2008 asia pacific human rights reports protection project · prohibits slavery 19 and slave...

Human Rights Reports – Protection Project – 2008

http://www.protectionproject.org/human_rights_reports

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Human Rights Reports of Asia and the Pacific

Protection Project Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Comoros, Fiji, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Kiribati, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nauru, Nepal, New Zealand, North Korea, Northern Mariana Islands, Pakistan, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Samoa, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu.

AUSTRALIA Trafficking Routes

Australia is a destination country for trafficking in women and children for

commercial sexual exploitation. According to a 2003 United Nations report, Australia is one of the top nine destination countries for sex trafficking in the world.1 Women are brought to Australia from all over Southeast Asia, particularly from Thailand.2 Other source countries include Albania, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Colombia, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Russia and former Soviet Republics, Singapore, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Turkey, Vietnam, and Zambia. Factors That Contribute to the Trafficking Infrastructure

The Australian federal sex discrimination commissioner described Australia as a “‘demand country,’ which provided a market and profit motive for trafficking women from poorer countries into the sex industry.”3 According to an 8-month investigative report by the

Weekend Australian, at least three major trafficking syndicates operate in Australia, as well as independent operators and owners of sex slaves. Some criminals from the Asian underworld are involved in trafficking, placement, and operation of brothels. Investigators have learned that members of the Albanian mafia have also started trafficking women into the country.4 Forms of Trafficking

At least 1,000 women are trafficked to Australia every year to engage in forced

prostitution, according to an estimate based on approximately 300 interviews with trafficking victims that was conducted by Project Respect, an Australian nongovernmental organization (NGO).5 Likewise, the Weekend Australian investigation into the sex slave trade revealed widespread trafficking and sexual exploitation of women.6

Numerous documented cases of trafficking exist in Australia. For example, a 23-year-old Thai woman, trafficked by a Bangkok agent to an Asian brothel in Sydney, was bound by

1 “UN Maps Human Trafficking,” Associated Press, 12 May 2003. 2 “Some Australians in Denial about Sex Trafficking,” AAP Newsfeed, 24 October 2003. 3 “Some Australians in Denial about Sex Trafficking,” AAP Newsfeed, 24 October 2003. 4 Natalie O’Brien and Elisabeth Wynhausen, “Officials Ignored Sex Slave Kingpin,” Weekend Australian, 2 August 2003. 5 Mark Phillips, “Hundreds Imported as Sex Slaves,” Courier Mail (Queensland), 24 March 2004. 6 Natalie O’Brien, “Key Force Takes Aim at Sex Slavers,” Weekend Australian, 20 December 2003.



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a “contract” with a prostitution ring for $A 35,000. She arrived in Sydney on a false passport and student visa, accompanied by a “minder” who posed as her mother. She was then resold to a brothel in Melbourne.7 In a heavily documented case, Thai women were required to perform 500 free half-hour “services” under a contract for 12 months. During that period, they were confined, and their passports were held by the trafficker.8 Russian women have been recruited by Australians who travel to Russia to offer women false promises of employment as dancers in clubs. These clubs commonly turn out to be connected to brothels.9 Reporters observed two Korean sex traffickers operating from the lobby of a plush Sydney hotel as one of the men put a price on a woman and promised that hundreds more were available. The fee for the woman’s plane tickets was $A 3,000, plus an additional charge of $A 15,000. Korean networks use recruiters to find women with large amounts of debt, promising to save the women from debtors’ prison by buying up the debt. The recruiters use this debt as leverage to pressure the women to go to Australia, where they are forced to become sex slaves.10

In a review of the illegal sex industry, police in the state of Victoria found that two immigration scams involving foreign women were behind the sex slave industry. The first scam involved mainly women from Myanmar and Thailand, who were lured by Australian crime groups with promises of employment. Police identified several Asian and Australian criminals who had deposited millions of dollars in the bank accounts of the women—about $A 10,000 each—so that they were able to qualify for tourist visas to Australia. On arriving, the women would claim refugee status, which allowed them to work for 1 year until their case was heard. In the meantime, they were forced into prostitution to pay off the debts incurred to their pimps. After about 6 months of sexual exploitation around the country, the women were allowed to keep about half the money they generated. In the second scam, Russian women were found to pay Australian men up to $A 50,000 to marry them. When the women arrived in Australia, they worked in brothels to pay off the money, usually divorcing after they were allowed to stay in the country legally.11

Australians significantly contribute to the problem of child sex tourism and child prostitution in Southeast Asia.12 Australian sex tourists have been identified in more than 20 countries.13 For example, hundreds of Australian men travel to Phnom Penh and rural areas of Cambodia, where girls and boys are openly sold in brothels to engage in child sex tourism.14 In early 2004, Australian citizens were arrested on child sex allegations in Bali, Cambodia, and Papua New Guinea.15 A former Australian diplomat living in Bali, Indonesia, was arrested in January 2004 for allegedly sexually abusing two Balinese boys. Australian pedophile rings have infiltrated Bali and are using the pretense of adopting or fostering poverty-stricken children in order to abuse them. Expatriate Australians also organize sex tours to Bali; such tours have become more pronounced since the 2002 bombings in Bali.16

7 “Life as a Commodity to Be Bought and Sold,” Age, 5 June 2001. 8 Kathleen Maltzahn, “Trafficking in Women for Prostitution,” paper presented at the Australian Women Conference, Canberra, Australia, 28 August 2001. 9 End Child Prostitution, Pornography, and Trafficking (ECPAT) International Online Database, 22 January 2003, http://www.ecpat.net. 10 Natalie O’Brien, Elisabeth Wynhausen, and Kimina Lyall, “Deals on Sex Slaves in Lobby of Hotel,” Weekend

Australian, 26 July 2003. 11 Padraic Murphy, “Lured by Wealth, Sex Slaves Go Home with Little Savings,” Sydney Morning Herald, 14 July 2003. 12 “Media Releases,” Child Wise, 16 April 2004, http://www.ecpat.org/media-releases.html. 13 Natalie O’Brien, “Child Abusers Abroad,” Weekend Australia, 13 March 2004. 14 Mark Baker, “Australians Feeding Asia’s Child Sex Trade,” Age, 13 July 2002. 15 Natalie O’Brien, “Child Abusers Abroad,” Weekend Australia, 13 March 2004. 16 Natalie O’Brien, “Aussie Child Sex Network Hits Bali,” Australian, 10 February 2004, http://www.ecpat.org.nz/pacificregion.htm#aussie.



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In March 2004, Thai police accused a former Australian diplomat of running a child sex-trafficking ring behind the façade of one of Southeast Asia’s largest gay tourism agencies. He and his American business partner were believed to have used their Bangkok travel agency as a front to bring foreign pedophiles to Thailand. Both were arrested and charged with distributing pornography and employing an unregistered foreign worker in their agency.17 Government Responses

The Criminal Code Amendment (Slavery and Sexual Servitude) Act of 199918

prohibits slavery19 and slave trading.20 The act also criminalizes sexual servitude.21 Punishment is imprisonment for 15 years.22 An enhanced penalty of imprisonment for 19 years applies when a victim is a person less than 18 years of age.23 The act punishes anyone “who conducts any business that involves the sexual servitude of other persons and who knows about, or is reckless as to, that sexual servitude”24 Conducting a business includes taking any part in the management of the business, exercising control or direction over the business, or providing finance for the business.25 The penalty for this crime is imprisonment for 15 years.26 If a victim is below 18 years of age, the punishment is enhanced to imprisonment for 19 years.27 In addition, the act punishes deceptive recruiting for sexual services28 by imprisonment for 7 years,29 which is enhanced to 9 years if a person recruited is below 18 years of age.30

The Crimes (Child Sex Tourism) Amendment Act of 199431 prohibits an Australian from engaging in sexual activities with children younger than 16 years of age while overseas.32 Punishment is imprisonment for 17 years.33 The same punishment applies to any person inducing a child younger than 16 to engage in sexual intercourse overseas.34 The act further punishes benefiting from or encouraging such offenses by imprisonment for 17 years.35

17 Mark Baker, “Thai Police Allege Pedophile Front,” Sydney Morning Herald, 25 March 2004. 18 Law No. 104 of 1999. 19 According to article 270.3(1), slavery offenses include possessing a slave or exercising over a slave any of the other powers attaching to the right of ownership, engaging in slave trade, entering into any commercial transaction involving a slave, exercising control or direction over a slave, or providing financing for an act of slave trade or any commercial transaction involving a slave. 20 According to article 270.3(3), slave trading includes (a) the capture, transport, or disposal of a person with the intention of reducing the person to slavery or (b) the purchase or sale of a slave. 21 Article 270(6). The act states that a person (a) who causes another person to enter into or remain in sexual servitude and (b) who intends to cause, or is reckless as to causing, that sexual servitude is guilty of an offense. 22 Article 270(6)(1)(d). 23 Article 270(6)(1)(c). 24 Article 270(6)(1). 25 Article 270(6)(3). 26 Article 270(6)(2)(d). 27 Article 270(6)(2)(c). 28 Under article 270.7(2), a sexual service is the commercial use or display of the body of the person providing the service for the sexual gratification of others. 29 Article 270.7(1)(b). 30 Article 270.7(1)(a). 31 Law No. 105, 5 July 1994. 32 Section 50 BA. This offense is subject to the double jeopardy requirement. Under section 50 FC of the law, “If a person has been convicted or acquitted in a country outside Australia of an offence against the law of that country in respect of any conduct, the person cannot be convicted of an offence in respect of that conduct.” 33 Section 50 BA. 34 Section 50 BB. Imprisonment for such offenses is 17 years. 35 Section 50 DA.



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A slavery offense under the Criminal Code Amendment (Slavery and Sexual Servitude) Act of 1999 can be prosecuted irrespective of whether it occurs inside or outside Australia.36

The states and territories have their own laws addressing prostitution and related activities. For example, the Criminal Code of Queensland prohibits procuring a young person for carnal knowledge,37 procuring sexual acts by coercion,38 permitting abuse of children on premises,39 procuring prostitution,40 knowingly participating in provision of prostitution,41 being present in places reasonably suspected of being used for prostitution,42 having an interest in premises used for the purposes of prostitution,43 and permitting a young person to be at a place used for prostitution.44

The Classification of Film Act of 1991 criminalizes making objectionable films45 and procuring a minor for production of objectionable film.46 In addition, the Classification of Publication Act of 1991 criminalizes producing prohibited publications47 and procuring a minor for restricted forms of publication or child abuse photography.48

In the state of Victoria, the Common Law Consolidation Act of 1935 criminalizes abducting a person with the intent of marrying or having sexual intercourse with him or her.49 The act also prohibits persistent sexual abuse of a child.50 The Prostitution Control Act of 1994 prohibits causing or inducing a child to take part in prostitution,51 obtaining payment for sexual services provided by a child,52 and agreeing to the provision of sexual services by a child.53 The same act criminalizes forcing a person into or to remain in prostitution,54 forcing a person to provide financial support out of prostitution,55 living on the earnings of prostitution,56 and allowing a child to take part in prostitution.57 Child pornography and related offenses are prohibited under the Crimes Act.58

In the state of Tasmania, the Criminal Code Act of 1924 criminalizes abducting any person younger than 17 years;59 abducting a child;60 permitting unlawful sexual intercourse

36 This offense is subject to the double jeopardy requirement. Under article 270.13 of the law, “If a person has been convicted or acquitted in a country outside Australia of an offence against the law of that country in respect of any conduct, the person cannot be convicted of an offence against this Division in respect of that conduct.” 37 Section 217. Punishment is imprisonment for 14 years. 38 Section 218. Punishment is imprisonment for 14 years. 39 Section 213. Punishment is imprisonment for 10 years if a child is 12 or older. If a child is younger than 12, punishment is imprisonment from 14 years to life. 40 Section 229 G. Punishment is imprisonment for 7 years. 41 Section 229 H. Punishment is imprisonment for 3 to 7 years. 42 Section 229 I. Punishment is imprisonment for 3 to 7 years. 43 Section 229 K. Punishment is imprisonment for 3 to 7 years. 44 Section 229 L. Punishment is imprisonment for 14 years. 45 Section 42. Punishment is imprisonment for 2 to 5 years. 46 Section 43. Punishment is imprisonment for 3 years. 47 Section 17. Punishment is imprisonment for 3 months to 3 years and a fine. 48 Section 18. Punishment is imprisonment for 3 to 5 years. 49 Section 59. Punishment is imprisonment for up to 14 years. 50 Section 74. 51 Section 5(1). Punishment is imprisonment for 7 years. 52 Section 6(1). Punishment is imprisonment for 7 years. 53 Section 7(1). Punishment is imprisonment for 7 years. 54 Sections 8(1)(a)–(d). Punishment is imprisonment for 7 years. 55 Sections 9(1)(a)–(c). Punishment is imprisonment for 7 years. 56 Section 10(1). Punishment is imprisonment for 4 years. 57 Section 11(1). Punishment is imprisonment for 4 years. 58 Law No. 6231/58. 59 Section 189. 60 Section 191.



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while a young person is on the premises;61 procuring a person with the intent that the person become a common prostitute, become an inmate of or frequent a brothel, or leave his or her place of abode for the purposes of prostitution,62 and procuring a person with the intent that he or she have unlawful sexual intercourse.63

Two federal laws, the Proceeds of Crime Act of 2002 and the Financial Transaction Reports Act of 1988, cover the problem of money laundering. The Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Center was established as a specialized regulatory agency to report suspicious financial transactions. The government also established a task force to monitor such information. The task force includes the Bureau of Criminal Intelligence, the Customs Services, the federal police, the Taxation Office, the National Crime Authority, and the Transaction Reports and Analysis Center.

In October 1999, Australia ratified the Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions. In December 2002, Australia signed the United Nations Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children.

The director of Project Respect, Kathleen Maltzahn, claims significant improvements have occurred in the way the Australian Federal Police (AFP) responds to trafficking in persons. In particular, the AFP has adopted an approach that treats trafficked persons as victims rather than as illegal immigrants.64 The transformation since 2003 of public and governmental attitudes toward sex trafficking, particularly the trafficking of Southeast Asian women to Australia, has been described as “dramatic,” as the federal government has increased its willingness to address the issue. As recently as February 2003, the minister for justice, Senator Chris Ellison, dismissed the suggestion that sexual slavery even existed in Australia.65

Throughout 2003, the Australian government and the Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission focused on trafficking as an issue for Australia. In June 2003, Senator Ellison announced the establishment of an interdepartmental committee to report on the federal government’s handling of trafficking issues.66 In October 2003, he announced a 4-year package totaling $A 20 million to tackle trafficking and forced prostitution in Australia. Under the package, a 23-member special police unit to investigate trafficking of women and children was established. The new package offers victims the chance to stay in Australia if they agree to testify against traffickers; previously, women suspected of being trafficking victims were treated as illegal immigrants and deported to their home countries, often to face revictimization.67 The program is to be administered by the Office of the Status of Women. In addition, the Department of Family Services will provide special benefits and rent assistance, and the Department of Health will be responsible for providing medical care. A reintegration program will be set up to help victims during repatriation.68

Furthermore, under the package, Australia’s visa system will be made more flexible. Trafficked women will be able to help investigators mount evidence against traffickers and will not have to return home before they get an opportunity to receive counseling and other support.69 The Australian Crime Commission, the nation’s newest crime-fighting body, was

61 Section 125. 62 Section 128. 63 Section 129. 64 Mark Phillips, “Hundreds Imported as Sex Slaves,” Courier Mail (Queensland), 24 March 2004. 65 Bob Burton, “Progress Cited in Curbing Sex Trafficking,” Inter Press Service, 8 March 2004. 66 “‘Tackling Trafficking’: Progress Paper on the Role of NHRIs,” Asia Pacific Human Rights Network, New Delhi, India, February 2004. 67 “Stepping Up the Fight against Slavery,” Age, 27 October 2003. 68 Natalie O’Brien, “Backing for Slaves in Sex-Trade War,” Weekend Australian, 18 October 2003. 69 “This Traffic Cop Is Getting Tough,” Australian, 16 October 2003.



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given a special term of reference to make trafficking in sex slaves into Australia a high-level priority inquiry for 2004.70

Police ministers agreed in 2003 that a national child sex offender register will be established. At the Australasian Police Minister Council, members agreed to develop legislation to enable a register to be kept. Under the legislation, child sex offenders will have to join a national register to inform police of their location for up to 15 years. The details will be available only to law enforcement agencies.71 In addition, the federal government is overhauling the Passports Act, with a focus on canceling passports of known child sex offenders.72

In May 2003, a 57-year-old Baptist church missionary was sentenced to 8 years in prison for acts he committed in the Philippines. He pleaded guilty to seven counts of committing an act of indecency on a child younger than 16 and to five counts of submitting to an act of indecency. He was the 16th Australian to be prosecuted under the law.73 A 71-year-old Australian man was charged in 2003 under the Crimes Act for offering to help someone engage in indecent conduct with a minor outside Australia. He allegedly ran a travel business, informing clients that he could provide young Thai boys for sex.74

An Indonesian man who had visited Australia dozens of times over the past decade was arrested by federal police in August 2003. He was the eighth person to be charged under federal legislation to combat slavery and sexual servitude. Four people had been arrested in Melbourne in the previous month and charged with a series of offenses, including possessing a slave. They brought women from Thailand, locked them up in houses during the day, and forced them to work in brothels at night.75 Also in August 2003, immigration officials were given the name and mobile phone number of a Chinese man known as “John” who was suspected of masterminding one of the largest Asian syndicates trafficking women to Australian for prostitution. He was said to be engaged in money laundering through casinos. His organization is linked with brothels in Melbourne, Perth, and Sydney.76

Several arrests of Australian sex offenders living overseas took place during a 3-week span in early 2004. One 55-year-old was arrested in Bali on February 27 and deported back to Australia, where he will serve the 2 years of his sentence for child sex convictions. He had been wanted for such offenses since 1991. A 49-year-old man was arrested in early March in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, for child sex offenses he allegedly committed in 2000 and 2001 against two underage boys. Another 66-year-old was arrested in Papua New Guinea on 10 March 2004 for child sex offenses, including five charges relating to pornography possession and sexual assault of young boys. These arrests followed the January 2004 arrest in Bali of an ex-diplomat and the arrest of another Australian man in Mexico.77

In March 2004, an AFP spokesman said there had been 68 investigations into sex slavery in Australia since new laws were introduced in 2003. Ten people, all based in the eastern states, were charged. Seventeen cases were under investigation as of March 2004.78

70 Natalie O’Brien, “Key Force Takes Aim at Sex Slavers,” Weekend Australian, 20 December 2003. 71 Child Wise, ECPAT Australia 68 (February 2003), http://www.childwise.net/uploads/newsletter_february_2003.pdf. 72 Natalie O’Brien, “Child Abusers Abroad,” Weekend Australia, 13 March 2004. 73 “Media Releases,” Child Wise, 16 April 2004, http://www.ecpat.org/media-releases.html. 74 Child Wise, “Perth Man Arrested for Sex Tours,” ECPAT Australia 68 (February 2003): 3, http://www.childwise.net/uploads/newsletter_february_2003.pdf. 75 Vanessa Walker, Natalie O’Brien, and Barclay Crawford, “‘Boss’ Brought Sex Slaves to Australia,” Australian, 14 August 2003. 76 Natalie O’Brien and Elisabeth Wynhausen, “Officials Ignored Sex Slave Kingpin,” Weekend Australian, 2 August 2003. 77 “Child Wise, Australia,” ECPAT News, 11 March 2004, http://www.ecpat.net/eng/child_wise.asp. 78 Kate Gauntlett, “Police Probe 17 Sex Slavery Cases,” West Australian (Perth), 25 March 2004.



