Dear Pauline,

Welcome to Project Respect's news bulletin for January 2010.  If you would like to support Project Respect's work, you can do so here. 

NATIONAL

Sex slavery is indeed a crime with victims, The Canberra Times, November 21, 2009 

They come out of desperation, seeking a better life and spare change to send back home. But what they get can be a living hell.

Bail for woman accused of trafficking sex slaves, ABC News, November 18th, 2009

A 42-year-old Canberra woman accused of bringing sex slaves to Australia to work has been granted bail in the ACT Magistrates Court.

'Sex slave' owner gets six years' jail, The Age, November 5, 2009

A WOMAN who came to Australia under a contract to have sex with 650 men has been sentenced to six years' jail for possessing another woman as a sex slave in similar conditions.

People trafficker to remain behind bars, The Australian, December 24th, 2009

A convicted people trafficker who used false promises to lure two Thai women to work as prostitutes in Australia has lost an appeal against his sentence.

Legal prostitution a Qld growth industry: report, The Brisbane Times, November 14th, 2009

Licensed brothels continue to be a better alternative than unregulated underground prostitution, the head of Queensland's Prostitution Licensing Authority says.

Salvos to join Sexpo love-in, The Age, November 11th, 2009 

Amid the sex toys and erotic films at Melbourne's Sexpo at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre next month, the Salvos will open their own stall to promote sexuality from a Christian standpoint and highlight the scourge of human trafficking in prostitution.

INTERNATIONAL

Emma Thompson: 'Chances are you'll know somebody who pays for sex,' The Guardian, December 19th 2009

Actor and screenwriter Emma Thompson explains how rage fuelled her role as the voice of conscience in The Journey, Richard Jobson's violent and powerful short film about the experiences of one sex worker.

Haiti's Quake Will Disproportionately Impact Women and Girls, PRWeb, January 17th, 2010

In the aftermath of the devastating earthquake in Haiti, many people are suffering. But women and girls, inevitably, will be hardest hit. In Haiti, as in many countries, women are the poorest of the poor. They have no safety net and are often most vulnerable to homelessness, hunger and sexual violence...In the wake of a disaster, women and girls are especially at risk for prostitution and trafficking in order to survive. Soroptimist believes the issue is global and systemic, and deserves ongoing awareness and action.

UK: Stag parties 'fuel sex trafficking', BBC News, January 14th, 2010

Prague, Amsterdam, Riga, Krakow, they have all become popular destinations for the British stag party industry. But some of the estimated £500m spent each year is also finding its way to criminal gangs trafficking women for the sex trade.

USA: Presidential Proclamation - National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month, The White House, January 4th, 2010

"Fighting modern slavery and human trafficking is a shared responsibility. This month, I urge all Americans to educate themselves about all forms of modern slavery and the signs and consequences of human trafficking". 

Kuwait: New steps to counter human trafficking, Kuwait Times, January 10th, 2010

A three-day workshop organized by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) on the issues surrounding combating human trafficking begins tomorrow morning, with a number of senior Kuwaiti judicial officials set to participate in the event. The workshop aims to help the State of Kuwait to benefit from increasing Kuwaiti employees' qualifications by offering the required training in this regard.

USA: American Samoa immigration office raide, The Age, January 9th, 2010

Law enforcement agents in American Samoa have raided the US territory's Office of Immigration seeking evidence of human trafficking in a case that could involve victims from China, the Philippines and South Korea, authorities said.

India: Enabling the ladies of the night, The Telegraph, December 30th, 2010

It has been around for ages — looked upon with aversion or tolerance, condemned as a terrible vice, or shrugged off as a “necessary evil”. The modern world, and that includes India, has also struggled to determine its response to prostitution — should we regulate it, should we try and stamp it out, or should we, in fact, allow it to thrive unfettered? Earlier this month the Supreme Court gave a fresh impetus to that debate when it said that since prostitution was continuing unchecked, the government might as well go ahead and legalise the profession.

Men Who Buy Sex: Who they buy and what they know, by Melissa Farley, Julie Bindel and Jacqueline M. Golding, published by Eaves, London and Prostitution Research & Education, San Francisco, 2009. A sample of 103 men in London, England, who used trafficked and non-trafficked women in prostitution were asked about their experiences and awareness of the sex industry.

Parliamentary Committees Progress on Investigations to 30 November 2009

56th Parliament (see pages 6-7)
Summary: The Progress on Investigations provides a summary of the activities of Joint Investigatory Committees and Select Committees with investigatory functions, including the Inquiry into People Trafficking for Sex Work.

Illicit markets and violence : what is the relationship?

Peter Andreas and Joel Wallman, Crime, law and social change 52(3) 2009: Whole issue
Summary: A collection of nine articles on the theme of illicit markets and violence. Topics covered include drug trafficking, human trafficking and violence globally

Trafficking in persons in Australia : myths and realities

Andreas Schloenhardt, Genevieve Beirne and Toby Corsbie, Global Crime 10(3) Aug 2009: 224-247
Summary: The true extent of Australia's human trafficking problem is not fully known, largely due to the clandestine nature of this phenomenon. Anecdotal evidence, media reports, and statistical estimates without proper evidentiary bases are the only sources of information currently available about trafficking in persons in Australia. This article produces a more accurate assessment of the scale of trafficking in persons in the light of the open source evidence, thus contributing to the understanding of the immediate problem, and paving the way for further research on the many facets and aspects associated with trafficking in persons in Australia and elsewhere.

Sex trafficking : international context and response

Marie Segrave, Sanja Milivojevic and Sharon Pickering, 2009, Willan Publishing
Summary: This book draws on extensive empirical work in Australia, Serbia and Thailand with women who have been trafficked for sex, non-government actors, police, state agents and policy makers.

Best practice in temporary labour migration for development : a perspective from Asia and the Pacific

Graeme Hugo, International migration 47(5) Dec 2009: 23-74
Summary: This article assesses best practice for each stage of the labour migration process: recruitment and selection, pre-departure preparation, at the destination and on return.

Migrant rights: international law and national action

Susan Martin and Rola Abimourched, International migration 47(5) Dec 2009: 115-138
Summary: Failures in protecting migrant rights arise from the lack of implementation of international laws. Programs, mostly implemented by or in destination countries, which hold potential for overcoming barriers to the protection of the rights of migrants are outlined in this article.

International Sex Trafficking of Women and Children: Understanding the global epidemic

Leonard Territo and George Kirkham, 2009, Looseleaf Law Publications, Inc., New York
Summary: This first-of-its-kind project is specifically focused on helping readers grasp the scope of the trafficking crisis and arming them with the information and education they need to effectively recognize and report signs of trafficking activity. Additionally, in the case of law enforcement, its mission is to provide the kind of criminal intelligence needed to actually counter and combat it.