is
their ability to move beyond simple brute force. In this way, women can be
effectively imprisoned with well-applied and strategic physical violence,
that may appear minimal to outsiders, cemented by devastating psychological violence.
Traffickers engage with women’s psychology. They learn what women value, and
work to their strengths and weaknesses. In this, I suspect we can learn
something from them. I am sure if government agencies spent more time trying
to understand how trafficked women see things, rather than seeing them as
problems that don’t understand how we work, we would have more success in
challenging trafficking. Australia
to set trafficking rules The sex slavery trade in Australia
hit the spotlight last year with an inquest into the death of a 27-year-old
Thai woman, Puongtong Simaplee, who choked to death on her vomit in a Sydney
detention center after 15 years as a prostitute in Australia. Project Respect, a group that
represents women brought to Australia as sex slaves, believes there could be
up to 1,000 such women in the country at any one time. 10
reasons for NOT legalizing prostitution 2.
LEGALIZATION/DECRIMINALIZATION OF PROSTITUTION AND THE SEX INDUSTRY PROMOTES
SEX TRAFFICKING - The link between legalization of prostitution and
trafficking in Australia was recognized in the U.S. State Department’s
1999 Country Report on Human Rights Practices, released by the Bureau of
Democracy, Human Rights and Labor. In the country report on Australia, it was
noted that in the State of Victoria which legalized prostitution in the
1980s, “Trafficking in East Asian women for the sex trade is a growing
problem” in Australia…lax laws including legalized prostitution in parts of
the country make [anti-trafficking] enforcement difficult at the working
level.” We are also tackling issues such
as trafficking in persons which are a grave threat to the health and safety
of women and children throughout the Asia Pacific. The Australian Government recently
strengthened its efforts to combat people trafficking through coordinated
activities within Australia and in the region. Australia has been strongly involved in the
Bali Process on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons, and Related
Transnational Crime. In October 2003, the Government
pledged more than $20 million over four years to combat trafficking. We have also committed more than $14
million to a number of projects in Cambodia, southwest China, Laos, Burma,
Thailand and Vietnam. These projects
aim to reduce people trafficking and improve protection, recovery and
reintegration of trafficked women and children. Last week, on International
Women’s Day, I announced Government funding of $200,000 to help countries in
the Sub-Continent to abolish sex slavery.
And, I am pleased to advise that Australiawill soon ratify the
Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially
Women and Children. Australian
Government Dept of Foreign Affairs and Trade - Illegal Immigration PEOPLE SMUGGLING - Australia, along with the
United States, New Zealand and Japan, funds the Bali Process on People
Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons and Related Transnational Crime (the Bali
Process). The Bali Process is a regional, multilateral process designed
to boost bilateral and regional cooperative efforts against people smuggling
and trafficking through technical workshops and increased cooperation between
interested countries, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR) and International Organization for Migration (IOM). Australia Tips in
with Bt250m to Help with People Trafficking in ASEAN Thai and Australian government
officials yesterday discussed new moves to counter the trafficking of
"sex slaves" and other people Down Under and within the
region. Thailand is one of four Asean
nations Australia will help to fight human trafficking, along with Burma, Laos
and Cambodia. Canberra is funding an 8.5-million Australian dollar (Bt250
million) project to provide a more effective and coordinated approach by
governments in Southeast Asia to prevent trafficking. Australia
Unveils Initiative to Stop Human Trafficking As part of the package, a new
23-member Australian Federal Police team will be established to investigate
trafficking, and a senior migration officer will be appointed to Thailand, a
major source of women trafficked into Australia. Support services will be
developed for victims of trafficking, including those who will be kept in
detention and for those returned to source countries in Southeast Asia. One factor underlying the
attention to human trafficking is undoubtedly the media spotlight on the
detention of female trafficking victims, including the death at the Villawood
Immigration Detention Center of a young woman who had allegedly been brought
to Australia as a 12-year-old for commercial sex work. Lobbying by women's groups
outraged by this and other incidents played a key role in putting the issue
on the political agenda. This month I heard about Mary who
is currently detained in the Villawood Immigration Detention Centre. Mary
arrived in Australia on a student visa in 1999. She had been promised a
restaurant job and a chance to study. When she arrived her new 'boss' took
her to a house in Cabramatta, a makeshift prison tucked away in suburbia. He
then told her that she owed him money for her visa and her air ticket. To pay
back this debt Mary was forced to sleep with 500 men before eventually
escaping from the brothel with the help of a client. Trafficking
and the Sex Industry: from Impunity to Protection [PDF] This brief provides an overview of
the trafficking of women and children into the Australian sex industry in the
context of the global trade in people trafficking. It examines why there have
been no prosecutions of traffickers under existing Commonwealth laws. It
explains how Australia's emphasis on border control is working against the
prosecution of traffickers and the human rights of trafficking victims and
explains how existing Australian policy and law will need to change to meet
the new internationally agreed standards to punish traffickers and support
victims under the UN Trafficking Protocol. Jammed:
Trafficked Women in Australia In September 2001, a young
Vietnamese woman died in Villawood Immigration Detention Centre in Sydney.
She is believed to have been brought to Australia when she was 12 years old
on a family reunion migration application which was possibly fraudulent. It
is understood that upon arrival in Australia she was placed in a brothel and
that she worked continuously as a prostitute until her incarceration in
Villawood after authorities detected her as an "illegal immigrant".
There was evidence of drug use on her body, with injection scars on both
arms. She was locked in solitary confinement in Villawood. Her dead body was
found lying face down in a pool of vomit. In January 2002, there was a
second death of a trafficked Vietnamese woman in Villawood. This woman had
made at least one previous suicide attempt. It is believed that she died in
hospital from injuries caused when she jumped out of a window from the first
floor of the women’s dormitory. To date, there has been no coronial inquest
into the deaths. All material used herein
reproduced under the fair use exception of 17 USC § 107 for noncommercial,
nonprofit, and educational use |
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Human Trafficking in [Australia Street Children in [Australia] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [Australia] [other countries]