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For example, in June 2003, AFP arrested a 47-year-old woman and her 29-year-old son in Sydney for trafficking three Indonesian women to Australia for forced prostitution. The two were the first to be charged under Australia’s new sexual servitude legislation. The pair lured the Indonesian women to Sydney with promises of jobs in the hospitality industry. The women escaped their apartment one night and told police that they had been held as sexual slaves.79

A Thai trafficking victim who had provided crucial information about the trafficking of women for forced prostitution was given a criminal justice visa in May 2003—the first such visa to be issued in a federal investigation involving trafficking.80 In September 2003, however, after living in Australia for 8 years, she learned that the investigation had come to nothing and that she was to be deported. Immigration officials offered her a 1-month bridging visa to give her time to make arrangements to go back to Thailand with her Australian boyfriend, with whom she was expecting a child.81 Nongovernmental and International Organization Responses

Child Wise, the Australian affiliate of End Child Prostitution, Pornography, and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes, is the leading children’s rights organization in the country. Child Wise was instrumental in the enactment of the Crimes (Child Sex Tourism) Amendment Act of 1994. Further achievements include creating greater awareness about child sexual exploitation, encouraging the government to enact the sex slavery legislation to prosecute sex traffickers, working in partnership with the Australian government to develop Australia’s National Plan to Combat the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children, and conducting the first national inquiry into children and young people engaged in prostitution.82 Child Wise launched a training program in August 2000 for foreign government tourist authorities and representatives of the travel and tourism industry in Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam.83

In early July 2003, the second AusAID-funded Child Wise think tank meeting was held in Hanoi, Vietnam, in cooperation with the Vietnamese National Administration of Tourism. Participants from national tourism associations of Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines, and Vietnam attended the meeting, as did representatives of the private-sector tourist industry and of NGOs working in the area of child protection. Reiterated in this meeting was the need to pursue development of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Traveler’s Code, which calls for the protection of children from sexual exploitation in tourism.84 On 3 December 2003, Child Wise launched a new awareness-raising campaign aimed at educating Australians traveling abroad about how they can help prevent child sex tourism. Finally, Choose with Care, a Child Wise information and training initiative to provide children’s programs with practical strategies for preventing sex offenders from entering such programs and gaining access to children, was voted overall winner of the 2003 National Child Protection Awards. Choose with Care was to be available nationwide as of January 2004.85

79 Janine O’Neill, “NSW: Two Charged over Alleged Sex Slavery,” AAP Newsfeed, 18 June 2003. See also “Aussies Charged with Sex Slavery of Indonesians,” ECPAT Online Newsdesk, 18 June 2003. 80 Elisabeth Wynhausen and Natalie O’Brien, “Sex Traffic Witness Visa,” Australian, 8 May 2003. 81 “Sex Slave Source Faces Deportation as Case Fails,” Weekend Australian. 6 September 2003. 82 Child Wise, “About Us,” 16 April 2004, http://www.ecpat.org/about-us.html. 83 “Media Releases,” Child Wise, 16 April 2004, http://www.ecpat.org/media-releases.html. 84 Child Wise, “Child Wise Tourism,” ECPAT Australia 68 (February 2003):2, http://www.childwise.net/uploads/newsletter_february_2003.pdf. 85 “Media Releases,” Child Wise, 16 April 2004, http://www.ecpat.org/media-releases.html.



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Project Respect works to combat exploitation of and violence against women in the sex industry. It conducts outreach and offers services to women in brothels and tabletop dancing clubs as well as places where the concentration of foreign women is high. In particular, the project focuses on women trafficked to Australia for prostitution and other women experiencing harm and violence within the sex industry. The program offers services, undertakes advocacy and public education, and collaborates closely with partners in countries of origin in the Asia-Pacific region.86 Project Respect and Good Shepherd Youth and Family Services carried out the first major research project into trafficking in women for the sex industry in Australia beginning in 2002.87 Project Respect organized a benefit concert in October 2003 to raise awareness of trafficking for purposes of prostitution. Called “Hats Off to Women,” the concert featured three Melbourne-based musicians and followed the Stop the Traffic 2 conference presented by Project Respect in partnership with the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission and RMIT (Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology) University shortly beforehand.88

Multilateral Initiatives

In June 2002, AFP and its Indonesian counterparts signed a memorandum of understanding to combat transnational crimes such as trafficking in women and children for prostitution, drug trafficking, terrorism, and money laundering.89

Australia spent $A 1.3 million on human rights programs in China during the 2002/03 financial year. The funds, which were allocated to the Australia–China Human Rights Technical Cooperation Program, increased 30 percent from the previous year. The money was spent on training programs to combat trafficking in women and children, as well as on programs targeting rights for women, children, and minorities; legal reform; and justice administration.90

In May 2003, representatives of the Australian government attended the East Asian and Pacific ministerial meeting on children in Bali, Indonesia. At the meeting, ministers, senior officials, representatives of NGOs, and other representatives from 23 countries unanimously adopted the “Bali Consensus,” which underlines the need for governments in the region to fulfill children’s rights and protect them.91

The Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission facilitated the 23–24 October 2003 Stop the Traffic 2 conference with the National Human Rights Commission of India and the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia. The conference focused on women trafficked to Australia for prostitution and other women experiencing abuse within the sex industry.92

In November 2003, it was announced that Australia would proceed with the stationing of an immigration official in Thailand as part of a strategy to combat trafficking to Australia.93 The arrest of a former Australian diplomat in Bangkok was the result of a

86 Project Respect can be found on the Internet at http://www.projectrespect.org.au/. 87 Rachel Kleinman, “Inquiry into Sex Traffic,” Melbourne/Yarra Leader, 2 December 2002. 88 “Abuse of Women Is Concert Theme,” Port Phillip Leader, 27 October 2003. 89 “Indonesians Join War on Sex Trade, Drugs,” Gold Coast Bulletin, 15 June 2002. 90 “Australia to Spend $1.3 Million on China Human Rights,” AAP Newsfeed, 2 September 2002. 91 “Twenty-Three Countries to Attend Meeting on Children in Bali,” Antara, 3 May 2003. See also UNICEF, “East Asian and Pacific Nations Act for Children,” News Note, 7 May 2003, http://www.unicef.org/media/media_7135.html. 92 “‘Tackling Trafficking’: Progress Paper on the Role of NHRIs,” Asia Pacific Human Rights Network, New Delhi, India, February 2004. 93 “Australia to Base Official in Thailand to Help Combat Sex Trade,” BBC Monitoring International Reports, 11 November 2003.



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cooperative effort between AFP and Royal Thai Police and serves as an example of the type of joint operations that the AFP is currently conducting in Asia to catch Australian pedophiles.94

The Australian government has committed $A 24 million over 6 years to counter smuggling of persons, trafficking in women, and related transnational crime in the Asia–Pacific region. For 2003/04, AusAID is providing an estimated $A 55 million to address gender inequalities.95 On the 55th Human Rights Day (10 December 2003), the foreign affairs parliamentary secretary, Chris Gallus, announced initiatives to promote and protect human rights in the Asia–Pacific region. Australia is to commit $A 1.5 million over 3 years to support the Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions, building on the $A 2.3 million provided to the forum since its establishment in 1996. Recipients of the 2003/04 Human Rights Small Grants Scheme were also announced. Under this scheme, judges, lawyers, police, community leaders, and other citizens in Bangladesh, India, Laos, and Sri Lanka receive Australian support for human rights training activities. Australia will also fund human rights monitoring of the legal and judicial system in East Timor and activities to protect the rights of women and children in the Philippines, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, and Vietnam.96

Also in March 2004, the Australian government announced funding of $A 200,000 to help India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka stamp out forced prostitution. The money is to be used for awareness raising, improving regional police and judicial understanding of trafficking, and assisting prosecution officers in those countries to prosecute incidents of trafficking.97

In July 2004, the Indonesian police chief and his Australian counterpart inaugurated the Crime Coordination Center in Indonesia. The center will be used for exchanging information about transnational crimes, such as narcotics trafficking, terrorism, and trafficking in persons. The Australian government donated US$7 million toward the establishment of the center.98

94 Verona Burgess, “Official Unaware of Child-Sex Claim,” Canberra Times, 23 March 2004. 95 AusAID, “International Women’s Day—Australia Fights Trafficking of Women,” press release, 8 March 2004, http://www.ausaid.gov.au/media/release.cfm?BC=Media&Id=7831_6761_5794_8905_4366. 96 “AusAID: Human Rights Day,” M2Presswire, 10 December 2003. 97 “Australian Government Contributes to Stop International Sex Slavery,” ABC News Online, 9 March 2004. 98 “Indonesia, Australia Inaugurate Crime Coordination Center, Xinhua General News Service, 2 July 2004.



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BANGLADESH Trafficking Routes

Bangladesh is mainly a country of origin for trafficking in women and children. A reported 200,000 Bangladeshi women and children have been taken out of the country in the past 10 years.99 At least 20,000 Bangladeshi women and children are trafficked to India and Pakistan and to Middle Eastern countries every year.100 According to another estimate, 50,000 Bangladeshi girls are trafficked to or through India every year. The girls end up in brothels in India or Pakistan or in Middle Eastern or South Asian countries.101 Women are also trafficked to Australia. Internal trafficking in women and children occurs from rural areas of the country to the capital, Dhaka. Factors That Contribute to the Trafficking Infrastructure

Throughout South Asia, poverty—as well as the breakdown of traditional livelihoods,

the lack of education and skills for women and children, natural disasters, the breakdown of families from war situations, the low social status of women, and gender-discriminating practices—contributes to the trafficking phenomenon.102 Weak legislation and poor enforcement of trafficking laws are also cited as factors contributing to trafficking in the area.103 Furthermore, there is a common superstition in the region that a sexual encounter with a virgin girl can rid a man of sexually transmitted disease; this belief fuels the demand for prostituted youths.104

In Bangladesh, poverty, land fragmentation, floods and cyclones, landlessness, and demand for dowry,105 push people to search for opportunities outside the country. With an average per capita income of US$225, Bangladesh is one of the largest migrant-exporting countries in Asia. Migration takes place to the West, to the Middle East, and to Southeast Asia, but most illegal migration flows to India. India shares a 4,222-kilometers border with 28 Bangladeshi districts. Bangladeshi traffickers have built up bases in the border districts of India in West Bengal and Assam, to the north and west.106

Forms of Trafficking

Trafficking in Bangladesh exists for the purposes of forced labor and forced

prostitution. Although exact figures on the scope of the problem vary widely, the consensus is that the trafficking problem is growing rapidly. An estimated 90 percent of trafficked women were forced to engage in prostitution.107 Reportedly, 400,000 Bangladeshi women are

99 “Human Trafficking Is Going Unabated along the Borders,” Business Recorder, Global News Wire, 4 June 2001. 100 “20,000 Bangladeshi Women, Children Trafficked Every Year,” Agence France Presse, 2 June 2003. 101 “When Victims Become Accused,” Times of India, 13 October 2003. 102 “SAARC: CS Groups Demand Implementation of SAARC Convention on Human Trafficking,” Pakistan

Newswire, 2 January 2004. 103 UNICEF, “UNICEF Welcomes Signing of Two Conventions on Children by South Asian leaders,” press release, 5 January 2002. 104 Debra Armentrout, “Child Trafficking Continues to Threaten Young Women in India,” Digital Freedom

Network, 15 November 2002 105 Anindita Dasgupta, “Dreams—and Hunger—Drive Trafficking into India,” Inter Press Service, 9 December 2003. 106 Anindita Dasgupta, “Dreams—and Hunger—Drive Trafficking into India,” Inter Press Service, 9 December 2003. 107 “Bangladesh Most Vulnerable Country for Trafficking,” Independent Bangladesh, 26 March 2004.



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engaged in forced prostitution in India, and 300,000 Bangladeshi boys have been trafficked to India.108 According to one report, every day 50 Bangladeshi girls are lured across the Indian border and sold. India shares 4,222 kilometers of its border with 28 districts of Bangladesh, and most of that border is open to traffic. Bangladeshi girls who are trafficked to India by organized networks usually end up in brothels in Kolkata or Mumbai.109 Many victims are raped by their traffickers or by Bangladeshi and Indian border patrol guards.110

An estimated 40,000 female children are exploited in Pakistani brothels. From January 2000 to June 2003, an estimated 2,405 Bangladeshi children disappeared. Of those, 510 boys and 451 girls were confirmed to have been trafficked.111

Street children living in the capital are among the prime targets of organized child-trafficking rings. According to some surveys, Pakistan and oil-rich Arab states are the principal destinations of Bangladeshi children. Boys are mostly taken to the Persian Gulf (particularly the United Arab Emirates) to work as camel jockeys or farm workers, while the girls often end up working in brothels in India and Pakistan.112

There have been reports of trafficking in organs in Bangladesh.113 A group of anthropologists from the United States claim to have encountered “kidney theft” in Bangladesh.114 Government Responses

Prostitution and trafficking for the purpose of prostitution or other immoral acts are covered in the Penal Code; the 2000 Suppression of Violence against Women and Children Act, which replaced the 1995 Oppression of Woman and Child Act; and the 1993 Suppression of Immoral Traffic Act.

The 2000 Suppression of Violence against Women and Children Act punishes the crime of trafficking in children and women by capital punishment or by imprisonment for life and a fine.115

The Suppression of Immoral Traffic Act prohibits keeping a brothel or allowing premises to be used as brothels,116 soliciting for the purposes of prostitution,117 living on the money transacted in prostitution,118 procuring individuals for the purpose of prostitution,119 importing a female for the purpose of prostitution,120 and detaining a woman for the purpose of prostitution.121 The act also prohibits encouraging a girl under 18 to be in prostitution.

108 “Battle against the Plague of Women and Child Trafficking,” Independent Bangladesh, 5 July 2002. 109 Anindita Dasgupta, “Dreams—and Hunger—Drive Trafficking into India,” Inter Press Service, 9 December 2003. 110 “Battle against the Plague of Women and Child Trafficking,” Independent Bangladesh, 5 July 2002. 111 “Some 1,000 Children Trafficked from Bangladesh in 3 Years,” Xinhua News Agency, 26 January 2004. 112 “Seven Foreigners Released after Being Detained on Suspicion of Child Trafficking,” Associated Press

Worldstream, 30 September 2002. 113 Anindita Dasgupta, “Dreams—and Hunger—Drive Trafficking into India,” Inter Press Service, 9 December 2003. 114 Nancy Scheper-Hughes, “The Organ of Last Resort,” UNESCO Courier, July/August 2001, http://www.unesco.org/courier/2001_07/uk/doss34.htm. 115 Section 5. 116 Section 4. 117 Section 7. 118 Section 8. 119 Section 9. 120 Section 10. 121 Section 11.



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The Penal Code prohibits procurement of a girl under the age of 18 for illicit intercourse with another person;122 selling, letting, hiring, or disposing of minors under the age of 18 for the purpose of prostitution;123 and buying minors for the same purpose.124 In addition, the code prohibits abduction.125 The constitution prohibits forced labor. 126 The prohibition of forced labor does not apply to compulsory labor, which is labor performed by people undergoing lawful punishment for a criminal offense127 or labor required by any law for a public purpose.128 The Factories Act of 1965, as well as the Shops and Establishment Act of 1965, also prohibits forced labor and establishes an inspection system to enforce this prohibition. The Factories Act bars children under the age of 14 from working in factories.129

The Employment of Children Act prohibits children under the age of 15 from working in any occupation “connected with transport of passengers, goods, or mails by railway” 130 or involving the “handling of goods within the limits of any port.”131

The Ministry of Women and Children Affairs (MWCA) carried out a 3-year pilot project called Coordinated Program to Combat Child Trafficking. As a result, a countertrafficking framework report was published to help the Bangladeshi government with its future countertrafficking plan of action.132 MWCA operates support centers at six divisional levels that offer shelter and training for rehabilitation. The ministry also hosts a rehabilitation center for destitute children and a home for boys. The National Task Force for Anti-Child Trafficking was formed under this project. The task force is comprised of the representatives of 10 ministries and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).133

As a part of the National Plan of Action for Children, the government established mechanisms to regularly review the situation of trafficking in people and of programs to prevent child trafficking and punish the perpetrators.134 Nongovernmental and International Organization Responses

The Bangladesh chapter of Action against Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation of

Children (ATSEC) and Bangladesh Forum against Human Trafficking jointly organized a USAID-supported daylong workshop in March 2004 called Antitrafficking Issue for Media Representatives.135 ATSEC is a coalition of 15 NGOs working in Bangladesh to prevent trafficking in children and women for sexual exploitation. The coalition focuses on advocacy, awareness raising, technical support, research and program support, capacity building, and coordination among individuals and organizations. ASTEC has established a national resource

122 Section 466A. 123 Section 372. 124 Section 373. 125 Article 362. 126 Article 34(1). 127 Article 34(2)(a). 128 Article 34(2)(b). 129 Section 66. 130 Article 3(1)(a). 131 Article 3(1)(b). 132 “Bangladesh—Counter-Trafficking Conference,” IOM Press Briefing Notes, 10 February 2004. 133 End Child Prostitution, Pornography, and Trafficking (ECPAT) International Online Database, 4 March 2003, http://www.ecpat.net. 134 United Nations, “Second Periodic Report of Bangladesh,” submitted to the Committee on the Rights of the Child, UN Document CRC/C/65/Add.22, 14 March 2003. 135 “Bangladesh Most Vulnerable Country for Trafficking,” Independent Bangladesh, 26 March 2004.



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center for information dissemination on trafficking issues and has worked on a program to sensitize and mobilize policy planners on the issue of trafficking in Bangladesh.136

Resource Bangladesh, an NGO, organized the Children’s Congress, a platform from which disadvantaged children can speak about the conditions of their lives. Sessions of the Children’s Congress were planned for approximately 10 Bangladeshi districts. Ain o Salish Kendro of Dhaka is a human rights and legal aid organization consisting of 25 member organizations. Activities include awareness raising on human rights and legal issues, advocacy, and legal aid.137

Approximately 1,500 women met in Dhaka in August 2003 for a South Asian Court of Women on the Violence of Trafficking and HIV/AIDS. The conference was sponsored by the Asian Women’s Human Rights Council.138

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) undertook regional technical assistance in July 2001 in India, Bangladesh, and Nepal. ADB aimed at increasing its understanding of how its existing country programs and regional policy could be used to support and strengthen antitrafficking initiatives in the region.139

On February 8, 2004, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Dhaka, MWCA, and the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation jointly organized a conference to review the Bangladeshi government’s efforts to combat trafficking in women and children. Representatives from the government, IOM, the World Bank, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and the United Nations Development Programme attended the conference. As a result of the conference, a permanent task force will be established within the MWCA.140


In November 2001, the Bangladeshi government and UNICEF cohosted a 3-day South

Asia Consultation for the Second World Congress against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children. One hundred and fifty participants from seven member countries of the South Asian Association for Regional Corporation (SAARC) attended, including high-level government delegates, children, and representatives of NGOs and media and international organizations. The SAARC forum, founded in 1985, aims to promote cultural ties and economic and social development among its member states (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka).141

In January 2002, the Bangladeshi government signed the SAARC Convention on Prevention and Combating Trafficking in Women and Children for Prostitution. Resolutions were adopted to step up cooperation among law enforcement authorities to fight trafficking in women and children, terrorism, and drug trafficking. In January 2004, leaders from SAARC member states met in Islamabad for the first summit in 2 years.142

In September 2004, a 3-day, UNICEF-sponsored meeting between representatives of South Asian governments, UN agencies, and NGOs took place in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Government officials signed a five-point joint statement, agreeing that children in South Asia

136 ATSEC can be found on the Internet at atsec.tripod.com. 137 ECPAT International Online Database, 5 April 2004, http://www.ecpat.net. 138 “South Asian Women Hold Court on Violence,” Off Our Backs, September–October 2003, p. 4 139 Asian Development Bank, Combating Trafficking of Women and Children in South Asia: Guide for

Integrating Trafficking Concerns into ADB Operations (Mandaluyong City, Philippines: ADB, 2003). 140 “Bangladesh—Counter-Trafficking Conference,” IOM Press Briefing Notes, 10 February 2004. 141 “Background and Facts on the SAARC Forum,” Associated Press Worldstream, 6 January 2004. 142 “Background and Facts on the SAARC Forum,” Associated Press Worldstream, 6 January 2004.



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deserve better protection from traffickers and sexual abusers. Participating countries were Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Maldives, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.143

143 “Child Sex-Declaration,” United News of Bangladesh, 1 October 2004.



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BHUTAN Trafficking Routes

Bhutan is primarily a country of origin—and to a lesser extent a destination country—

for trafficking in women and children. Bhutanese women are often trafficked to neighboring Nepal, and children are trafficked through Nepal and India to Pakistan. Factors That Contribute to the Trafficking Infrastructure

Throughout South Asia, poverty, as well as the breakdown of traditional livelihoods, the lack of education and skills for women and children, natural disasters, the breakdown of families from war situations, the low social status of women, and gender-discriminating practices, contributes to the trafficking phenomenon.144 Weak legislation and poor enforcement of trafficking laws are also cited as factors contributing to trafficking in the area.145 Furthermore, there is a common superstition in the region that a sexual encounter with a virgin girl can rid a man of sexually transmitted disease; this belief fuels the demand for young girls.146


Trafficking in children for bonded labor and prostitution has increased dramatically in

Bhutan. Bhutanese girls are regularly kidnapped and forced to work either in the commercial sex industry or in sweatshops in slavery-like conditions.147 In addition, young people from India are reportedly trafficked and sold into bonded and forced labor in Bhutan.148

Bhutan may also be a destination country for people trafficked from India for use as forced labor. It was reported recently, for instance, that a total of 22 tribal families from India’s Gumla district in Jharkhand were trafficked 6 years ago to Phuentsholing in Bhutan and forced to work breaking rocks for the roads.149 Some of the families were recently rescued with the help of the Indian Army.150

Government Responses

Bhutan does not have comprehensive antitrafficking legislation nor specific

antitrafficking provisions in its criminal code. However, it established a national task force that was charged with drafting the National Immoral Trafficking Act, which is currently being reviewed for submission to the cabinet.151

144 “SAARC: CS Groups Demand Implementation of SAARC Convention on Human Trafficking,” Pakistan


Network, 15 November 2002 147 “Children Abused on Subcontinent, Says Amnesty International,” Deutsche Presse-Agentur, 22 April 1998. 148 “Escape to Freedom, via Phuentsholing,” Statesman (India), 8 March 2003. 149 “Promised Jobs in Assam Gardens, Gumla Tribals Land in Bhutan,” Global News Wire—Asia–Africa

Intelligence Wire, 8 March 2003. 150 “Escape to Freedom, via Phuentsholing,” Statesman (India), 8 March 2003. 151 End Child Prostitution, Pornography, and Trafficking (ECPAT) International Online Database, March 2004, http://www.ecpat.net.



