GLOBAL TRAFFICKING CASES
BULGARIAN COUPLE ARRESTED FOR TRAFFICKING EXPECTED MOTHERS
A husband and wife have been arrested in Sliven, Bulgaria on charges of trafficking pregnant women from Bulgaria to Greece for the alleged purpose of selling their babies. The smuggling operation is thought to have been organised by the couple, who make up to 10,000 euros for each for arranging the babies to be taken and sold. The couple have been formally charged and await hearing. (22/10/09 Source)
CANADIAN FACES HUMAN TRAFFICKING CHARGES
A man from Ontario, Canada, faces charges of trafficking, forcible confinement and assault, following accusations from a 19 year old woman. The victim claims the 24-year-old man forced her to work as a stripper, whilst he took her wages, restricted her freedom and subjected her to violent physical assault. The accused will appear Oct. 23 in Newmarket court. (19/10/09 Source)
SIX ICELANDICS ARRESTED IN RELATION TO SUSPECTED TRAFFICKING
Six men were arrested within the course of a week by the Sudurnes Police in relation to the same case regarding suspicion of human trafficking. The case concerns a Lithuanian woman who arrived in Iceland on fake ID, and was hospitalised after being found near unconsciousness. She told police she was in fear of being forced into prostitution, and the alarm was raised when she was declared missing last week. With the help of a public appeal the Lithuanian lady was found again later. She is a suspected victim of human trafficking, but little more information has been released at this stage due to the sensitivity of the case. (19/10/09 Source)
NAVY RECRUITER IS FIRST TO BE JAILED UNDER US TRAFFICKING VICTIMS PROTECTION ACT
A Navy recruiter was given 15 years in jail, without parole, for attempting to have sex with an 11-year-old child. Shane Allan Childers, from Kansas, America, paid $60 to have sex with a child adding an additional $20 for intercourse without protection, using the internet and phone calls in his attempt to induce the child to meet. He was caught by an undercover FBI officer working for Operation Guardian Angel – targeting child prostitution demand in Kansas City. The investigation led to the indictment of seven defendants, in America’s first federal prosecution of alleged customers of child prostitution under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act. (20/10/09 Source)
ADDITIONAL TRAFFICKING NEWS
POTENTIAL DEVELOPMENTS TO HELP TRAFFICKING VICTIMS IN IRELAND
A conference organised by Act to Prevent Trafficking (APT) in Ireland this week heard calls from Becker, a solicitor from the Immigrant Council of Ireland, for the State to compensate victims of human trafficking, when their traffickers cannot be found and made liable. The obligation of the State would be to cover out of pocket expenses, and victims should also be able to sue under employment law – though this issue is complicated by sexual exploitation which the State does not recognise as legitimate employment. Suggestions were raised in light of worries that trafficking victims rarely have enough recovery time or time to engage with the police in preventative action. The conference heard a lot of criticism against the prevalent attitudes of distrust towards trafficked women’s experiences (20/10/09 Source)
THE GUARDIAN INVESTIGATES TRAFFICKING OPERATION
A key British newspaper gained access to a report concerning the UK’s biggest ever operation concerning sex trafficking, and found that the number of prosecutions against people who had forced others into prostitution stood at zero. The newspaper thus declared that the scale of sex trafficking in the UK had been exaggerated, and detailed the various distortions of statistics that have been banded about by different agencies. Far from suggesting that sex trafficking within the UK is non-existent, the newspaper’s investigation really threw light on the problems of relying on statistics as a measure for a crime that is by nature covert. Similarly, the difficulties of prosecuting suspects under trafficking legislation – an argument that is explored here. (20/10/09 Source)