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Multilateral Initiatives In November 2001, the Bangladeshi government and UNICEF cohosted a 3-day South



In September 2004, the United Nations Children’s Fund sponsored a 3-day meeting among South Asian governments, United Nations agencies, and nongovernmental organizations. At the meeting, which took place in Colombo, Sri Lanka, government officials signed a five-point joint statement agreeing that children in South Asia deserve better protection from traffickers and sexual abusers. Participating countries were Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan.154

152 “Background and Facts on the SAARC Forum,” Associated Press Worldstream, 6 January 2004. 153 “Background and Facts on the SAARC Forum,” Associated Press Worldstream, 6 January 2004. 154 “Child Sex-Declaration,” United News of Bangladesh, 1 October 2004.



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BRUNEI DARUSSALAM

Trafficking Routes Brunei Darussalam is a country of origin and destination for trafficking in persons. Asian women are trafficked to Brunei Darussalam, and young Brunei citizens are trafficked to Australia. Forms of Trafficking

Asian women end up as sex slaves in Brunei Darussalam after being falsely promised employment as housemaids.155 For instance, the Philippine Embassy there recently assisted in the repatriation of two Filipina victims who were lured to Brunei Darussalam with false promises of jobs as guest relations officers or restaurant helpers but were instead forced into prostitution upon their arrival.156

Indonesian babies are sold to buyers from Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia, and other countries.157

Young people from Brunei Darussalam and several other countries in southeastern Asia are reportedly trafficked to Australia using student visas; in reality, however, they rarely attend any classes but instead are forced by their traffickers to sell drugs or to engage in prostitution.158 Government Responses Legislation such as the Penal Code helps control the trafficking in persons, especially women and children. Trafficking in women is not allowed under article 374 of the code, which prohibits using any false pretense, false representation, or fraudulent or deceitful means to bring or assist in bringing any woman into Brunei Darussalam with the intent of using her for prostitution. The article also prohibits selling or buying a woman for the purposes of prostitution.159 Furthermore, the code punishes anyone who habitually imports, exports, removes, buys, sells, traffics, or deals in slaves. Punishment for such crimes is a fine and imprisonment of up to 10 years.160

In the case of trafficking in children below the age of 18, the code prohibits the selling or buying of minors for prostitution or any “unlawful and immoral purpose.”161 The code also prohibits trafficking in girls—specifically importing girls under 21 from a foreign country to have sex with another person.162 Other legislation protecting children includes the Children Order, which considers unlawful the transfer of possession, custody, or control of a child “for any valuable consideration,” such as trafficking in children, whether the trafficking takes place within Brunei or elsewhere. Punishment of the offense is imprisonment for up to 7 years, beating with 10 strokes of a rattan, a fine, or a combination of these punishments.163

155 “Child Prostitution Attracting Foreign Businessmen to Indonesia,” Asia Pulse, 11 April 2001. 156 “RP Embassy Rescues Filipinas from Human Traffickers,” Manila Bulletin, 31 July 2003. 157 “Malaysia: Baby Trafficking, Child Trading Propose Problem for Jakarta,” Straits Times (Singapore), 22 July 2002. 158 Steve Gee, “Student Visas a Cover for Criminal Activities, Say Police,” Daily Telegraph (Sydney), 13 January 2003. 159 Article 374(a). 160 Article 371. 161 Articles 372 and 373. 162 Article 366(3). Punishment for such an offense is a fine and imprisonment for up to 10 years. 163 Article 33(2).



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The Women and Girls Protection Act prohibits detaining any woman or girl in a brothel against her will,164 detaining her in any other place for prostitution or for unlawful or immoral purposes,165 living on or trading in prostitution,166 or maintaining a brothel.167 Under the Women and Girls Protection Act, women and girls who may be considered in “moral danger” or who are believed to have been mistreated and in need of protection may be detained in a “place of safety.”168 The act also authorizes the competent authority to make rules for the care, detention, maintenance, and education of women and children who have been detained.169

The Penal Code also prohibits unlawful compulsory labor. According to article 374 of the code, “Whoever unlawfully compels any person to labor against the will of that person shall be punished with imprisonment … which may extend to 1 year, or with a fine, or both.”

The Labor Enactment Laws of 1954 prohibit employment of a person below the age of 16. Parental consent and labor commission approval are required for the employment of a person below the age of 18.

The Prevention of Corruption Act punishes bribery of any member of the public body.170 Public officers who receive or are offered a gratification must report the incident. Officers who fail to do so may be subject to a fine or 6 months’ imprisonment. The act also criminalizes the offenses of possessing unexplained property and maintaining a standard of living above that commensurate with a person’s previous employments.171

A 1999 amendment to the Criminal Procedure Code172 extended the court’s jurisdiction in criminal matters to the following: (a) any offense committed wholly or partly within Brunei Darussalam, (b) any offense committed by a person outside Brunei Darussalam who abets or enters a conspiracy to commit an offense within the country, whether or not any act to further the conspiracy takes place within Brunei Darussalam, or (c) any offense committed by a national of Brunei Darussalam, whether the offense was committed within or outside the country.173

The amendment applies to trafficking offenses regardless of where they occurred or the nationality of the trafficker.

To implement the various laws, the Criminal Procedure Code gives police officers in Brunei Darussalam wide-ranging powers of investigation and arrest.174 The code governs police powers of investigation, most importantly the power to record statements from the accused and witnesses as well as to record the notice-of-warning statements from the accused. Since prostitution is a major offense, the police can arrest a person involved in such an offense without a warrant.

Brunei authorities often treat foreign victims of trafficking as criminals, finding them guilty of soliciting for prostitution, placing them in jail, and deporting them. The sentences imposed on alleged pimps are often milder than for women in prostitution, although in December 2002, two Thai women were sentenced to 3 months’ imprisonment for soliciting, and their pimp was sentenced to 6 months’ imprisonment.175 In January 2003, two Thai

164 Article 3(h). 165 Article 3(i). 166 Article 5. 167 Article 6. 168 Section 15. 169 Section 25(1). 170 Section 11(a), (d). 171 Section 12. 172 The amendment was made as a part of the Emergency (Criminal Procedure Code) (Amendment) Order of 1999. 173 See section 3 of the Emergency Order, which repealed section 7 of the code. 174 Sections 19–38 and 111–123. 175 Md Ezam, “Brunei: Thai Pimp Jailed Six Months,” Borneo Bulletin, 20 December 2002.



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women were sentenced to 3 months in prison for soliciting for prostitution after failing to pay their US$1,500 fine; their pimp was released on US$5,000 court bail.176 In January and February 2003, police arrested six foreign women involved in prostitution.177 In May 2003, a Filipina widow with five children was imprisoned for 3 months for soliciting a client after being found at a hotel room with a male by an antivice squad raid.178 Also in May 2003, two Thai women were imprisoned for 2 months each, while their pimp was imprisoned for 4 months for living off the prostitution earnings.179 Multilateral Initiatives

In April 2003, Brunei representatives attended the Second Bali Regional Ministerial

Conference on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons, and Related Transnational Crime. The conference focused on strengthening bilateral, multilateral, regional, and international cooperation in combating illegal migration in the region.180

176 Rol Ezam, “Brunei: Two Prostitutes Jailed Three Months,” Borneo Bulletin, 28 January 2003. 177 Lyna Mohammad, “Brunei: Police Solve 17 Crimes This Year,” Borneo Bulletin, 18 February 2003. 178 Rol Ezam, “Brunei: Good-Time Filipina Sent to 3 Months Jail,” Borneo Bulletin, 27 May 2003. 179 Malai Dadley Rizal, “Brunei: Trio Jailed for Prostitution,” Borneo Bulletin, 21 May 2003. 180 “Brunei: Bali Focus on Upsurge in People Smuggling,” Borneo Bulletin, 2 May 2003.



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CAMBODIA Trafficking Routes

Cambodia is a country of origin, transit, and destination for trafficking in women and

children. Destination countries for Cambodian women and children include Australia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand. The primary country of origin for trafficking to Cambodia is Vietnam. Women and girls are trafficked from Vietnam through the border crossing at Phnom Din in the Kiri Vong district and the border crossing in the Borei Cholsa district of Takeo province.181 Victims have also come from as far as Romania and Moldova. Cambodia is a transit country for people trafficked from Vietnam to Thailand and other Asian destinations, such as Malaysia.

Trafficking in women and children is also prevalent within Cambodia. In fact, it has been reported that internal trafficking is the most common form of trafficking in the country.182 Factors That Contribute to the Trafficking Infrastructure

Trafficking has been an issue in Cambodia since its political and economic opening in

the early 1990s, and the country’s sex industry has undergone “unprecedented growth” since that time.183 According to a representative of the United Nations Inter-Agency Project for Human Trafficking in the Greater Mekong Subregion (UNIAP), forced trafficking for the sex industry is on the increase in Cambodia for several reasons, including the widening gap between rich and poor, increased organization of trafficking flows, and greater demand for sex with minors from both Cambodians and foreigners.184 Fear of HIV/AIDS and a myth that a sexual encounter with a virgin can cure a person of the disease increase the demand for younger and younger girls.185

In addition, according to an officer of a leading nongovernmental organization (NGO), Thailand passed stronger legislation against sex tourism in 1996, forcing pedophiles and sex tourists to shift their attention to other countries such as poorer Cambodia.186

Criminal networks throughout the Southeast Asia region traffic young girls and women for sexual exploitation.187 Poverty, a lack of land suitable for agriculture, low education levels, and few job opportunities in Cambodia cause Cambodians to cross the border into Thailand, as does the demand for cheap labor there.188

181 “Cambodia Becomes People Market and Brothel,” Samleng Yuvachun Khmer (Cambodia), 5 April 2002. 182 “Trafficking of Children in Asia: Overview of the Response,” International Labor Organization and the International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor, Geneva, May 2002. 183 Annuska Derk, Combating Trafficking in South-East Asia: A Review of Policy and Programme Responses, IOM Migration Research Series 2 (Geneva: International Organization for Migration, 2000. 184 “Prostitution Flourishing, Despite Karaoke Ban,” Radio Australia, 14 April 2003. 185 “Cross-Border Trafficking—Inbound and In-transit, Cambodia” International Labor Organization Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific and International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor, 17 September 2004, http://www.ilo.org/public/english/region/asro/bangkok/child/trafficking/whereweeork-cambodiadetails.htm#004 186 Anjira Assavanonda, “Pedophiles Opt for Cambodia, Bali to Escape Strict Legislation,” Bangkok Post, 22 January 2003. 187 Deborah Haynes, “International Community Must Fight Child Sex Networks in SE Asia: UN,” Agence France Presse, 19 April 2004. See also Brian Calvert, “In Trafficking Case, Court Balks Again,” Cambodia

Daily, 27 February 2002. 188 “Cross-Border Trafficking—Inbound and In-transit, Cambodia” International Labor Organization Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific and International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor, 17 September



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Corruption has been described as rampant in Cambodia. NGOs have reported that police and court officials are highly susceptible to bribes. 189 For example, in June 2002 a trial of an accused sex trafficker in a Phnom Penh municipal court was delayed, sparking suspicion that the court was corrupt and under the influence of mafia gangs.190 Forms of Trafficking

It has been estimated that at least 200,000 to 225,000 women and children are

trafficked from Southeast Asia annually. Most of the trafficking destinations are within the region (60 percent are major cities of the region; 40 percent are outside the region).191 Most trafficking into, within, and from Cambodia occurs for the purpose of sexual exploitation.

Trafficking victims usually come from poor, rural areas, such as Battambang, Cham, Kandal, Kompomg, Prey Veng, Svey Rieng, and Takeo, or from urban slums. The cities where women and children are most commonly sexually exploited are Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, Sihanoukville, and the developing border areas of Banteay Meanchey and Battambang. Poipet, located on the border with Thailand, is a trafficking hub. There, brothels and bars cater to Cambodian and Thai men.192 As many as one-third of women working in the commercial sex industry in Cambodia are underage.193

Tens of thousands of Cambodian women have been trafficked to Thailand.194 Cambodian women have also been trafficked through fake marriages to Taiwan and other Asian countries.195 The main international destination for trafficked Cambodian children is Thailand. They are trafficked there for the purposes of practicing prostitution, begging, soliciting, street hawking, and flower selling in Bangkok and other towns or tourist areas. They also may be brought to Thailand to do construction, domestic, or agricultural work.196

Within Cambodia, children are trafficked for work in garment factories in Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville, for begging in Svay Rieng along the border with Vietnam, or for construction work, domestic work, or work as porters.197

2004, http://www.ilo.org/public/english/region/asro/bangkok/child/trafficking/whereweeork-cambodiadetails.htm#004. 189 Hang Vannak, “Opinion Piece: Trafficking Victims: ‘We Don’t Have Trust in the Police or Court,’” Step by

Step 12 (Third Quarter 2003): 4. 190 Brian Calvert, “In Trafficking Case, Court Balks Again,” Cambodia Daily, 27 February 2002. 191 Annuska Derk, Combating Trafficking in South-East Asia: A Review of Policy and Programme Responses, IOM Migration Research Series 2 (Geneva: International Organization for Migration, 2000. 192 “Internal Trafficking, Cambodia,” International Labor Organization Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific and International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor, 17 September 2004, http://www.ilo.org/public/english/region/asro/bangkok/child/trafficking/whereweeork-cambodiadetails.htm#004. 193 “Research Findings and Statistics, Cambodia,” International Labor Organization Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific and International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor, 17 September 2004, http://www.ilo.org/public/english/region/asro/bangkok/child/trafficking/whereweeork-cambodiadetails.htm#004. 194 “Research Findings and Statistics, Cambodia,” International Labor Organization Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific and International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor, 17 September 2004, http://www.ilo.org/public/english/region/asro/bangkok/child/trafficking/whereweeork-cambodiadetails.htm#004. 195 Annuska Derk, Combating Trafficking in South-East Asia: A Review of Policy and Programme Responses, IOM Migration Research Series 2 (Geneva: International Organization for Migration, 2000. 196 “Cross-Border Trafficking—Inbound and In-transit, Cambodia” International Labor Organization Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific and International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor, 17 September 2004, http://www.ilo.org/public/english/region/asro/bangkok/child/trafficking/whereweeork-cambodiadetails.htm#004. 197 “Internal Trafficking, Cambodia,” International Labor Organization Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific and International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor, 17 September 2004, http://www.ilo.org/public/english/region/asro/bangkok/child/trafficking/whereweeork-cambodiadetails.htm#004.



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Trafficking for illicit adoption occurs from Cambodia.198 Western demand for orphaned children exploded in Cambodia in 2000. It is believed that some Cambodian parents handed over their children to agents for small sums of money, believing the infants would be returned to them.199 The United States banned its citizens from adopting children from Cambodia in 2001; France, the United Kingdom, and several other European nations have followed suit.200 In June 2004, a Hawaiian resident pleaded guilty to U.S. government charges of visa fraud and money laundering in connection with the adoption of Cambodian children by American couples.201

Vietnamese girls are trafficked to Cambodia, where they are supposedly prized for their fairer skin.202 In fact, aid workers say that most women working in Cambodia’s sex industry are Vietnamese.203 Trafficking gangs lure Vietnamese women with promises of jobs as waitresses or hostesses. For example, a trafficking gang broken up in January 2003 in southern Vietnam was accused of trafficking 18 Vietnamese women to Cambodia for forced prostitution between June 2002 and January 2003. The women had been promised legitimate jobs.204

According to a Cambodian government survey, 2.3 million Cambodian children between the ages of 5 and 17 work.205 A survey by the International Labor Organization (ILO) revealed that nearly 28,000 Cambodian children work in the domestic service industry.206 Nevertheless, in 2002, the ILO gave Cambodia’s garment factories a relatively clean bill of health, noting that there was little evidence of forced or child labor or poor working conditions.207

Tourists from Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States travel to Cambodia to have sex with minors.208 A brothel village called Svay Pak, which is located on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, has earned a reputation “as a black hole of child trafficking and sexual exploitation.”209 Despite a recent crackdown, brothels are still operating there. Most of the

198 Steve Friess, “40 U.S. Families Get the Green Light to Complete Cambodian Adoptions,” USA Today, 1 April 2002. 199 “Activists Welcome British Ban on Adoptions in Cambodia,” Agence France Presse, 24 June 2004. 200 “Cambodian Rights Group Asks Government to Investigate Adoption Scandal,” Agence France Presse, 5 August 2004 201 “Woman Pleads Guilty to U.S. Visa Scam Involving Cambodian Children,” Agence France Presse, 24 June 2004. 202 “Cross-Border Trafficking—Inbound and In-transit, Cambodia” International Labor Organization Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific and International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor, 17 September 2004, http://www.ilo.org/public/english/region/asro/bangkok/child/trafficking/whereweeork-cambodiadetails.htm#004.

203 “Vietnam Police Bust Ring Trafficking Virgins to Cambodia,” Radio Australia, 20 April 2002.

204 “Vietnam to Prosecute Five for Trafficking Women to Cambodia,” Agence France Presse, 16 September 2003. 205 “Research Findings and Statistics, Cambodia,” International Labor Organization Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific and International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor, 17 September 2004, http://www.ilo.org/public/english/region/asro/bangkok/child/trafficking/whereweeork-cambodiadetails.htm#004. 206 “Thousands of Phnom Penh Children Work for Little or No Wages,” Radio Free Asia, 16 March 2003. 207 “ILO Backs Cambodian Factories,” Financial Times (Japan edition), 3 October 2002. 208 Mark Baker, “Australians Feeding Asia’s Child Sex Trade,” Age (Melbourne), 13 July 2002. See also “Cambodia Becomes People Market and Brothel,” Samleng Yuvachun Khmer (Cambodia), 5 April 2002; End Child Prostitution, Pornography, and Trafficking (ECPAT) International Online Database, 22 March 2004, http://www.ecpat.net; and Daniel Foggo, “British Paedophiles Make Mockery of ‘Crackdown,’ Sunday Telegraph (London), 15 September 2002. 209 “Cambodia Shuts down Notorious Red-Light District,” Agence France Presse, 23 January 2003.



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women and girls working there are reportedly Vietnamese; many are underage.210 A report by Cambodia’s Development Resource Institute revealed that 22 percent of tourists arriving in Cambodia are sex tourists.211 In September 2003, Japanese police arrested a Cambodian man for allegedly posting photos of naked minors on a Web site in Cambodia that was linked to child prostitution tours he ran for Japanese clients. Reportedly, it was the first time that a foreigner in Japan had been arrested for allegedly violating a provision of the child prostitution law concerning public display.212

During Cambodia’s civil war, there was widespread use of child soldiers by government forces and armed opposition groups. Such recruitment does not appear to take place any longer; however, some soldiers who had been recruited as children may still be in the armed forces.213


The Law on Suppression of the Kidnapping, Trafficking, and Exploitation of Human Persons of 1996 prohibits “the kidnapping of human persons for trafficking/sale or for prostitution and exploitation of human persons, inside or outside the Kingdom of Cambodia.”214

The 1996 law prohibits enticing a person into prostitution by the use of money or other means, including coercion, threats, or drugs.215 Punishment is imprisonment for 10 to 15 years.216 The imprisonment increases to 20 years if the victim is under the age of 15, and “Those who are accomplices, traffickers/sellers, [or] buyers shall be subject to the same punishment as the perpetrator(s).”217

The 1996 law also penalizes the pimp, who is defined as anyone who supports or protects other persons, knowing that those persons are in prostitution, or anyone who seeks customers for such persons for the purpose of prostitution.218 The definition of pimp also includes anyone who regularly shares benefits obtained from prostitution,219 anyone who brings men or women for training to become male or female prostitutes,220 anyone who acts as an intermediary to create relationships between male or female prostitutes with an owner of a brothel,221 or anyone who confines a man or a woman for the purpose of forcing him or her to commit prostitution. Punishment is 5 to 10 years of imprisonment.222

An increased penalty of 10 to 20 years of imprisonment applies223 if the offense is committed against a minor under the age of 15;224 if the perpetrator uses coercion, violence, or

210 “Cambodia Shuts down Notorious Red-Light District,” Agence France Presse, 23 January 2003. 211 “Sex Draws Nearly a Quarter of Tourists to Cambodia,” Straits Times (Singapore), 6 October 2001. 212 “Man Held over Naked Minor Photos,” Japan Times, 6 September 2003. 213 Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, Child Soldiers Global Report 2001 (London: Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, 2001). . 214 Article 2. According to article 1, “This law has an objective of suppressing the acts of kidnapping of human persons for trafficking/sale and the exploitation of human persons, in order to rehabilitate and upgrade the respect for good national tradition, protect human dignity, and protect the health and welfare of the people.” 215 Article 3. 216 Article 3. 217 Article 3. 218 Article 4(1). 219 Article 4(2). 220 Article 4(3). 221Article 4(4). 222 Article 4(5). 223 Article 5. 224 Article 5(1). See also article 8.



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threats;225 if the perpetrator is a husband, wife, boyfriend, girlfriend, father, mother, or guardian of the victim;226 or if the pimp either forces the victim to commit prostitution outside the country or forces a foreign victim to commit prostitution in the territory of Cambodia.227

The Labor Law explicitly states that “forced or compulsory labor is absolutely forbidden. … This [prohibition] … applies to everyone, including domestic or household servants and all workers in agricultural enterprises or businesses.”228 The Labor Law also provides that “hiring of people for work to pay off debts is forbidden.”229

In 1995, the government passed the Law on the Export of Khmer Labor to Work Overseas. That law requires the parties to have a written employment contract that fully protects the rights of nationals working abroad.230

The Cambodian National Council for Children (CNCC) was formed by a subdecree in 1995 and is a coordinating body for advocacy and monitoring of the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in Cambodia. CNCC has created four subcommittees: the first focuses on trafficking and sexual exploitation of children, the second on child labor and other forms of exploitation, the third on legislation relating to children, and the fourth on early child development.231

Cambodian authorities detain and deport trafficking victims as opposed to offering them social and legal services or residency status. The United Nations and Human Rights Watch strongly criticized Cambodia’s conviction of 10 Vietnamese girls, ages 12 to 18, on illegal immigration charges, despite evidence that they were victims of trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation. After spending a month in jail awaiting trial, the trafficked girls were released and deported.232 In June 2002, 14 suspected Vietnamese trafficking victims who had been rescued from Phnom Penh brothels were arrested for entering Cambodia illegally.233 It was reported in September 2002 that six Vietnamese women rescued from a Phnom Penh brothel were given 6-month prison sentences for illegally entering the country; after serving their sentences, they were to be deported.234

In November 2001, the Cambodian prime minister issued a government order to close karaoke bars, nightclubs, and discotheques in order to protect the rights of the women and girls working in those establishments and to decrease drug trafficking, trafficking in persons, and sexual exploitation. Human rights organizations have expressed concern that the

225 Article 5(2). 226 Article 5(3). 227 Article 5(4). 228 Article 15. 229 Article 16. 230 According to article 9, the employment contract must include the following: name and address of each party; start and termination date of the work; location and nature of the work; skills and labor; salaries and remunerations; portions of the salary and other remunerations that will be sent to the worker’s family; working hours, weekends, and annual holidays; lodging accommodations, food, clothing, and medical care; insurance premium for each type of labor; mode of delivery of the worker to and from the work location; expenses of transport of labor to and from work location; and provisions for repatriating workers before the normal termination of the employment contract. 231 NGO Forum on Cambodia, “Child Rights,” 29 April 2004, http://www.ngoforum.org.kh/Development/Docs/ngo_2002/17.htm. 232 Cambodian authorities defended the ruling, saying that the girls admitted to entering the country without going through passport control. See “UN, NGO Criticize Trafficking Verdict as Punishing Victims,” UN Wire, 6 August 2002.

233 “Cambodia Arrests Vietnamese Girls,” BBC Online, 20 June 2002.

234 David Shaftel and Nhem Chea Bunly, “6 Trafficking Victims Get Prison Terms,” Cambodia Daily, 19 September 2002.



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government order did little to curb such activities but instead pushed many girls into even more dangerous working conditions.235

In cooperation with the IOM and with immigration authorities and border guards, the Ministry of Social Affairs, Labor, Vocational Training, and Youth Rehabilitation (MOSALVY) and the Thai Department of Social Development and Welfare organize the return of victims from Thailand to Cambodia once or twice monthly. MOSALVY and 20 NGOs have established recovery centers and shelters for returnees.236

There were several arrests of alleged foreign sex tourists in 2003 and 2004. In January 2003, a British pop singer visiting Cambodia was deported on the suspicion that he committed sex crimes against children. No charges were brought against him.237 In November 2003, a German and a Japanese citizen were charged with child sex crimes in Phnom Penh.238 In December 2003, an American man was charged with sex crimes against boys as young as 10 years old.239 That same month, a French national was charged with sex crimes against two boys, ages 14 and 15, in Phnom Penh.240 In early January 2004, an American man was charged with having sex with four underage Vietnamese girls.241 In February 2004, a French man was charged with sexually abusing five boys between the ages of 12 and 14. In December 2003, a 61-year-old American man had been charged with molesting three boys aged 10 to 13 in December and was deported to the United States in February 2004 to stand trial. Also in February 2004, a Canadian man was arrested on suspicion of having sex with underage boys.242 In March 2004, a 30-year-old German tourist was arrested at a Cambodian resort town and charged with having sex with five boys, ages 13 to 15.243 Also in March 2004, a New Zealand man was charged with debauchery at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court for having sex with six boys under the age of 14,244 a 42-year-old Swiss man was arrested for attempting to have sex with an underage girl at a brothel,245 and a 37-year-old American working as an English teacher was charged with sex crimes against girls as young as 10. He was the fourth American to be charged with molesting young Cambodian girls since December 2003.246 A 49-year-old Australian man was arrested in early March 2004 in Phnom Penh for child sex offenses that he allegedly committed in 2000 and 2001 against two underage boys.247 In April 2004, a Dutch man was arrested on suspicion of having sex with two 13-year-old boys in Phnom Penh.248 In August 2004, a French bar manager working in Phnom Penh was arrested and accused of having sex with nine underage boys.249

The Cambodian authorities have also arrested several traffickers. In January 2003,

Cambodian police rescued 14 Vietnamese girls, ages 13 to 15, and arrested two Vietnamese

235 Hang Vannak, “Women and Children Still Suffer, Albeit Karaoke Bars Banned,” Step by Step 11 (Second Quarter 2003): 6. 236 “Release of the Database Report on Children Trafficked from Cambodia to Thailand: 1 September 2000–31 March 2003,” Step by Step 11 (Second Quarter 2003): 3. 237 Shamed Glitter Given the Boot, Daily Record (Scotland), 8 January 2003. 238 “German, Japanese Nationals Charged with Child Sex Offences in Cambodia,” Agence France Presse, 27 November 2003 239 “American Charged with Child Sex Offences in Cambodia,” Agence France Presse, 25 December 2003. 240 “French National Charged with Child Sex Offences in Cambodia,” Agence France Presse, 23 December 2003. 241 “Third American in Two Weeks Charged with Sex Crimes in Cambodia,” Agence France Presse, 5 January 2004. 242 “Canadian Arrested for Child Sex in Cambodia,” Deutsche Presse-Agentur, 12 February 2004. 243 “German Man Charged with Debauchery in Cambodia,” Deutsche Presse-Agentur, 19 March 2004. 244 “New Zealander Facing Paedophilia Charges in Cambodia,” Deutsche Presse-Agentur, 9 March 2004. 245 “Swiss Man Arrested in Cambodia for Child Sex,” Deutsche Presse-Agentur, 8 March 2004. 246 “American Charged with Child Sex Crimes in Cambodia,” Agence France Presse, 1 March 2004. 247 “Child Wise, Australia,” ECPAT News, 11 March 2004, http://www.ecpat.net/eng/child_wise.asp. 248 “Dutchman Arrested in Cambodia on Suspicion of Paedophilia,” Agence France Presse, 30 April 2004. 249 “French National Arrested over Child Sex Allegations in Cambodia,” Agence France Presse, 4 August 2004.



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adults on suspicion of child trafficking. The girls, who were expected to be taken to

Malaysia, were rescued from a flat in Phnom Penh.250

A 52-year-old woman was charged

with trafficking in August 2003 for luring a Cambodian woman to Malaysia for

prostitution.251

In October 2003, two Vietnamese men and two women were each sentenced

to 15 years’ imprisonment for running one of Cambodia’s largest child prostitution rings.

They were among brothel owners arrested in a joint operation with American law

enforcement officers in March 2003 in raids on Svay Pak, the brothel village on the

outskirts of Phnom Penh, also known as “K-11.” During that operation, 37 young girls

were rescued. The International Justice Mission, a humanitarian NGO, had advocated for

the raids.252

In October 2003, despite police proclamations that the area was cleaned up,

police arrested four pimps and rounded up 22 women in prostitution in Svay Pak. All the

women were Vietnamese.253

A raid on a massage parlor in December 2003 in the tourist

town of Siem Reap resulted in the arrest of a Taiwanese woman and some Vietnamese

women. The massage parlor, which was run as a brothel, allegedly had girls working there

who were between the ages of 12 and 15, mostly Vietnamese girls; at the time of the raid,

however, none was discovered, perhaps because of a tipoff.254

In December 2003,

Cambodian police arrested a 33-year-old woman in Battambang province for attempting to

sell two girls, ages 12 and 14, to an undercover policeman for sexual purposes. The girls

were brought to Battambang by their mothers, who, along with the arrested woman, had

promised them jobs there.255

In March 2004, a Cambodian woman was charged with allegedly kidnapping a 5-year-

old girl and trying to sell her along the Phnom Penh riverside for US$250.256 In April 2004, a 29-year-old Cambodian woman was arrested on suspicion of trafficking Vietnamese girls for prostitution.257 In that same month, a 30-year-old Cambodian woman was charged with operating a place of debauchery after her massage parlor was raided. The female workers were Cambodian and Vietnamese, but it was unclear whether they were trafficking victims.258 In May 2004, a French man was arrested for running a brothel in Phnom Penh.259 A Vietnamese woman was arrested and charged with human trafficking after a raid on her brothel in the northwestern Battambang province in June 2004. Eleven Vietnamese and three Cambodian women were allegedly forced into prostitution there.260 In July 2004, a Cambodian woman from the northwestern Kampong Cham province was sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment for trafficking two of her own children plus five others. In 2001, she had been convicted of forcing children into domestic servitude and received a 1-year sentence.261

The interior minister announced in March 2004 that tourist hotels in Phnom Penh would be asked to sign an agreement to inform police if they suspected guests of pedophilia

250 “Cambodia Nabs Two Vietnamese for Trafficking 14 girls,” Agence France Presse, 9 January 2003. 251 “Cambodian Police Arrest Three from Sex Rings,” Deutsche Presse-Agentur, 13 August 2003. 252 “Vietnamese Child Sex Traffickers Jailed for 15 years in Cambodia,” Agence France Presse, 15 October 2003. 253 “Cambodian Authorities Raid Notorious Brothel Area,” Deutsche Presse-Agentur, 24 October 2003. 254 “Taiwanese Woman Arrested for Owning Brothel House in Cambodia,” Deutsche Presse-Agentur, 17 December 2003. 255 “Two Jailed for Trafficking Vietnamese Women to China,” Agence France Presse, 17 December 2003. 256 “Cambodian Woman Charged for Kidnapping, Trying to Sell 5-Year-Old,” Deutsche Presse-Agentur, 23 March 2004. 257 “Cambodian Woman Arrested for Trafficking Vietnamese Girls,” Agence France Presse, 30 April 2004. 258 “Owner Charged in Cambodian Massage Parlour Raid,” Deutsche Presse-Agentur, 1 April 2004. 259 “Frenchman Accused of Running a Cambodian Brothel,” Deutsche Presse-Agentur, 20 May 2004. 260 “Cambodian Police Arrest Vietnamese Woman over Human Trafficking,” Agence France Presse, 16 June 2004. 261 “Cambodian Woman Handed 15-Year Sentence for Trafficking Children,” Agence France Presse, 5 July 2004.



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or other acts with unwilling partners.262 Also in March 2004, the Tourism Ministry announced that it would formulate a strategy with the Ministry of Communication to block Web sites that promote Cambodia as a sex tourism destination.263

Some international organizations have commended the Cambodian government for its efforts to combat trafficking in women and children. The most prominent ministerial department working to stop trafficking is the Ministry of Women’s and Veterans’ Affairs. In partnership with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and with funding from the government of Finland, the ministry implemented the Prevention of All Forms of Trafficking in Women and Children project.264 Nonetheless, the Cambodian government has been accused of providing little follow-up in terms of social services, counseling, and job training for victims.265 Nongovernmental and International Organization Responses

The Coalition to Address Sexual Exploitation of Children in Cambodia (COSECAM)

is a membership organization of 13 Cambodian NGOs working to prevent child sexual exploitation, to provide protection for victims, and to advocate for legal and judicial reform in the field of child sexual abuse.266 The Committee on the Rights of the Child is a coalition of 38 national and international NGOs working to advocate for the rights of the child and to monitor the Convention on the Rights of the Child in Cambodia.267

A project to curb the child sex industry was launched in May 2003 by Cambodia’s Tourism Ministry and the French aid group AideTous. The Stop Pedophile Tourism in Cambodia project was to conduct a survey of sex tourism in the country.268 The Cambodian Women’s Crisis Center shelters about 150 women and children at any given time.269 The Cambodian Center for the Protection of Children’s Rights works to save and protect sexually exploited and abused children. Activities include research, investigation and rescue, promotion and dissemination of information on children’s rights, shelter provision, vocational skills training, reintegration, and follow-up.270

Terres des Hommes’s regional office for Southeast Asia is located in Jakarta, Indonesia, and covers four countries: Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand. The programs focus on vulnerable groups, including at-risk children, children in prostitution, and child and female victims of trafficking.271 The second AusAID-funded Child Wise Think Tank meeting was held in Hanoi, Vietnam, in early July 2003 in cooperation with the Vietnamese National Administration of Tourism. Participants from National Tourism Associations of Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines, and Vietnam attended, as well as tourism representatives from the

262 “Cambodian Hotel Owners Asked to Report Suspected Paedophiles,” Agence France Presse, 25 March 2004. 263 “Cambodia to Tackle Websites Promoting Sex Tourism,” Agence France Presse, 17 March 2004. 264 Ann Birch, “Preventing the Trafficking of Women and Children in Cambodia,” Trafficking in Migrants

Bulletin, no. 28 (December 2003): 2–3. 265 “Human Rights Overview: Cambodia,” Human Rights Watch, January 2004. 266 American Jewish World Service, “Core Program: Building Institutional Strength and Human Resources,” 1 September 2004, http://www.ajws.org/. 267 NGO Forum on Cambodia, “Child Rights,” 29 April 2004, http://www.ngoforum.org.kh/Development/Docs/ngo_2002/17.htm. 268 “Cambodia, French NGO Launch Anti-paedophile Project,” Agence France Presse, 27 May 2003. 269 Christopher St. John, “Trafficking’s Lasting Limbo: Former Sex Workers Face Slow Repatriation, Recovery,” Cambodia Daily Weekend, 13–14 December 2003. 270 Yim Po, “CCPCR Addressing the Sexual Exploitation of Girls in Cambodia,” Child Workers in Asia 16, no. 2 (May–August 2000), http://www.cwa.tnet.co.th/vol16-2/contents1.htm. 271 “Terre des Hommes—Netherlands,” Human Trafficking.org, November 2004, http://www.humantrafficking.org/countries/eap/indonesia/ngos/intl/terre.html.



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private sector and NGOs working in the area of child protection. Reiterated in this meeting was the need to pursue development of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Traveler’s Code, which calls for the protection of children from sexual exploitation in tourism.272 In January 2004, ASEAN tourist authorities and NGOs adopted the draft of the ASEAN Traveler’s Code.273

The Asia Foundation financially supports the following service providers in Cambodia: COSECAM; Acting for Women in Distressing Situations, which provides shelter, health care, and education at its Phnom Penh shelter to approximately 80 Cambodian and Vietnamese victims every year; the Hagar Shelter, which works to equip women with self-sufficiency skills; the Digital Divide Data, which trains and places former victims in computer data entry jobs; Mith Samlanh/Friends, which reaches out to young migrant girls and those fleeing abuse when they arrive at taxi and bus stations in Phnom Penh; and the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association , which developed a migration curriculum for integration into school curricula in rural areas. The Asia Foundation is also working with partners to develop a Khmer-language countertrafficking Web site. The Web site will link NGOs throughout the country and ultimately throughout the region.274

Within the Greater Mekong subregion, the IOM currently undertakes countertrafficking activities in Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam.275 In March 2003, the IOM office in Phnom Penh launched an information campaign to combat trafficking in women and children. The 3-year campaign will be implemented in 18 provinces and municipalities and will improve the capacity of the Ministry of Women’s and Veterans’ Affairs to carry out information campaigns on the issue and collect data for advocacy campaigns and policy development. The campaign will complement the Prevention of All Forms of Trafficking in Women and Children campaign, which began in 2000, in that it will target regions not yet reached by that program.276

UNIAP was established in June 2000 to facilitate a stronger and more coordinated response to trafficking in people in the Greater Mekong subregion. UNIAP brings together 6 governments, 13 United Nations agencies, and 8 international NGOs.277 UNIAP Cambodia recently funded a project run by the Cambodian Defenders Project titled Combating Trafficking in Persons through Legal Representation, Advocacy, Capacity Building and Legal Awareness. The project aimed to promote human rights of trafficking victims.278

In late 2003, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization announced its Trafficking Statistics Project, a database containing reports, articles, and other documents focusing on the trafficking problem in Asia, particularly the Mekong subregion.279

ILO and the International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor (IPEC) have established the Mekong Subregional Project to Combat Trafficking in Children and Women. This project concentrates on specific sending and receiving areas for trafficking in Cambodia, and it focuses on prevention through activities such as capacity building, network

272 Child Wise, “Child Wise Tourism,” ECPAT Australia 68 (February 2003):2, http://www.childwise.net/uploads/newsletter_february_2003.pdf. 273 Wahyoe Boediwardhana, “ASEAN Tourist Bodies, NGOs Move to Curb Child Exploitation,” Jakarta Post, 17 January 2004. 274 “Combating Human Trafficking in Cambodia,” Asia Foundation, San Francisco, July 2004. 275 Lance Bonneau, “IOM’s Role in Regional Efforts to Criminalize Trafficking in Persons and Strengthen National Trafficking Legislation,” paper prepared for the Anti-Trafficking Law in Asia Expert Meeting, Tokyo, 25–27 November 2003. 276 “Cambodia: Counter-Trafficking Information Campaign,” IOM Press Briefing Notes, 4 March 2003. 277 “United Nations Inter-Agency Project on Human Trafficking in the Greater Mekong Sub-region,” November 2004, http://www.humantrafficking.org/countries/eap/cambodia/ngos/intl/uniap.html. 278 Hang Vannak, “Opinion Piece: Trafficking Victims: ‘We Don’t Have Trust in the Police or Court,’” Step by

Step 12 (Third Quarter 2003): 6. 279 “Notice Board: UNESCO Launches Human Trafficking Database,” Step by Step 12 (Third Quarter 2003).



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strengthening, awareness raising, skills training, and income generating for victims.280 The project works with government departments on preventing and eliminating child labor and trafficking; on ensuring occupational safety and health in agriculture, construction, and mining; on providing micro-insurance and microfinancing to informal sector workers; and on addressing the concerns of key groups of vulnerable workers.281

The Mekong Children’s Forum was a joint advocacy effort of the ILO–IPEC Mekong Subregional Project to Combat Trafficking in Children and Women and Save the Children U.K. In October 2004, at a conference in Bangkok, Thailand, the forum presented the Mekong Children’s Recommendations for Action on Human Trafficking to government officials from five Mekong countries—Cambodia, China (Yunnan and Guangxi provinces), Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam. Recommendations included closing karaoke bars linked to the sex trade, clamping down on corruption and bribery, and calling on parents and the public to do more to protect children from trafficking.282 Multilateral Initiatives

In May 2003, it was announced that the Japanese government and the United Nations would provide US$1.2 million for a project in Vietnam and Cambodia addressing the problem of trafficking in women and children. The project, to be carried out by the ILO, aims to build policies to encourage people in seven localities in the two countries to cooperate in the fight against trafficking and to raise awareness of its dangers.283 Also in May 2003, representatives of the Cambodian government attended the East Asian and Pacific ministerial meeting on children in Bali, Indonesia, in which ministers, senior officials, representatives of NGOs, and other representatives from 23 countries participated.284

On May 31, 2003, the governments of Cambodia and Thailand finalized a memorandum of understanding on the elimination of trafficking in women and children and the provision of assistance to victims.285 In June 2004, Cambodia and Thailand held a 2-day workshop aimed at preventing illegal migration and trafficking.286

In June 2003, Australia announced a 3-year, $A 5 million program to curb trafficking in Southeast Asia, specifically in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Thailand. The money will provide legal assistance and assistance with policing and monitoring of trafficking.287 The Asia Regional Cooperation to Prevent People Trafficking Project was launched in December 2003. Funded by the Australian government, the 3-year project is a collaboration between

280 “TICW Project Briefing, Stakeholders and Partners Phase I in Cambodia, Cambodia,” International Labor Organization Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific and International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor, 17 September 2004, http://www.ilo.org/public/english/region/asro/bangkok/child/trafficking/whereweeork-cambodiadetails.htm#004. 281 “Where We Work: Vietnam: Mekong Sub-Regional Project to Combat Trafficking in Children and Women,” International Labor Organization Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, Bangkok, Thailand, 15 March 2005, http://www.ilo.org/public/english/region/asro/bangkok/child/trafficking/wherewework-vietnam.htm. 282 Save the Children U.K. and International Labor Organization, “Mekong Children Offer Governments Comprehensive Action Plan to Fight Human Trafficking,” press release from the Mekong Children’s Forum on Human Trafficking, Bangkok, Thailand, 11–17 October 2004. 283 “UN Pledges $1.2 million to Prevent Human Trafficking in Vietnam and Cambodia,” Vietnam News Brief, 9 May 2003. 284 “Twenty-Three Countries to Attend Meeting on Children in Bali,” Antara, 3 May 2003. 285 Uthaiwan Jamsutee, “Thai Legislation against Human Trafficking,” paper presented at the “Form the Anti-Trafficking Law in Asia” Expert Meeting, Tokyo, 25–27 November 2003. 286 “Cambodia, Thailand Cooperate to Resolve Illegal Labors,” Thai Press Reports, 25 June 2004. 287 “Australia Establishes Anti–Human Smuggling Program in SE Asia,” Agence France Presse, 19 June 2003.



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Australia, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Thailand.288 It was announced in June 2004 that Cambodia was one of eight countries to receive US$50 million from the US government to help fight human trafficking. The others were Brazil, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Moldova, Sierra Leone, and Tanzania.289

Senior officials from Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam met in July 2004 for the first time for a closed-door meeting to discuss a new framework to fight trafficking in the region.290

288 “Australia and Cambodia Commence Anti–Human Trafficking Initiative,” Deutsche Presse-Agentur, 19 December 2003. 289 “Bush Combats Human Trafficking with 50 Million Dollars,” Agence France Presse, 16 July 2004. 290 “Six Asian Nations Progress Towards Human Trafficking Pact,” Agence France Presse, 30 July 2004.



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CHINA Trafficking Routes

China is a country of origin and destination for trafficking in women and children.

Chinese women and children have been trafficked to Australia, Canada, Costa Rica, Hong Kong, Malaysia, North Korea, the Northern Mariana Islands, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. According to a recent United Nations (UN) report, China is one of the top 10 countries of origin for sex trafficking in the world.291 China is a destination country for trafficking victims from Brazil, Mongolia, Myanmar, South Korea, and Vietnam.

Various trafficking routes lead to and from China. For example, mainland Chinese women usually reach Hong Kong by sea.292 Hong Kong is a transit point for trafficking from mainland China to Taiwan. Most illegal Chinese immigrants in Taiwan, including trafficked women, come from the Chinese southeastern province of Fujian, about 200 kilometers from Taiwan, followed by the southwestern province of Sichuan. Illegal immigrants often cross the Taiwan Straits in fishing boats.293 Most North Korean women in China come from the border province of North Hamgyong, which provides relatively easy access to Yanbian Autonomous Korean Prefecture in China.294

Internal trafficking is also a significant problem in China. Women and children from rural southern provinces, such as Guizhou, Sichuan, and Yunnan, account for a significant number of the women who are recruited by trafficking gangs and sent to urban areas within China or abroad.295 Factors That Contribute to the Trafficking Infrastructure

Well-established organized criminal smuggling networks (known as “snakehead” gangs) are heavily involved in large-scale operations that smuggle migrants and traffic victims within and out of China. For example, organized crime plays a significant role in trafficking mainland Chinese women to Hong Kong,296 and trafficking gangs introduce and lure North Korean women into marrying Chinese men.297 Triad-linked Chinese agents recruit Chinese victims for work in Chinese-owned restaurants, clubs, or fishing vessels in South Africa, where they are forced into prostitution.298 The Japanese yakuza’s ties to criminal groups in countries of origin for migrants, including China, are also well documented.299

291 “UN Maps Human Trafficking,” Associated Press, 14 May 2003. 292 “HK on Alert against Women Smuggling,” Straits Times (Singapore), 17 August 2002. 293 “Direct Trade Ban Fails to Deter China and Taiwan’s Underworld—Police,” AFX-Asia, 11 March 2004. 294 Young-ja Kim, “Human Rights Status of North Korean Women in China and Policy Proposals,” paper presented at the Second International Conference on North Korean Human Rights and Refugees, Seoul, December 2000. 295 Audra Bielke, “Illegal Migration in China and Implications for Governance,” In the National Interest 3, no. 26 (30 June 2004). 296 “Vice Prosecutions Increase 50%,” South China Morning Post, 6 December 2000. 297 Young-ja Kim, “Human Rights Status of North Korean Women in China and Policy Proposals,” paper presented at the Second International Conference on North Korean Human Rights and Refugees, Seoul, December 2000. 298 International Organization for Migration, “The Trafficking of Women and Children in the Southern African Region: Presentation of Research Findings,” International Organization for Migration, Pretoria, South Africa, March 2003. 299 “Owed Justice: Thai Women Trafficked into Debt Bondage in Japan,” Human Rights Watch, September 2000.



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Corruption, such as bribes to border guards, may also play a role in the trafficking of women and children in China.

As a result of China’s one-child policy, unwanted female children are prone to abandonment, trafficking, and even infanticide. Girls are also disadvantaged in the areas of education and job opportunities. Such discrimination increases girls’ vulnerability to trafficking.300 Girls are sold to rural families who already have a son but want a daughter to help with the housework; others are sold to be raised as child brides for farmers in remote regions. Because of the selective abortion of girls in China, some researchers estimate there are 111 males for every 100 females in the country, making it difficult for poor farmers to find wives.301 The lack of Chinese women in turn fuels trafficking from Vietnam to China, as does the reported lack of available Vietnamese men for Vietnamese women.302

Adoptions by foreigners were made legal in 1992, and China has become the largest exporter of babies in the world. An estimated 5,000 children were adopted by Americans in 2002 alone. More than 3 million children are estimated to be in orphanages in China. Many have been abandoned because of the one-child policy.303

The collapse of the North Korean economy in the 1990s, coupled with agricultural disasters and social, economic, and political policies, led to severe famine in that country beginning in 1994–95.304 Since then, an estimated 2 million to 3 million people have died of starvation in North Korea. Tens, even hundreds, of thousands of others have fled across the border to China, where they are vulnerable to criminal trafficking networks.305 The border area is a reported hub for trafficking gangs, which abduct or coerce women into prostitution, marriage, or labor exploitation.306 China arrests and expels North Koreans without giving them the opportunity to seek asylum. The Chinese government maintains that no North Koreans are refugees and that, under a 1986 agreement with North Korea, its main obligation is to repatriate migrants. China offers incentives for informing on North Koreans and penalizes those who assist the migrants.307 As a consequence, all migrants are vulnerable to abuse because they are unable to call on the Chinese government for protection. In China, they live in constant fear that they will be deported back home. Those who cross the border repeatedly, stay for a long time, or have contact with South Koreans, missionaries, aid workers, or other non-Chinese nationals may face severe punishments, even death, if they are discovered and returned to North Korea.308


Women and children are trafficked to and from China for the purposes of forced marriage, prostitution, or forced labor. Trafficking for adoption or bride rearing also occurs.

300 Audra Bielke, “Illegal Migration in China and Implications for Governance,” In the National Interest 3, no. 26 (30 June 2004). 301 Elisabeth Rosenthal, “A Longing for Boys Leads to Trafficking of Girls in China,” International Herald

Tribune, 22 July 2003. 302 “Demand from China Fuels Women Trafficking from Vietnam,” Deutsche Presse-Agentur, 22 June 2004. See also “Human Chattel,” Vietnam Investment Review, 21 June 2004. 303 “China Suspends Foreign Adoptions over SARS Fears,” Agence France Presse, 16 May 2003. 304 Human Rights Watch Report, “The Invisible Exodus: North Koreans in the People’s Republic of China,” November 2002, http://www.hrw.org. 305 International Organization for Migration, “Traffickers Make Money through Humanitarian Crises,” Trafficking in Migrants, no. 19 (July 1999). 306 “Famine Refugees in Limbo,” South China Morning Post, 29 October 2002. 307 Human Rights Watch Report, “The Invisible Exodus: North Koreans in the People’s Republic of China,” November 2002, http://www.hrw.org. 308 Human Rights Watch Report, “The Invisible Exodus: North Koreans in the People’s Republic of China,” November 2002, http://www.hrw.org.



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The number of North Korean women crossing the border has greatly increased since 1998. Although no data exist on how many North Korean refugee women are trafficked, some nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) estimate that more than 50 percent of all women who cross the border become victims of trafficking.309 Most of the women are looking for opportunities to make money to send back to their families. Such opportunities consist of selling sexual services, either through prostitution or arranged marriages, at the initiative of the women themselves or through agencies that abduct, shelter, or control the women in some way.310 Some women reportedly go to China with the full expectation of selling themselves to survive. Others are abducted or duped into sexual exploitation.311 Bride trafficking, for instance, is a serious problem along the North Korean–Chinese border. North Korean women who flee to China are reportedly kidnapped at the border and sold unwillingly to Chinese men, particularly ethnic Korean men of the Chosun tribe, who have difficulties finding spouses locally.312 Because the Chinese authorities do not recognize or register such marriages, women live in constant fear that they will be discovered and deported.313

Vietnamese women and girls reportedly are trafficked to China mainly for marriage and prostitution.314 Vietnamese women trafficked to the Guangxi Autonomous Region of China are offered phony promises of jobs or marriage. Such women are trafficked even farther into China, to inland provinces such as Anhui, Guangdong, Hebai, Henan, and Jiangsu.315 Numerous examples exist. A woman arrested in July 2003 allegedly ran a ring that kidnapped children from Vietnam and sold them in China,316 and in December 2003, two women were sentenced to a total of 20 years in prison in Vietnam for trafficking women from Vietnam to China for prostitution.317 In March 2004, a Vietnamese woman was sentenced to 21 years in prison for trafficking four girls, including her own daughter, to China to work in prostitution.318 In April 2004, two women suspected of sending at least 13 Vietnamese women to China between 2002 and 2004 were arrested in Hanoi, Vietnam.319

Reportedly, Myanmar women and girls are commonly sold to Chinese men as mail-order brides and for the purpose of forced marriage. More than 100 Myanmar women are reported to be living in the Chinese province of Anhwei alone, where they are exploited by their Chinese husbands sexually and forced to work on farms and as housemaids.320

309 Young-ja Kim, “Human Rights Status of North Korean Women in China and Policy Proposals,” paper presented at the Second International Conference on North Korean Human Rights and Refugees, Seoul, December 2000. 310 Human Rights Watch Report, “The Invisible Exodus: North Koreans in the People’s Republic of China,” November 2002, http://www.hrw.org. 311 Amnesty International, “Democratic People’s Republic of Korea—Persecuting the Starving: The Plight of North Koreans Fleeing to China,” 15 December 2000. 312 “Refugee Group Urges China to Curb Trafficking of North Korean Women,” Agence France Presse, 30 July 2003. 313 Barbara Demick, “N. Korea’s Brides of Despair,” Los Angeles Times, 18 August 2003. 314 Rosalie S. Matilac and Regina P. Florendo, “Research on Child Trafficking in Southeast Asia,” Asia against Child Trafficking (Asia ACTS), Quezon City, Philippines, February 2002. 315 UNICEF, “China, Vietnam Join Hands to Fight Cross-Border Trafficking of Women,” November 2004, http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/china_2530.html. 316 “AFP Cites Nguoi Lao Dong: Vietnam Arrests Woman for Trafficking Children to China,” Deutsche Presse-

Agentur, July 22, 2003. 317 “Two Women in Vietnam Sentenced to 20 Years for Human Trafficking,” BBC Monitoring International Reports, 17 December 2003. 318 “Vietnamese Woman Sentenced for Trafficking Daughter, 3 Others,” AAP Newsfeed, 29 March 2004. 319 “Police Arrest Two Women for Human Trafficking in Vietnam,” Deutsche Presse-Agentur, 19 April 2004. 320 “Myanmar: Authorities Cracking Down on ‘Human Trafficking’ in Shan State,” Global News Wire—World

News Connection, 18 December 2002.



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A group of 11 trafficked Mongolian women were repatriated from China in June 2004. The women were promised work in a Beijing restaurant, but after traveling there in January 2004, they were forced by a gang of men to work in prostitution.321

Women from mainland China are often lured to Taiwan by promises of well-paying jobs, only to find themselves working as slave laborers or in prostitution. According to one report, each month an average of 800 mainland women are trafficked into Taiwan for prostitution to meet the local demand.322 Of the 1,544 foreign women arrested for soliciting sex in Taiwan from January to August 2003, approximately 40 percent were mainland Chinese migrants brought into Taiwan by trafficking rings.323 After arriving in Taiwan, the victims are sent mostly to Taipei, Taichung, or Taoyuan.324 A survey of mainland Chinese girls in the Hsinchu, Taiwan, shelter showed that most of the girls were not aware of the real purpose of their trip to Taiwan. Of the girls surveyed, 22.4 percent expected to work in prostitution in a pub or bar, but 64.5 percent ended up engaged in this kind of work.325 In one case, three women from mainland China were allegedly drugged in a restaurant by a stranger, abducted, and smuggled in a fishing boat to Taiwan. The women were sold to a brothel in Taipei and forced into prostitution.326

Women from Guizhou province are lured from rural areas with promises of high-paying jobs in Hong Kong, where they are instead forced into prostitution.327 A December 2002 article drawn from an interview with a member of a trafficking gang sheds light on the way Chinese women and girls are trafficked into Hong Kong. Women in prostitution are brought into Hong Kong on permits bought from corrupt officials in remote western provinces. The visas are stamped and official, but the personal information they carry is false. A girl is forced to memorize a new name, birthday, address, horoscope, and area code of her purported hometown in preparation for questions from immigration officials on both sides of the border. A girl who fails the border checks is severely punished because such a failure means a financial loss for the gang as well as potential exposure of corrupt officials. In some situations, the gang simply attempts to bribe the mainland immigration officials. The gang has middlemen working in several provinces. For example, visas issued by officers in Guangxi were popular until they attracted too much attention, so the gang switched to officers in Hubei province. According to the gang representative, the trade was so lucrative that even a small gang could make hundreds of thousands of dollars in a few months. Girls were recruited from all over China, even remote areas such as Harbin, Xinjiang, and Xishuangbanna in Yunnan province.328

Chinese students form the largest contingent of the 32,000 foreign students in Malaysia. Aiming to make Malaysia a regional education hub, the Malaysian government planned to set up regional recruitment offices in Chinese cities and double the intake of foreign students. Experts say traffickers take advantage of such policies by bringing in students from China, paying their tuition fees, and collecting their student identification cards

321 “Mongolian Women Trafficked to China Freed, Return Home,” BBC Monitoring International Reports, 13 June 2004. 322 “Human Trafficking Portrayed as Lucrative Business,” Global News Wire—Asia–Africa Intelligence Wire, 3 September 2003. 323 “Number of Illegal Mainland Chinese Prostitutes in Taiwan Soars,” BBC Monitoring International Reports, 12 October 2003. 324 “Human Trafficking Portrayed as Lucrative Business,” Global News Wire—Asia–Africa Intelligence Wire, 3 September 2003. 325 “Plight of Smuggled Underage Chinese Prostitutes Raised,” Taipei Times, 6 September 2003. 326 “Three Chinese Women Rescued from Taiwan Brothel after Phoning China,” Deutsche Presse-Agentur, 13 January 2003. 327 “Vice Racket Smuggling Women from China to Hong Kong Is Smashed,” Deutsche Presse-Agentur, 22 May 2002. 328 “Inside the Secret Workings of the Cross-Border Sex Trade,” South China Morning Post, 11 December 2002.



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before sending them to work in restaurants, hotels, and brothels.329 Chinese girls also come as tourists to Malaysia. Commonly, Chinese girls have Malaysian boyfriends who abandon them after the girls are detained for overstaying in Malaysia.330 In addition, a popular phenomenon exists in Malaysia known as noon brides. These noon brides are young women, often from rural China, who are kept in luxury condominiums by older, rich Malaysian businessmen for company and sex. Many noon brides are lured to Malaysia on the pretext of working in offices, as nurses, or as interpreters.331

In December 2002, Swiss police smashed an international gang that was trafficking young Chinese women to the United States for prostitution. A 6-month sting operation led to more than 70 arrests in Switzerland, the United States, and the Netherlands.332 In May 2003, an alleged top yakuza gangster was arrested in Bangkok, Thailand, on trafficking charges. He confessed to using Thailand as a base for providing Chinese and Thai women for the sex trade in Canada, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States.333

Most internal trafficking in China occurs for marriage and adoption.334 Young rural women are kidnapped and forced into marriage with rural men or into prostitution in urban areas. Boys are kidnapped and sold to families seeking male heirs.335 Infant girls are frequently kidnapped or bought from poor parents, particularly migrant workers, and sold to childless families in more prosperous regions or sold to be raised as brides for poor farming families. In Yunnan province, approximately 1,000 children and women are trafficked annually, mostly internally.336 Yunnan is economically and socially underdeveloped compared with other regions in southern and eastern China.337

Sex tourists from China travel to Cambodia338 and Myanmar339 to have sex with minors. China is also a sex tourism destination. Hotels openly procure women for guests, especially foreign guests. In 2003, a hotel employee and brothel keeper were sentenced to life imprisonment for procuring women for 200 Japanese businessmen.340

Wealthy Taiwanese have been known to travel to China for kidney transplants. This practice has triggered condemnation from human rights groups, which claim that some of the organs for transplant were taken by Chinese military hospitals from death-row prisoners, sometimes when the prisoners were still alive.341

329 Baradan Kuppusamy, “Malaysia: ‘Noon Brides’ a Booming Business, Activists Complain,” Inter Press

Service, 15 July 2003. 330 “Girls Lured to Work in Malaysia End Up in Sex Industry—Suhakam Report,” Bernama, 1 June 2004. 331 Baradan Kuppusamy, “Malaysia: ‘Noon Brides’ a Booming Business, Activists Complain,” Inter Press

Service, 15 July 2003. 332 “Prostitution Trafficking Gang Is Smashed,” Independent, 20 December 2002. 333 “Japanese Yakuza Gangster Arrested in Thailand,” Agence France Presse, 28 May 2003. See also “Japanese Man Wanted in Japan Nabbed in Bangkok,” Japan Economic Newswire, 28 May 2003. 334 International Labor Organization, “A Project Overview in Yunnan Province of China,” November 2004, http://www.ilo.org/public/english/region/asro/bangkok/child/trafficking/wherewework-china.htm. 335 “42,000 Women and Children Kidnapped in China from 2001–2003,” Agence France Presse, 2 March 2004. See also “Women and Children Victims of Kidnapping Spree in China,” Taiwan News, 3 March 2004. 336 International Labor Organization, “A Project Overview in Yunnan Province of China,” November 2004, http://www.ilo.org/public/english/region/asro/bangkok/child/trafficking/wherewework-china.htm. 337 Wu Jiachun, “Human Trafficking Measures Announced,” China Daily, 7 September 2004. 338 Mark Baker, “Australians Feeding Asia’s Child Sex Trade,” Age (Melbourne), 13 July 2002. See also “Cambodia Becomes People Market and Brothel,” Samleng Yuvachun Khmer (Cambodia), 5 April 2002; End Child Prostitution, Pornography, and Trafficking (ECPAT) International Online Database, 22 March 2004, http://www.ecpat.net; and Daniel Foggo, “British Paedophiles Make Mockery of ‘Crackdown,’” Sunday

Telegraph (London), 15 September 2002. 339 ECPAT International Online Database, 22 March 2004, http://www.ecpat.net. 340 Jonathan Watts, “Chinese Get Life for Arranging Sex Tour,” Guardian, 18 December 2003. 341 “Taiwan Refuses to Reimburse China Transplant Trips,” Deutsche Presse-Agentur, 1 March 2004.



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In Xinjiang province, approximately 20 Uyghr nationalist opposition groups operate, albeit not very actively. It has been reported that children and teenagers have taken part in separatist activities, although it is not clear to what extent they have participated in combat.342 Government Responses

Under the Criminal Code, anyone who abducts or traffics women or children is subject to imprisonment for 5 to 10 years and a fine.343 Punishment is enhanced to imprisonment for 10 years to life, plus a fine, under certain aggravated circumstances.344 The code further states that “abducting and trafficking women or children refers to abducting, kidnapping, buying, selling, transporting, or transshipping women or children.”345

Any person who buys an abducted woman or child is subject to imprisonment for up to 3 years.346 Anyone who buys abducted women and forces them to have sex with him is subject to punishment under the provisions of the Criminal Code on rape.347 In addition, the Law Safeguarding Women’s Rights and Interests of the People’s Republic of China prohibits abducting, selling, or kidnapping women, as well as buying such women.348 The Criminal Code imposes imprisonment for up to 3 years on anyone who uses “force or coercion to obstruct workers of state organs from rescuing bought women or children.”349

The Criminal Code punishes organizing and forcing others into prostitution by imprisonment of 5 to 10 years and a fine. Punishment is enhanced to imprisonment for 10 years to life, plus a fine and confiscation of property, if an organized group commits the crime, if the victim is a girl below 14 years of age, if the crime is committed against more than one victim, if the victims were raped by the offenders, or if the crime was committed repeatedly. Anyone who helps others organize people for prostitution is subject to punishment of imprisonment for up to 5 years and a fine.350 Harboring a prostitute and seducing or introducing others into prostitution are punishable by imprisonment for up to 5 years and a fine. Seducing a girl under 14 years of age into prostitution is punishable by imprisonment for

342 Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, Child Soldiers Global Report 2001 (London: Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, 2001). 343 Article 240. In addition, article 262 of the Criminal Code specifically prohibits abducting minors by stating, “Those abducting minors under 14 years of age from their family or guardians are to be sentenced to 5 years or less in prison or put under criminal detention.” 344 Article 262. The enhanced penalty applies when an offender falls within one of the following cases: primary elements of rings engaging in abducting and trafficking women or children; those abducting and trafficking more than three women or children; those raping abducted women; those seducing, tricking, or forcing abducted women into prostitution; or those selling abducted women to others, who in turn force them into prostitution; those kidnapping women or children, using force, coercion, or narcotics, for the purpose of selling them; those stealing or robbing infants or babies for the purpose of selling them; those causing the serious injury or death of abducted women or children, or their family members, or causing other grave consequences; and those selling abducted women or children outside the country. 345 Article 262. 346 Article 241. 347 Article 241. Article 236 of the Criminal Code (the provisions on rape) states, “Whoever, by violence, coercion, or other means, rapes a woman is to be sentenced to not less than 3 years and not more than 10 years of fixed-term imprisonment. Whoever has sexual relations with a girl under the age of 14 is to be deemed to have committed rape and is to be given a heavier punishment. Whoever rapes a woman or has sexual relations with a girl involving one of the following circumstances is to be sentenced to not less than 10 years of fixed-term imprisonment, life imprisonment, or death: (1) rape a woman or have sexual relations with a girl when the circumstances are odious; (2) rape several women or have sexual relations with several girls; (3) rape a woman in a public place and in the public; (4) rape a woman in turn with another or more persons; (5) cause the victim serious injury, death, or other serious consequences.” 348 Article 36. 349 Article 242. 350 Article 358.



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at least 5 years and a fine.351 In addition, the Law Safeguarding Women’s Rights and Interests of the People’s Republic of China prohibits organizing, coercing, luring, keeping, or introducing women to work as prostitutes, as well as hiring or keeping women to engage in obscene activities with others.352

The Criminal Code penalizes any person who knows that he or she is suffering from a venereal disease and nonetheless engages in prostitution. Punishment is imprisonment for up to 5 years and a fine.353 The code also penalizes any employee of a hotel, the entertainment industry, or a taxi service who arranges for another person to engage in prostitution or lures another person into prostitution.354

Unlawfully detaining another person or depriving another person of his or her personal freedom is an offense punishable by imprisonment for up to 3 years.355

Anyone who uses force to interfere with another person’s freedom of marriage is subject to punishment by imprisonment for up to 2 years.356

Producing obscene materials357 or organizing an obscene performance358 is an offense punishable by imprisonment for up to 3 years and a fine.

Labor law permits employees to revoke their employment contract if an employer forces them to work through means of violence, threat, or deprivation of personal freedom in violation of law.359 The Criminal Code further provides that “persons of employing units who are directly responsible for forcing workers to labor by restricting their physical freedom in violation of labor management laws and regulations” are subject to punishment by imprisonment for up to 3 years, a fine, or both.360

The Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress on the Strict Prohibition against Prostitution and Whoring prohibits “engaging in prostitution, patronizing prostitutes, pimping, pandering, procuring, maintaining a brothel,” and other related activities.361 The decision imposes the death penalty on perpetrators who force a girl under the age of 14 to engage in prostitution, who force more than one person to engage in prostitution, or whose actions result in serious bodily injury or death.362 In addition, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress enacted the 1991 Decision Relating to the Severe Punishment of Criminal Elements Who Abduct and Kidnap Women and Children. That decision criminalizes the purchase and sale of women who are not abducted.363

A sampling of arrests and convictions of traffickers in China in recent years follows. In September 2002, China executed a man convicted of abducting and selling more than 100 women in one of the country’s largest-to-date female-trafficking operations. The trafficker, a farmer from Guangxi, worked with his wife and friends to sell women from the provinces of

351 Article 359. 352 Article 37. 353 Article 360. 354 Article 361. 355 Article 238. 356 Article 257. In addition, article 41 of the Law Safeguarding Women’s Rights and Interests of the People’s Republic of China prohibits interfering with women’s freedom in marriage or divorce. 357 Article 363. 358 Article 365. 359 Article 32. 360 Article 244. 361 Section 4 of the Decision of the Standing Committee of the Seventh National People’s Congress dated 4 September 1991. 362 Section 2. Under the Criminal Code, the sentence in these cases is imprisonment of 5 to 10 years. 363 “Statement to the Committee on the Rights of the Child by Human Rights in China, February 1, 1996, Geneva (and) Proposals for Questions and Recommendations in Relation to China’s Initial Report for the Committee on the Rights of the Child from Human Rights in China,” NGO Group for Convention on the Rights of the Child, Geneva, 1996, http://www.crin.org/docs/resources/treaties/crc.12/China_HRC_NGO_Report.pdf.



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Guangxi, Guizhou, Hunan, and Yunnan and for 1,000 yuan (US$120) to 3,000 yuan (US$360). The women were usually sold to poor farmers who could not find wives.364 Also in September 2002, two pimps in southern Guangdong province were executed for separate cases of kidnapping and selling girls, ages 15 and 16 years, and forcing them into prostitution.365 In September 2002, 10 child traffickers were sentenced to death in Henei for kidnapping and selling 16 children.366

In January 2003, five Chinese men were convicted for trafficking women and children along the border with Vietnam. One man received a life sentence, while the other four were sentenced to between 2 and 15 years in prison.367 In May 2003, a man was sentenced to death and his wife to 10 years in prison for buying and selling baby girls in central China.368 In June 2003, police in central China arrested members of a gang who bought 24 babies from poor families to sell to more prosperous ones. The gang, located in Dengfeng in Henan province, was run by a couple who used their food supplies store as a cover for the operation.369 In July 2003, a Chinese woman who sold at least eight adopted baby girls was sentenced to 12 years in prison by a court in southern Guangdong province.370 Also in July 2003, police in southern China arrested 18 people suspected of kidnapping and selling 42 young women into marriages in rural areas of Fujian, Guangdong, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang provinces. The victims, between 17 and 26 years of age, were from rural areas in Guangdong, Guizhou, Hunan, and Sichuan provinces and from the municipality of Chongqing. Police in Guangdong, which borders Hong Kong, called it the biggest trafficking case in the province.371 In August 2003, Chinese authorities handed over to their counterparts in Vietnam two Vietnamese women accused of trafficking children into China and selling them into prostitution. The pair allegedly promised the children well-paid jobs in Hanoi, Vietnam, but then took them to China by car, where they were sold to Vietnamese and Chinese prostitution networks along the border region.372 In that same month, nine members of a child-trafficking gang were arrested as they attempted to traffic nine children out of the country from Guangzhou city in the southern province of Guangdong. The gang claimed the children were going to a summer camp abroad. The asking price for a child was US$60,000.373 Also in August 2003, 17 members of a baby-trafficking gang received jail sentence ranging from 3 years to life in southwestern China. The gang, all from the Yunnan province, kidnapped and sold 49 baby girls and one boy across the country from mid-2001 to mid-2002.374

In November 2003, police smashed a child trafficking ring in Shenzhen city, rescuing nine children and arresting six suspects. Ten children, most of them 3 to 4 years of age, had been abducted in Shenzhen’s Luohu district and sold to various cities in Guangdong province, where Shenzhen is located, since the beginning of 2003. Most of their parents were transient workers. The children were sold for between 1,000 yuan (US$120) and 10,000 yuan (US$12,000) each to farmers in several cities in Guangdong province.375 In that same month, police cracked a gang involved in the abduction of nearly 200 women and children from

364 “China Executes Trafficker in Women,” Agence France Presse, 26 September 2002. 365 “Two Pimps in South China Executed for Prostitution Racket,” Agence France Presse, 13 September 2002. 366 “China Condemns 10 Child Traffickers to Death; Eight Others Executed, Agence France Presse, 10 September 2002. 367 “China Cracks Human Trafficking Racket,” ABC News Online, 8 January 2003. 368 “China Sentences Man to Death for Trafficking Baby Girls,” Agence France Presse, 5 May 2003. 369 “Chinese Police Nab Gang That Sold 24 Babies to Wealthy Clients,” Agence France Presse, 16 June 2003. 370 “China Jails Woman for 12 Years for Selling Adopted Baby Girls,” Deutsche Presse-Agentur, 21 July 2003. 371 “Police Arrest 18 for Trafficking Women,” Agence France Presse, 12 July 2003. 372 “Chinese Police Hand over Two Vietnamese Child Traffickers,” Agence France Presse, 12 August 2003. 373 “Chinese Police Arrest Nine for Child Trafficking,” Agence France Presse, 20 August 2003. 374 “Baby-Trafficking Gang Jailed in China,” Agence France Presse, 14 August 2003. 375 Cindy Sui, “Police Smash Child Trafficking Ring in South China,” Agence France Presse, 13 November 2003.



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Yunnan province. The 46-member gang sold the victims in six provinces: Anhui, Guangdong, Hebei, Henan, Jiangsu, and Shandong.376 Also in November 2003, two ringleaders were sentenced to life in prison for kidnapping and trafficking 46 young women. The 31 other gang members were convicted of charges including rape and fraud and were sentenced to up to 12 years’ imprisonment by the court in southern China’s Guangxi province. Between October 1999 and June 2002, the gang kidnapped mostly rural women under 21 years of age from the provincial capital, Nanning, after promising them jobs in other regions. The women were sold into marriages in impoverished rural areas in Guangxi and Guangdong provinces.377 In December 2003, three men were sentenced to death after being convicted of kidnapping 32 young women and selling them into marriage. The men offered the girls, ages 14 to 20, promises of jobs and money but instead sold them into marriages in other villages.378 Also in December 2003, an orphanage director from southwest China was convicted of pocketing fees paid by overseas adoptive families and was sentenced to 15 years in jail.379

In January 2004, police in southwest China cracked a child-trafficking gang. Four gang leaders, as well as 47 suspects, were apprehended in the large city of Kunming in Yunnan province. The children—all boys—were sold as far away as the southeastern province of Fujian (1,200 kilometers, 750 miles, from Kunming).380 A total of 85 women and children were rescued from traffickers between April and July 2004 in Yunnan province. 381 In May 2004, a court in central China’s Henan province sentenced to death a woman convicted of buying and selling 13 children. The children were bought in Yulin, a city in southern Guangxi province, and sold in Henan’s Anyang county and in neighboring Hebei province.382 In July 2004, a court in Puyang, Henan province, sentenced to death the leader of a gang that trafficked 120 children between 1998 and 2003 and sentenced 14 gang members to prison terms ranging from 1 year to life.383 Also in July 2004, a court in southern China convicted 52 people for baby trafficking, sentencing the two ringleaders to death; four others received suspended death sentences, and five received life in prison, while 40 others were sentenced to at least 18 months in prison. The gang, which had bought and sold babies since 2001 and operated in four provinces, was caught after authorities acting on a tipoff found the 28 babies stuffed inside bags on a bus in March 2003. Traffickers had fed the babies sleeping pills to keep them from crying. One baby was dead. One ringleader, a local farmer, and other members of the smuggling ring bought the 118 babies from other traffickers, medical workers, and village midwives in Yulin; they sold them in the provinces of Anhui, Guangxi, Henan, and Hubei.384 Also in July, Chinese police arrested 95 people suspected of trafficking babies in northern provinces after buying them from hospitals and clinics.385 In August 2004, on a train to the East Coast, police arrested a gang suspected of trafficking infants to sell to childless couples.386

376 “Chinese Police Crack Women, Children Trafficking Gang,” BBC Worldwide Monitoring, 15 November 2003. 377 “China Announces Verdict for Women Trafficking Gang,” Agence France Presse, 17 November 2003. 378 “Three Sentenced to Death for Human Trafficking in Southwest China,” Agence France Presse, 15 December 2003. 379 “China Jails Orphanage Chief Who Pocketed Cash from Foreign Adoptive Families,” Agence France Presse, 21 December 2003. 380 “Chinese Police Reunite 63 Children with Parents after Cracking Kidnap Gang,” Agence France Presse, 20 January 2004. 381 Wu Jiachun, “Human Trafficking Measures Announced,” China Daily, 7 September 2004. 382 “Woman Sentenced to Death in China for Baby Trafficking,” Agence France Presse, 13 May 2004. 383 “China Sentences 15 People for Trafficking 120 Children,” Deutsche Presse-Agentur, 29 July 2004. 384 “China Convicts 52 People in Baby Trafficking Case,” Agence France Presse, 23 July 2004. 385 “Police Bust Baby-Trafficking Ring in Northern China,” Agence France Presse, 13 July 2004. 386 “Chinese Police Detain Gang Trafficking Infants by Train,” Agence France Presse, 29 August 2004.



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Nongovernmental and International Organization Responses

The All China Women’s Federation (ACWF) and the Human Rights and Equal

Opportunity Commission of Australia jointly organized the April 2002 Sino–Australian Training Workshop on Antitrafficking in Women and Children. The effort aimed at training Chinese police officers and female social workers to help in the fight against trafficking in women and children in China. The workshop took place in Guiyang, Guizhou province. Participants included police officers and staff members from the women’s federation from the southwestern Guizhou and Sichuan provinces.387

The UN Inter-Agency Project on Human Trafficking in the Greater Mekong Subregion (UNIAP) was established in June 2000 to facilitate a stronger and more coordinated response to trafficking in persons in the Greater Mekong subregion. UNIAP brings together 6 governments, 13 UN agencies, and 8 international NGOs.388

In July 2003, the International Labor Organization (ILO) launched a series of new projects as the second stage of a program to combat trafficking in eight counties of Yunnan province. The first stage covered two counties and ran from June 2000 to April 2003.389 ACWF is the implementing partner of the ILO–International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor (IPEC) Mekong Subregional Project to Combat Trafficking in Children and Women. The Yunnan Province Women’s Federation implements the program in Yunnan. ILO and IPEC have begun similar projects in Anhui, Guangdong, Henan, Hunan, and Jiangsu provinces.390

The Mekong Children’s Forum was a joint advocacy effort of the ILO–IPEC Mekong Subregional Project to Combat Trafficking in Children and Women and Save the Children U.K. In October 2004, at a conference in Bangkok, Thailand, the forum presented the Mekong Children’s Recommendations for Action on Human Trafficking to government officials from five Mekong countries—Cambodia, China (Yunnan and Guangxi provinces), Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam. Recommendations included closing karaoke bars linked to the sex trade, clamping down on corruption and bribery, and calling on parents and the public to do more to protect children from trafficking.391

Multilateral Initiatives A new statute that governs cross-strait relations between Taiwan and mainland China

contains a number of provisions aimed at curbing the flow of illegal immigration and trafficking in persons between the two areas. According to October 2003 amendments to the Act Governing Relations between Peoples of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area, forcing any person from the mainland area to enter the Taiwan area illegally is punishable by a fine and imprisonment of 1 to 7 years.392 If the perpetrator intends to make a profit, the penalty is increased to 3 to 10 years of imprisonment,393 and the penalty for the leading conspirator in

387 “China, Australia Share Bid to Curb Trafficking in Women, Children,” Xinhua News Agency, 3 May 2002. 388 “United Nations Inter-Agency Project on Human Trafficking in the Greater Mekong Sub-region,” November 2004, http://www.humantrafficking.org/countries/eap/cambodia/ngos/intl/uniap.html. 389 “ILO, China Join to Combat Trafficking in Children and Women,” Xinhua News Agency, 12 July 2003. 390 International Labor Organization, “A Project Overview in Yunnan Province of China,” November 2004, http://www.ilo.org/public/english/region/asro/bangkok/child/trafficking/wherewework-china.htm. 391 Save the Children U.K. and International Labor Organization, “Mekong Children Offer Governments Comprehensive Action Plan to Fight Human Trafficking,” press release from the Mekong Children’s Forum on Human Trafficking, Bangkok, Thailand, 11–17 October 2004. 392 Article 79, paragraph 1. 393 Article 79, paragraph 2.



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the offense is set at imprisonment of at least 5 years.394 Acting as an intermediary in committing this offense is punishable by up to 2 years’ imprisonment or by up to 3 years’ imprisonment if the perpetrator’s intent was to make a profit.395 Soliciting a person from the Taiwan area to enter into mainland China illegally is punishable by imprisonment of up to 6 months.396 In addition, any vessel, aircraft, or other vehicle used in trafficking schemes may be confiscated,397 and the registration of the vehicle and professional licenses of its crew members may be suspended or annulled.398

Australia spent $A 1.3 million on human rights programs in China during the 2002/03 financial year. The funds, which were allocated to the Australia–China Human Rights Technical Cooperation Program, increased 30 percent from the previous year. The money was spent on training programs to combat trafficking in women and children, as well as on programs targeting rights for women, children, and minorities; legal reform; and justice administration.399

In April 2004, China and Vietnam signed a memorandum of understanding to take practical measures to reduce cross-border crimes, including trafficking in women.400 In June 2004, China and Vietnam launched a joint campaign in partnership with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to eliminate trafficking in women and children. The 1-year program is being implemented by the Women’s Unions of the two countries, with technical assistance and support from UNICEF. The campaign, which was launched on the border linking the Vietnamese town of Mong Cai to Dong Xing in China, will be carried out in Lang Son, Nghe An, Quanh Ninh, and Thanh Hoa provinces in Vietnam and in Guangxi in China.401


394 Article 79, paragraph 3. 395 Article 83. 396 Article 84. 397 Article 79, paragraph 6–7. 398 Article 79, paragraph 5. 399 “Australia to Spend $1.3 Million on China Human Rights,” AAP Newsfeed, 2 September 2002. 400 “China, Vietnam Sign Memorandum on Combating Border Crimes,” BBC Monitoring International Reports, 14 April 2004. 401 “Vietnam, China Launch UN-Backed Anti-trafficking Campaign,” Agence France Presse, 3 June 2004. 402 “Six Asian Nations Progress towards Human Trafficking Pact,” Agence France Presse, 30 July 2004.



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COMOROS Forms of Trafficking

A French diplomat in Comoros was accused of luring young people to engage in pornography in exchange for money and visas to France. A Comoros newspaper reported on a network that sent Comoran girls to join European pornographic networks. The paper also alleged that the French head of a humanitarian organization ran a pornography network involving minors.403 Government Responses

Procurement is prohibited by the Criminal Code of Comoros. A procurer is defined as any man or woman who assists or knowingly protects someone involved in the prostitution of another; who lives with or is in a habitual relationship with a person who engages habitually in prostitution; who hires, trains, or supports a person for the purpose of prostitution; who acts as an intermediary between persons engaging in prostitution; or who impedes any act intended to prevent prostitution. A procurer is punished with a fine and imprisonment of 1 to 3 years.404

The code specifies various aggravated circumstances that would increase the length of imprisonment to 2 to 5 years.405 Those circumstances include a crime committed against a minor or against several individuals; a crime committed with threats, coercion, violence, assault, or the abuse of authority; a crime committed while the perpetrator is carrying a visible or concealed weapon; or a crime committed by the spouse, husband, father, mother, or guardian of the victim or by a person in a position related to combating prostitution. The code also considers as an aggravated circumstance international trafficking in which the victims of the crime are forced into or incited to engage in prostitution while outside the national territory or after their arrival in the national territory.

The code prohibits keeping or operating an establishment of prostitution, as well as tolerating prostitution activities in a hotel, lodging house, boarding house, drinking establishment, or performance hall or their annexes or on any premises open to the public.406 The penalty in such cases is a fine and imprisonment of 2 to 5 years. The penalty may be doubled if an offense is repeated within a period of 10 years.

Following Qur’anic law, the code prohibits fornication, or zina, and requires for proof of the crime that four witnesses attest to having seen the act of penetration.407 The code, however, deviates from the Qur’anic punishment of 100 lashes and imposes instead for a fine and imprisonment of 1 month to 1 year.

The code provides that a juvenile court may impose protective measures against anyone under the age of 21 who engages, even occasionally, in prostitution.408

403 “Pornography Case Makes Headlines in Comoros Press,” Panafrican News Agency Daily Newswire, 19 June 2002. 404 Article 322. 405 Article 323. 406 Article 324. 407 Article 331. 408 Article 327.



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FIJI

Trafficking Routes

Sex tourists, particularly those from Australia, reportedly travel to the South Pacific,

including Fiji, to engage in the commercial sexual exploitation of children.

Factors That Contribute to the Trafficking Infrastructure Pacific Island children may be particularly vulnerable targets for child sex tourists. As the South Pacific emerges as a huge tourist destination, and as police crack down on sex tourists, both in their home countries (such as Australia) and in the more popular destination countries in Asia, there is growing concern that child sex tourism and associated activities are on the increase in the region.409

A prominent women’s activist blamed not only poverty, low education, lack of employment opportunities, and abuse for forcing women and children into prostitution, but also Fiji’s lax laws concerning pedophilia and extradition. Both foreign and local pedophiles take advantage of these less stringent laws.410


In an October 2000 report, the United Nations (UN) noted Fiji’s growth as a “popular

destination for sex tourists,” especially those from Australia. The report noted that poor children were especially at risk, and that sex tourists often coaxed island taxi drivers into facilitating the prostitution of children.411 New Zealanders are known to travel to Asian and Pacific countries, such as Fiji, for sex tourism. New Zealand men have been charged with child sexual abuse in countries such as Fiji and India 412

The report also warned that the sale of children in Fiji could become a problem if loopholes in the adoption law were not amended. Although baby and child trafficking from Fiji appeared to be rare, the potential existed for such trafficking to increase. There have been a number of cases of older children being taken from their parents to live in Australia and New Zealand. In Australia, there have been several prosecutions of men for sexually abusing Fijian boys whom they adopted. In some cases, the boys have stayed with the men after they came of age and even inherited their property; this might explain a reluctance by the victims to make official complaints about the abuse.413

As recently as late December 2003, Fiji police expressed concern over the increasing number of girls who were “choosing prostitution as a career.” Girls ranging in age from 13 to their mid-20s can be seen working on the streets.414

409 End Child Prostitution, Pornography, and Trafficking (ECPAT) International Online Database, July 2004, http://www.ecpat.net. 410 “The Changing Face of Prostitution in Fiji,” PacNews, 9 February 2004. 411 “UN Report Highlights Child Sex Abuse in Fiji,” Radio Australia/BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, 18 October 2000. 412 New Zealand Ministry of Justice, “Protecting Our Innocence: New Zealand’s National Plan of Action against the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children,” New Zealand Ministry of Justice, Wellington, February 2002, http://www.justice.govt.nz/pubs/reports/2002/protect-innocence/. 413 “UN Report Warns Fiji of Baby and Children Trafficking,” PacNews, 18 October 2000. 414 “Fiji Police Concerned about Increase in Young Girls Opting for Prostitution,” BBC Monitoring International

Reports, 22 December 2003.



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There were claims that body parts traffickers were operating in the western part of the country. Investigators found nothing to substantiate those claims, which were made by at least five teenagers, and police attributed the claims to “mass hysteria.”415 Government Responses

The Penal Code prohibits procurement as an “offense against morality.”416 Procuring a woman so that she will become a common prostitute or will frequent or become an inmate of a brothel is a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for 2 years, with or without corporal punishment.417 The same punishment applies to cases of procurement involving threats or intimidation, false pretenses or false representations, or forced drug use.418 These offenses are penalized whether they occur in Fiji or elsewhere.419

The code also prohibits detaining any woman or girl against her will in a brothel,420 living on the earnings of prostitution,421 loitering or soliciting for the purposes of prostitution,422 or keeping or managing a brothel.423 Procuring minors to have unlawful carnal connection,424 owning or occupying a premise where a girl is unlawfully carnally known by a man,425 and selling426 and buying minors427 for immoral purposes are all prohibited.

The Penal Code provides that no person will be convicted of any offense related to prostitution activities on the evidence of only one witness, unless that witness’s testimony can be corroborated by material evidence implicating the accused.428

The constitution provides for “freedom from servitude and forced labor,”429 stating that a person must not be held in slavery or servitude and must not be forced to work.430 In

415 “Fiji Police Blame “Mass Hysteria” for Reports of Body Parts Trafficking,” BBC Worldwide Monitoring, 8 November 2003. 416 Article 157. Under chapter XVII of the code, offenses against morality include rape, abduction, indecent assaults on a female, defilement of girls, procurement, detention with intent of prostitution, or detention in a brothel. They also include selling or buying minors for immoral purposes, living on earnings of prostitution, loitering or soliciting for the purposes of prostitution, maintaining a brothel, performing or submitting to an abortion, practicing indecent behavior by males, and practicing incest by males or females. 417 Article 157(1). 418 Article 158. 419 Articles 157–158. 420 Article 161(1)(b). The prohibition extends to cases of constructive detention. According to article 161(2), “When a woman or girl is in or upon any premises for the purpose of having unlawful carnal connection, or is in a brothel, a person shall be deemed to detain such person or girl, in or upon such premises or in such brothel if, with intent to compel or induce her to remain in or upon such premises or in such brothel, such person withholds from such woman or girl any wearing apparel or other property belonging to her, or where wearing apparel has been lent or otherwise supplied to such woman or girl by the directions of such person, such person threatens such woman or girl with legal proceedings if she takes away with her the wearing apparel so lent or supplied. No legal proceedings, whether civil or criminal, shall be taken against such woman or girl for taking away or being found in possession of any such wearing apparel as was necessary to leave such premises of brothel.” 421 Articles 166 and 167. 422 Article 168. Under article 168(5), a public place includes “the doorways and entrances of premises abutting on any public way and any ground adjoining and open to any public place.” 423 Article 170. 424 Article 157. 425 Articles 159–160. 426 Article 162. 427 Article 163. 428 Articles 157(1) and 158. 429 Article 24 of the constitution of Fiji, as amended on 25 July 1997. 430 Article 24(1). According to article 24(2), forced labor does not include labor required because of the sentence or order of a court, labor reasonably required of a person serving a term of imprisonment, labor required of a member of military service, or labor required as part of reasonable and normal communal or civic obligations.



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addition, the Penal Code states that anyone who forces another person to work against her or his will is guilty of a misdemeanor.431

The abduction of a woman with the intent to marry her or carnally know her, or to cause her to be married or carnally known by another person, is punishable by imprisonment for 7 years, with or without corporal punishment.432 The abduction of a girl under the age of 18 with the intent of having unlawful carnal knowledge of her is a misdemeanor.433

The Penal Code forbids the production and possession of obscene materials and the public exhibition of indecent shows or performances. Punishment is imprisonment for 2 years or a fine.434

Kidnapping a person “beyond the limits of Fiji” without consent of that person is punishable by imprisonment for 7 years.435 Abducting a girl younger than 16 is a misdemeanor.436 Kidnapping or abducting a person in order to subject him or her to grievous harm, to slavery, or to the unnatural lust of another person is punishable by imprisonment for 10 years.437 Wrongfully concealing or confining a kidnapped or abducted person is subject to the same punishment as kidnapping or abducting such a person with the same intention or knowledge.438

Anyone who unlawfully confines another person is subject to punishment by imprisonment for 1 year or a fine.439

The Penal Code criminalizes official corruption. Punishment is imprisonment for 7 years.440 Also, the code outlaws the forgery of documents,441 seals, and dies.442

In 1995, the Child Abuse and Personal Crime Unit was established to deal with the alarming number of reports of child abuse.443

The government of Fiji is currently considering amending the Immigration Act. The amended act would contain specific provisions dealing with transnational crimes such as trafficking and people smuggling. The Fiji Human Rights Commission will make submissions that will bring the act in line with the Trafficking Protocol 2000. The commission has an officer serving as the focal point for trafficking whose responsibilities include updating the commission on news and incidences of trafficking.444

A 2000 UN report observed that Fiji fell short of requirements demanded by the Convention on the Rights of the Child: 445 The report states,

These included the lack of a systematic data-collection mechanism, inadequacies pertaining to the birth registration system, the continuing use of corporal punishment by parents and teachers, insufficient awareness and lack

431 Article 257. 432 Article 152. 433 Article 153. 434 Article 188. 435 Article 248. 436 Article 255. 437 Article 252. 438 Article 253. 439 Article 256. 440 Article 106. 441 Article 335. 442 Article 342. 443 Viliame Tikotani, “Child Labour: The Rising Social Issue of Concern,” 24 July 2003, http://www.fiji.gov.fj/publish/printer_1363.shtml. 444 Fiji Human Rights Commission, “Activities on Death Penalty and Trafficking Report,” paper presented at the Eighth Annual Meeting of the Advisory Council of Jurists, Katmandu, Nepal, 16–18 February 2004. 445 “UN Report Highlights Child Sex Abuse in Fiji,” Radio Australia/BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, 18 October 2000.



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of information about ill-treatment and abuse, including sexual abuse, both within and outside of the family, as well as insufficient legal protection measures, appropriate resources and adequately trained personnel to prevent and combat such abuse. Other areas of concern for the Committee included the high drop out rate from school, insufficient measures to address drugs and alcohol abuse, and the inadequate rehabilitation measures for ill-treated, sexually abused, and economically exploited children, as well as their limited access to the justice system.446 In 2003, a committee was formed by representatives from the International Labor

Organization, the government, employers’ and workers’ organizations, the Fiji police force, and the Social Welfare Department to promote child labor issues at the national level. At their first joint meeting, the representatives agreed that legislation needed to be reviewed, laws needed to be tightened, and an extensive survey needed to be conducted. Furthermore, the government’s National Strategic Plan (2003–05) stressed the government’s commitment to policies that contribute to the eradication of child labor.447 Nongovernmental and International Organization Responses

Child Wise of End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography, and Trafficking of Children (ECPAT) Australia conducted a Skills Training in Child Counseling course in Fiji in September 2003. The 2-week training session was run by the Fiji National Council of Women and trained volunteers and nongovernmental organization (NGO) workers in counseling child victims of abuse.448

Members of Fiji’s largest women’s organization, the Catholic Women’s League, will be hosed their largest regional meeting in 2004. The conference theme, “Celebrating the Prophetic Mission of Women,” focused on the elimination of violence against women and children and on the eradication of trafficking.449

Homes of Hope, a Christian organization run by an American couple, operates a residential home in Suva for young single mothers and children. Most of these single mothers are age 15 to 17. Homes of Hope provides young women with employment opportunities at the organization-run bakery or preschool and offers training in basic business skills.450 Multilateral Initiatives

Under the Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Act of 1997, Fiji signed agreements

to facilitate mutual assistance in criminal matters with Australia and New Zealand. In accordance with these agreements, a resident of Australia or New Zealand who is charged with a serious offense in Fiji may be prosecuted in his or her country of residence. The act also facilitates investigating crimes, taking evidence, and performing other administrative

446 “UN Report Highlights Child Sex Abuse in Fiji,” Radio Australia/BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, 18 October 2000. 447 Viliame Tikotani, “Child Labour: The Rising Social Issue of Concern,” 24 July 2003, http://www.fiji.gov.fj/publish/printer_1363.shtml. 448 “Child Wise to Conduct Child Protection Training in Fiji,” Child Wise ECPAT in Australia 70 (September 2003): 2. 449 “Fiji to Host Asia/Pacific Catholic Women’s Meeting,” PacNews, 23 February 2004. 450 “Homes of Hope: Helping Fiji’s Destitute Women and Children,” PacNews, 3 February 2004.



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measures necessary to deal with serious offenses such as prostitution and trafficking in persons.451

In May 2003, representatives of the Fijian government attended the East Asian and Pacific ministerial meeting on children in Bali, Indonesia. Ministers, senior officials, representatives of NGOs, and other representatives from 23 countries participated. The participants of the conference unanimously adopted the Bali Consensus, which underlines the need for governments in the region to fulfill children’s rights and protect them.452

The Pacific Regional Workshop on Combating Poverty and Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children was held in Fiji in September 2003. The workshop, which was organized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization for Asia and the Pacific and ECPAT International, considered ways to protect Pacific Island children and implement the Convention on the Rights of the Child.453

451 United Nations, “Poverty and Socioeconomic Imbalances Must Be Addressed in Fight against Illicit Drugs, Third Committee Told,” Press Release GA/SHC/3471, 13 October 1998, http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/1998/19981013.gash3471.html. 452 “Twenty-Three Countries to Attend Meeting on Children in Bali, Antara, 3 May 2003. See also UNICEF, “East Asian and Pacific Nations Act for Children,” News Note, 7 May 2003, http://www.unicef.org/media/media_7135.html. 453 “Pacific Regional Workshop to Study Children’s Rights,” ABC Radio Australia News, 12 September 2003.



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HONG KONG Trafficking Routes

Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is a region of destination, transit, and

origin for trafficking in persons. Women are trafficked from mainland China, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam, as well as from Central Asia and Russia. Mainland Chinese women trafficked to Hong Kong often come from the southwestern Guizhou region or neighboring Shenzhen, but recruitment has been spreading to more Chinese provinces.454 Mainland Chinese women usually reach Hong Kong by sea, as that route is less arduous than the trek over the hilly terrain.455

Hong Kong is a transit point for trafficking from Asian countries to Australia, from mainland China to Taiwan, and from Thailand to South Africa. Women from Hong Kong may also be trafficked to Australia.

Factors That Contribute to the Trafficking Infrastructure

Organized crime plays a significant role in trafficking mainland Chinese women to

Hong Kong.456 Furthermore, because Taiwan bans direct air and sea links with mainland China, passengers usually are transported between the two through Hong Kong or Macau.457 Forms of Trafficking

Women from China’s southwestern region are trafficked to Hong Kong for

commercial sexual exploitation. Women from Guizhou are lured from rural areas with promises of high-paying jobs in Hong Kong, where they are instead forced into prostitution.458 One 19-year-old victim from Guizhou province claimed she was forced to entertain more than 400 customers over a 26-day period and as many as 28 in a single day. Another woman claimed that she had been forced to service 130 clients in a 1-month period. Both women claimed that they were also forced to make pornographic films.459

Thai and Filipino women are brought into Hong Kong on the pretense of being given jobs as entertainers; instead, they often find themselves locked in apartments during the day and forced to work as hostesses in bars at night, providing sex to customers.460

A December 2002 article drawn from an interview with a member of a trafficking gang shed light on the way women and girls are trafficked into Hong Kong. Women in prostitution are brought into Hong Kong on permits bought from corrupt officials in remote western provinces. The visas are stamped and official, but the personal information they carry is false. Girls are forced to memorize their new name, birthday, address, and horoscope, plus the area code for their new “hometown,” in preparation for questions from immigration officials on both sides of the boarder. Those who fail the border checks are punished severely, because such a failure means a financial loss for the gang as well as potential exposure of corrupt officials. 461

454 “Chinese Sex Trade Gangs Slammed,” Agence France Presse, 13 July 2002. 455 “HK on Alert against Women Smuggling,” Straits Times (Singapore), 17 August 2002. 456 “Vice Prosecutions Increase 50%,” South China Morning Post, 6 December 2000. 457 “Taiwan to Interview Mainland Brides to Stop Fake Marriages,” Deutsche Presse-Agentur, 29 August 2003. 458 “Vice Racket Smuggling Women from China to Hong Kong Is Smashed,” Deutsche Presse-Agentur, 22 May 2002. 459 “Chinese Sex Trade Gangs Slammed,” Agence France Presse, 13 July 2002. 460 Glenn Schloss, “Sex-Trade Women Kept Like Slaves,” South China Morning Post, 12 January 2001. 461 “Inside the Secret Workings of the Cross-Border Sex Trade,” South China Morning Post, 11 December 2002.



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The gang member described the “meticulous planning” required to get a girl into Hong Kong. In some situations, the gangs would simply attempt to bribe the mainland immigration officials; the Hong Kong officials were described as “impregnable.” The gang had middlemen working in several provinces. For example, visas issued by officers in Guangxi were popular until they attracted too much attention, so the gang switched to the Hubei province. According to the gang representative, the trade was so lucrative that even a small gang could make hundreds of thousands of dollars in a few months. Girls were recruited from all over China, even remote areas such as Harbin, Xinjiang, and Xishuangbanna, in Yunnan province.462 Government Responses

The Crimes Ordinance prohibits “trafficking in persons to or from Hong Kong.”463 Any person who takes part in bringing another person into or taking another person out of Hong Kong for the purpose of prostitution is subject to imprisonment for 10 years. Under the ordinance, the victim’s consent to being brought in or taken out of Hong Kong cannot be used as a defense, “whether or not she or he knew it was for the purpose of prostitution or … received any advantage thereof.”464

The Protection of Children and Juveniles Ordinance penalizes abduction of a child or juvenile by imprisonment for 2 years.465

The Crime Ordinance penalizes persons who abduct an unmarried girl younger than 16 with by imprisonment for 10 years.466 In addition, a person who abducts an unmarried girl below the age of 18 for unlawful sexual intercourse is subject to imprisonment for 7 years.467 Procuring a person by threats or intimidation to perform an unlawful sexual act is punished by imprisonment for 14 years. Also, any person who procures another person to do an unlawful sexual act by false pretenses or false representation is subject to imprisonment for 5 years.468 A person who administers drugs to obtain or facilitate an unlawful sexual act is punished by imprisonment for 14 years.469 The Crimes Ordinance also prohibits exercising control over another person for the purpose of unlawful sexual intercourse or prostitution, causing the prostitution of another person, or procuring another person for purposes of prostitution, whether in Hong Kong or elsewhere. Procuring girls below the age of 21 to have sexual intercourse in Hong Kong or elsewhere is punished by imprisonment for up to 5 years.470 Detaining a person against her or his will for an unlawful sexual act is punishable by imprisonment for 14 years. A person is deemed to detain another person if he or she withholds the victim’s clothes or other property or threatens by legal proceedings in cases where the clothes were provided by the perpetrator.471

Under the Crimes Ordinance, it is illegal for a parent, a legal guardian, or a person with actual control over a girl or boy below the age of 16 to cause or encourage the prostitution of or unlawful sexual act of that child. The punishment is imprisonment for 10

462 “Inside the Secret Workings of the Cross-Border Sex Trade,” South China Morning Post, 11 December 2002. 463 Chapter 200, section 129. 464 Chapter 200, sections 129(1) and (2). 465 Chapter 213, section 26. 466 Chapter 200, section 126 (1). 467 Chapter 200, section 127. 468 Chapter 200, sections 119 and 120. 469 Chapter 200, section 121. 470 Chapter 200, sections 130–132. 471 Chapter 200, section 134(1) and (2).



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years.472 Anyone who knowingly lives wholly or in part on the earnings from prostitution of another person is punished by imprisonment for 10 years.473 The Prevention of Child Pornography Ordinance outlaws the production of child pornography. The punishment is a fine and imprisonment for 3 to 8 years. In addition, the law penalizes possession of child pornography by imprisonment from 2 to 5 years.474

Under the Crimes Ordinance, a person who uses, procures, or offers another person below the age of 18 for making pornography or for a live pornographic performance is punished by imprisonment for 5 to 10 years. The consent of the victim is a defense for a charge of using or procuring a person between 16 and 18 years of age for making pornography or for a live pornographic performance.475 An owner, occupier, or manager of any premises or vessel who induces or permits any child below the age of 13 to be present for the purpose of doing an unlawful sexual act or prostitution is subject under the Crimes Ordinance to life imprisonment.476 The Crimes Ordinance applies some of the sexual offense provisions stated above extraterritorially.477

The Protection of Children and Juveniles Ordinance authorizes the director of Social Welfare to act when he has a reason to believe that any child or juvenile “has been brought into or is about to be taken out of Hong Kong by force, threats, intimidation, false pretenses, false representation, or other fraudulent means or is in the custody or control or under the direction of another person and is or is likely to be exposed to any danger of seduction or prostitution or is likely to be exposed to any moral or physical danger.”478 The Crimes Ordinance does not allow the admission of evidence of only one witness unless the witness’s testimony is corroborated by material evidence implicating the accused.479 Under the Evidence Ordinance, unsworn evidence given by a child can be used to corroborate evidence given by another person.480 However, the Evidence Ordinance this corroboration rule does not apply to evidence given by a child with respect to sexual offenses.481

The minimum age of employment is 18 years. 482 The Prevention of Bribery Ordinance criminalizes bribery of a public servant with the

intent of receiving assistance regarding contracts, with the intent of procuring the withdrawal of tenders, in relation to auctions, in relation to corrupt transactions with agents, or by persons having dealings with public bodies. The ordinance also requires a public servant to account for the possession of unexplained property.483

472 Chapter 200, section 135. 473 Chapter 200, section 137. 474 Chapter 579, section 3, articles 1 and 2. 475 Chapter 200, section 138 A, articles 1 and 2. 476 Chapter 200, section 140. 477 Chapter 200, section 2. Provisions that have extraterritorial effect are the ones banning the following offenses: procuring by threats or false pretenses, administering drugs to obtain or facilitate unlawful sexual act, abducting unmarried girl under 16, exercising control over a person for purpose of unlawful sexual intercourse or prostitution, procuring a girl under 21 years of age, detaining a person for intercourse, causing or encouraging prostitution of or intercourse with a girl or a boy under the age of 16, permitting a girl or a boy under the age of 13 to be on premises or vessel for intercourse. 478 Chapter 213, section 35. 479 Chapter 200, section 12. 480 Chapter 8, section 4. 481 Chapter 8, sections 4A and 4B. 482 Miscellaneous Licences Regulations, chapter 114A, regulation 113. 483 Sections 4–10. Section 10 states, “Any person who, being or having been a government servant (a) maintains a standard of living above that which is commensurate with his present or past official involvements or (b) is in control of pecuniary resources or property disproportionate to his present or past official involvement, shall unless he gives a satisfactory explanation to the Court as to how he was able to maintain such a standard of living or how such pecuniary resources or property came under his control, be guilty of an offense.”



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The Hong Kong Bill of Rights Ordinance of 1991 prohibits all forms of slavery and the slave trade.484

The Hong Kong immigration department purchased a state-of-the-art machine in early 2000 from the Dutch National Criminal Intelligence Service. The machine compares documents against high-quality color images of genuine travel documents from more than 198 countries.485

In April 2002, the Hong Kong police started using motion-detector video systems along Hong Kong’s 35-kilometer border with Shenzhen to curb illegal immigration.486 Multilateral Initiatives

As a special administrative region of China, Hong Kong does not have international legal obligations in its own right. The majority of international treaties have been extended from the period when Hong Kong was a British colony to the change of sovereignty to China.

484 Article 4(i). 485 “Inside the Secret Workings of the Cross-Border Sex Trade,” South China Morning Post, 11 December 2002. 486 “HK on Alert against Women Smuggling,” Straits Times (Singapore), 17 August 2002.



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INDIA

Trafficking Routes India is a major country of origin, transit, and destination for trafficking in persons.

According to a 2003 United Nations report, India is one of the top nine destination countries for sex trafficking in the world.487 Because of India’s geographical proximity to South Asia and relatively open borders, major trafficking routes have been established between Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka and different parts of India.488

Indian women and children are trafficked to the Gulf States, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, and the United States. Bhutan may also be a destination country for people trafficked from India for use as forced labor.

It is estimated that thousands of people are trafficked into India each year from Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan. The primary destination country for Nepalese women and children is India.489

India is a transit country for traffickers traveling from Bangladesh or Nepal into Pakistan. According to one estimate, 100,000 Nepali girls and 50,000 Bangladeshi girls are trafficked to or through India every year. The girls end up in brothels in India or Pakistan or in Middle Eastern or South Asian countries.490

Trafficking is also a problem within India. Many women and children are taken from smaller rural regions to major urban centers. Factors That Contribute to the Trafficking Infrastructure

Throughout South Asia, poverty, as well as the breakdown of traditional livelihoods, the lack of education and skills for women and children, natural disasters, the breakdown of families from war situations, the low social status of women, and gender-discriminating practices, contributes to the trafficking phenomenon.491 Weak legislation and poor enforcement of trafficking laws are also cited as factors contributing to trafficking in the area,492 and the corruption of local police officials has been cited as another factor influencing trafficking in India.493 Furthermore, there is a common superstition in the region that a sexual encounter with a virgin girl can rid a man of sexually transmitted disease; this belief fuels the demand for young girls.494

Many of the conditions contributing to the high incidence of trafficking in India are rooted in the Indian perception of women and the overall gender inequality that exists in the nation. Many females in India are also subject to domestic and physical violence.495 As a result of the caste system, which systematically divides society into different socioeconomic

487 “UN Maps Human Trafficking,” Associated Press, 14 May 2003. 488 “SAARC: CS Groups Demand Implementation of SAARC Convention on Human Trafficking,” Pakistan

Newswire, 2 January 2004. 489 Bal Kumar KC, Govind Subedi Yogendra Bahadur Gurung, and Keshab Prasad Adhikari, Nepal: Trafficking

in Girls with Special Reference to Prostitution: A Rapid Assessment (Geneva: International Labor Organization, International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor, November 2001). 490 “When Victims Become Accused,” Times of India, 13 October 2003. 491 “SAARC: CS Groups Demand Implementation of SAARC Convention on Human Trafficking,” Pakistan

Newswire, 2 January 2004. 492 UNICEF, “UNICEF Welcomes Signing of Two Conventions on Children by South Asian leaders,” press release, 5 January 2002. 493 “Child Kidnapper Gang and Police Nexus,” INSAAF International, 25 February 2002. 494 Debra Armentrout, “Child Trafficking Continues to Threaten Young Women in India,” Digital Freedom

Network, 15 November 2002 495 “The Ugly Face of Child Abuse,” Statesman (India), 25 November 2001.



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groups, women and female children do not enjoy the same social position as men and, in many cases, are severely disadvantaged in Indian society.496

Nepalese women and girls were trafficked to India even during British rule, but the volume of trafficking shot up in the 1960s. One explanation offered for this increase is the oil boom in the Middle East. Rich Arabs began to travel to Bombay (now Mumbai) to spend money on the kind of entertainment not available to them in their own countries. They preferred the fair complexions of Nepalese girls to the darker women from southern India, increasing the demand for Nepalese girls.497

With an average per capita income of US$225, Bangladesh is one of the largest migrant-exporting countries in Asia. Migration takes place to the West, to the Middle East, and to Southeast Asia, but most illegal migration flows to India. India shares a 4,222-kilometers border with 28 Bangladeshi districts. Bangladeshi traffickers have built up bases in the border districts of India in West Bengal and Assam, to the north and west.498


Indian women and children are trafficked abroad for forced labor and forced prostitution. Boys as young as 4 and 5 years of age from India are trafficked to the United Arab Emirates to work as camel jockeys and beggars.499 Even though the Gulf States regulated the use of camel jockeys by imposing age and weight restrictions in 2002, an Australian documentary shot in February 2003 showed that children were still being used as camel jockeys.500 Sexual and physical abuse of these boys is common, and often the boys are not fed adequately in order to keep their weight down.501 In addition, young people from India are reportedly trafficked and sold into bonded and forced labor in Bhutan.502 It was reported recently that a total of 22 tribal families from India’s Gumla district in Jharkhand were trafficked 6 years ago to Phuentsholing in Bhutan and forced to work breaking rocks for the roads.503 Some of the families were recently rescued with the help of the Indian Army.504

Women and children are also trafficked to India for prostitution and forced labor.

According to one report, every day 50 Bangladeshi girls are lured across the Indian border

and sold. Bangladeshi girls who are trafficked to India by organized networks usually end up

in brothels in Kolkata or Mumbai.505

According to another report, 400,000 Bangladeshi

women are engaged in forced prostitution in India, and 300,000 Bangladeshi boys have been

trafficked to India.506

An estimated 200,000 Nepalese women and girls work in Indian

brothels, in cities such as Mumbai, Pune, New Delhi, and Kolkata.507

According to one

estimate, 20 percent (40,000) of trafficked Nepalese women working in the Indian sex trade

496 End Child Prostitution, Pornography, and Trafficking (ECPAT) International Online Database, 28 January 2003, http://www.ecpat.net. 497 Rema Nagarajan, “No Red Lights on This Road to Hell,” Hindustan Times, 27 January 2002. 498 Anindita Dasgupta, “Dreams—and Hunger—Drive Trafficking into India,” Inter Press Service, 9 December 2003. 499 Lovell, Jeremy, “One Million Children Trafficked Each Year,” Reuters, 29 July 2003. 500 “Saudi Arabia: Child Trafficking for Labor, Prostitution,” ANSA English Media Service, 18 February 2004. 501 “LHRLA Expresses Concern over Child Trafficking,” Pakistan Newswire, 10 May 2003. 502 “Escape to Freedom, via Phuentsholing,” Statesman (India), 8 March 2003. 503 “Promised Jobs in Assam Gardens, Gumla Tribals Land in Bhutan,” Global News Wire—Asia–Africa

Intelligence Wire, 8 March 2003. 504 “Escape to Freedom, via Phuentsholing,” Statesman (India), 8 March 2003. 505 Anindita Dasgupta, “Dreams—and Hunger—Drive Trafficking into India,” Inter Press Service, 9 December 2003. 506 “Battle against the Plague of Women and Child Trafficking,” Independent Bangladesh, 5 July 2002. 507 Sanjaya Dhakal, “Nepal’s Victims of Trafficking Shy away from Justice,” Oneworld.net, 8 January 2004.



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are younger than 16 years of age.508

In addition, thousands of Nepalese children are

trafficked to India each year to work in carpet factories in Bhadoi (Mirjapur), in the circus,

and in the domestic service industry. Boys also work on potato farms and road construction

projects, or they are forced to beg.509

Within India, women and children are trafficked for forced labor, forced prostitution,

and forced marriage. Illegal trafficking in human organs also takes place, as does illicit

adoption of infants and children. A March 2004 report, which was based on surveys of

villages in the districts of Araria, Katihar, Kishanganj, and Pumia, points out that a large

number of girls have vanished from the villages under the pretext of marriage, love affairs, or

job promises. The report suggests that a large number actually end up in the sex trade

throughout India.510

A researcher with the National Human Rights Commission conducting

research on child trafficking in India stated in January 2004 that on average 30,133 children

disappear every year. Twenty-seven percent of the missing children are never found. 511

Girls are trafficked within the country for forced marriage. Girls from West Bengal (particularly Murshidabad and Chaubis Pargana) have been sold in Haryana for marriage. One 16-year-old girl was tricked into boarding a train and was taken from Murshidabad to Delhi, where an agent sold her to a 40-year-old man for marriage. When the girl refused to marry the man, he and his family beat her. After the girl was confined in the man’s house for 4 days, police, who had been tipped off by neighbors, rescued her.512

Child sex tourism has only been recognized relatively recently in India. Until the arrest of a 76-year-old man of unknown origin in April 1991, there was very little awareness of organized sexual abuse and exploitation of children in the country.513 India is estimated to have between 300,000 and 500,000 child victims of commercial sexual exploitation. It is believed that foreign sex tourists may be switching to India because of its lax laws, its cheap and abundant supply of young girls working in the commercial sex industry, and a perceived lower prevalence of HIV/AIDS. In spite of the abundance of vulnerable children, there is no real consensus on the prevalence of child sex tourism in India, though the problem does indeed exist.514

In southern India, two popular destinations emerging for pedophile activity are Kovalam in Kerala and Mammallpuram in Tamil Nadu.515 Goa is a popular destination for pedophiles looking for sex with boys.516 There has been a reported increase in sex tourism from the Gulf States to India in the past three decades. Young men from the Gulf States have

508 Child Workers in Nepal Concerned Centre, “Facts about Human Trafficking, 13 April 2004, http://www.cwin-nepal.org/press_room/factsheet/fact_trafficking.htm. 509 Child Workers in Nepal Concerned Centre, “Facts about Human Trafficking, 13 April 2004, http://www.cwin-nepal.org/press_room/factsheet/fact_trafficking.htm. 510 “Girl Trafficking a Big Problem,” Times of India, 16 March 2004. 511 “30,000 Kids Go Missing Every Year,” Times of India, 22 January 2004. 512 Devesh K. Pandey, “Girl Rescued from ‘Forced’ Marriage,” Hindu, 6 August 2004. 513 Equations, A Situational Analysis of Child Sex Tourism in India (Kerala and Goa), End Child Prostitution, Pornography, and Trafficking, December 2003, http://www.ecpat.net/eng/Ecpat_inter/projects/sex_tourism/India-Equations.Web.pdf. 514 SANLAAP, A Situational Analysis of Child Sex Tourism in India (Agra, Delhi, Jaipur), End Child Prostitution, Pornography, and Trafficking, December 2003, http://www.ecpat.net/eng/Ecpat_inter/projects/sex_tourism/India-SANLAAP.Web.pdf. 515 Equations, A Situational Analysis of Child Sex Tourism in India (Kerala and Goa), End Child Prostitution, Pornography, and Trafficking, December 2003, http://www.ecpat.net/eng/Ecpat_inter/projects/sex_tourism/India-Equations.Web.pdf. 516 “Media Releases,” Child Wise, 16 April 2004, http://www.ecpat.org/media-releases.html.



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come to India for sexual relations with Indian women.517 New Zealand men in India and have been charged with child sexual abuse.518

One report asserts that destinations of child sex tourists are changing. As protection and prevention efforts are strengthened in one state, child sex tourists choose another state as their destination. This phenomenon can be witnessed as such tourists forgo the traditional destinations of Goa and Kovalam in Kerala and choose instead the now-popular destinations of Varkala, Cochin, and Kumily in Kerala and of other coastal villages in Karnataka.519

The United States has investigated reports that Indian nationals were victims of trafficking to Iraq and were mistreated while working there as contractors in U.S. military camps. Indian press reports said that Indian nationals in Jordan and Kuwait were recruited for jobs in U.S. military camps in Iraq as cooks, butchers, laundry workers, and handymen. Some of the Indians charge that they signed up through Indian employment agencies to work in Kuwait but ended up in Iraq working for low pay and were refused permission to leave the country. Four Indians claim that they escaped from a U.S. military camp in Mosul after enduring a 9-month ordeal. One man told India’s Indo-Asian News Service that, during the holy fasting month of Ramadan, he was forced to cook pork, a practice forbidden under Islamic law.520

India has one of the world’s largest underground markets in human organs. Though commercial trading in organs was banned in 1994, it is believed that regulation has merely pushed the trade underground to a market controlled by organized crime gangs. “Veritable organ bazaars” operate out of private clinics, especially in cities such as Bombay and Madras.521 According to one 2002 report, 2,000 Indians sell their kidneys every year, mostly to affluent Westerners, who fly to India for the surgery.522 In a Chennai (Madras) slum in South India, one U.S. anthropologist met five local women, each of whom had sold a kidney for US$1,200 (in 1999). They were mostly low-paid domestic servants whose husbands were in trouble or in debt. They had sold their kidneys after some sort of financial crisis, and they claimed that they would do it again if they could.523

Babies are also sold for illegal adoption within India, usually for Rs 40,000 to Rs 60,000.524


The Indian constitution explicitly prohibits “traffic in human beings.”525 The offense is also punishable under the Penal Code and the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act.526

517 “Gulf States: Increase in Sex Tourism Traffic to India,” InfoProd, 2 November 2003. 518 New Zealand Ministry of Justice, Protecting our Innocence: New Zealand’s National Plan of Action against

the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children, February 2002, http://www.courts.govt.nz/pubs/reports/2002/protect-innocence/. 519 Equations, A Situational Analysis of Child Sex Tourism in India (Kerala and Goa), End Child Prostitution, Pornography, and Trafficking, December 2003, http://www.ecpat.net/eng/Ecpat_inter/projects/sex_tourism/India-Equations.Web.pdf. 520 Elise Labott, “Probe into Iraq Trafficking Claims,” CNN.com, 5 May 2004. 521 Rashmee Z. Ahmed, “U.K. Doctor Puts Indian Kidneys up for Sale,” Times News Network, 28 August 2002. 522 “Organ Sale Scandal Gets Murkier,” Tribune Online Edition, 1 September 2002, http://www.tribuneindia.com/2002/20020902/main2.htm. 523 Nancy Scheper-Hughes, “The Organ of Last Resort,” UNESCO Courier, July/August 2001, http://www.unesco.org/courier/2001_07/uk/doss34.htm. 524 “Racket in Infant Trafficking Smashed,” Tribune News Service, 23 April 2003. See also “Racket in Infant Trafficking Smashed,” Tribune News Service, 23 April 2003. 525 Article 23(1). 526 For general discussion of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, see Mohamed Mattar, “Victim-Centered Approach to the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act: A Call for a New Anti-Trafficking Law,” paper presented at



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India’s Penal Code prohibits kidnapping or abducting any woman with the intent of compelling her into “illicit intercourse” or with the knowledge that she is likely to be so compelled, forced, or seduced.527 The code also prohibits kidnapping or otherwise inducing a woman to marry any person against her will.528 The offense is punishable by a fine and up to 10 years of imprisonment. However, the prohibition does not apply to cases in which a woman is accustomed to offering herself promiscuously for money to customers and is encouraged or assisted by another in following that profession.

Kidnapping or abducting a person with intent of subjecting such a person to “grievous hurt, slavery, or to the unnatural lust of any person” is punishable by imprisonment for up to 10 years and a fine.529

The code prohibits procurement of a girl under the age of 18 to engage by force or seduction in illicit intercourse. Punishment is imprisonment for up to 10 years and a fine.530 “Importing a girl from a foreign country” is also prohibited. The prohibition applies to anyone who imports from any country outside India any girl under the age of 21 with the intent of forcing her into illicit intercourse or with the knowledge that she is likely to be so forced or seduced. Punishment is imprisonment for up to 10 years and a fine.531

Anyone who sells, lets to hire, or disposes of a person under the age of 18 in any other way for the purposes of prostitution is subject to punishment for up to 10 years and a fine.532 Anyone who buys, hires, or obtains possession in any other way of a person under the age of 18 for the purpose of prostitution or “illicit intercourse” or who knows that such a person can be employed for such purposes commits an offense punishable by imprisonment for up to 10 years and a fine.533

Prostitution-related activities are prohibited under the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act. Keeping a brothel or allowing premises to be used as a brothel is an offense punishable by imprisonment for 1 to 3 years and a fine.534 Living on the earnings of prostitution is punishable by imprisonment for up to 2 years and a fine.535 Procuring, inducing, or taking a woman or a girl for the purpose of prostitution is punishable by imprisonment for 3 to 7 years and a fine.536 If such an offense is committed against the will of any person, the punishment is increased to imprisonment for 14 years.537 Detaining a woman or a girl in premises where prostitution is carried out is an offense. Punishment is imprisonment from 7 years to life.538 Carrying out prostitution in a public place is punishable by imprisonment for up to 3 months. Carrying out prostitution in a public place with a sex worker who is 18 years old or younger is punishable by imprisonment from 7 years to life.539 Seducing or soliciting for purposes of prostitution is punishable by imprisonment for up to 6 months and a fine.540

The act, therefore, “does not aim at abolition of prostitutes and prostitution as such,” nor does it aim to make prostitution a criminal offense per se or to punish a woman in

the Conference on Next Steps in Path-Breaking Strategies in the Global Fight against Sex Trafficking, Mumbai, India, 27–28 January 2004, http://www.protectionproject.org/main1.htm. 527 Article 366. 528 Article 366. 529 Article 367. 530 Article 366-A. 531 Article 366-B. 532 Article 372. 533 Article 373. 534 Section 3. 535 Section 4. 536 Section 5. 537 Section 5. 538 Section 6. 539 Section 7. 540 Section 8.



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prostitution. Rather, its purpose is “to inhibit or abolish commercialized vice,”541 which the act defines as trafficking in women and girls “for the purpose of prostitution as an organized means of living.”542

For a conviction under the Penal Code, which prohibits sexual offenses against women and children, corroborative evidence is required. If the only direct evidence of the accused having imported a girl into the country is the testimony of the girl herself and if it is not possible to obtain sufficient corroborative evidence, courts hold that such testimony should be treated with caution and should not be “safely regarded as a basis for conviction in the absence of independent evidence.”543

Courts also have held that, if it is found that the girl in question has been definitely lying on important points in her story, it is unsafe to rely on other parts of her evidence to convict any person of illicit intercourse under article 366A unless that evidence is corroborated in material point.544

The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act provides that the government may, at its discretion, establish “protective homes” and “corrective institutions.”545 A “protective home” is defined by the act as “an institution, by whatever name called, … in which women and girls, who are in need of care and protection, may be kept under this Act, but does not include (i) a shelter where females under trial may be kept in pursuance of this Act, or (ii) a corrective institution.”546 The courts have held that anyone concerned with running a protective home must discharge his or her duties with the aims and objects of the act and “without offending human rights and dignity.”547

The Bonded Labor System (Abolition) Act of 1976 prohibits forced or bonded labor. The National Human Rights Commission of India monitors the implementation of the 1976 act.

The constitution prohibits all forms of forced labor,548 and it provides that no child under the age of 14 will be employed to work in any factory or mine or be engaged in any other hazardous employment.549 In addition, India’s Penal Code punishes those who compel a person to labor against his or her will by imprisonment for up to 1 year, a fine, or both. 550

India banned the commercial trading in human organs with the 1994 Transplantation of Human Organs Act.551 Removing human organs without authority is an offense punishable

541 A 1967 Guj (213): 1967 Cri LJ 1140. However, the same source states that certain exceptions are found in sections 7 and 8: “Section 7 inhibits the woman herself from the Practice of her profession in contravention of its terms and to that extent renders prostitution a penal offense.” Section 7 prohibits prostitution in the vicinity of public places, including “religious worship, educational institutions, hostels, hospitals, nursing homes, or such other public places.” 542 A 1962 Mad 31(33): 1962 (1) Cri LJ 162. 543 1958 Cri LJ 929: AIR 1958 Pat 1412. Courts also have held that it is extremely dangerous and is permissible in only exceptional cases to convict a man of a sexual offense on the basis of the uncorroborated testimony of the complainant, something that must be emphasized in the charge to the jury. The judge should point out to the jurors that they are entitled, if they please, to convict the accused on the basis of the uncorroborated testimony of the girl, but that it is dangerous to do so in cases dealing with sexual offenses such as rape and abduction and that they should do so in only exceptional cases. See 1961 Cri LJ 689; AIR 1958 SC 143: 1958 Cri LJ 273. 544 1946 48 Cri LJ 301. 545 Section 21. 546 Section 3(2). 547 1983 2 SCC 308(322), 1983 Cri LR (SC) 560(2). 548 Article 23(1). According to article 23(2), “Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from imposing compulsory service for public purposes, and in imposing such service the State shall not make any discrimination on ground of religion, race, or class.” 549 Article 24. 550 Article 374. 551 The Transplantation of Human Organs Act 1994 (Central Act 42 of 1994).



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by imprisonment for up to 5 years and a fine.552 Commercial dealing in human organs is an offense punishable by imprisonment from 2 to 7 years and a fine.553

Additional proposals to strengthen anti-trafficking laws include a fine of 200,000 rupees, or US$2,600, and compensation for victims. The government of India has also established a special court to hear all cases involving the trafficking in women.554 The government has created a central advisory committee on child prostitution and a second committee to suggest rescue and rehabilitation approaches for sexually exploited children. The National Commission for Women has also established expert committees to address these problems.555

In a fall 2004 policy draft, the government recommended reviewing the licensing mechanism of massage and beauty parlors and bars in India. The draft report adds that a licensing authority should conduct regular inspections of such establishments, passing on any relevant information to the proper authorities.556

In April 2003, Delhi police uncovered an organized racket involving illicit trafficking in babies from a nursing home in Uttam Nagar. A buyer would go to the hospital and get herself admitted; there hospital records would be manipulated and a fake birth certificate issued. The doctors had been running the racket for 2 years and did not know the exact number of children that had been sold.557 In June 2003, 13 people in Hyderabad in southern India who were believed to be members of a gang responsible for selling more than 50 kidneys for transplants were arrested. The gang supposedly facilitated the organ transplants by pretending that donors and recipients were blood relatives. Police were also investigating the role of several doctors in the smuggling ring in Hyderabad.558 In October 2003, Daler Menhdi, a top pop rock star in India, surrendered to police in the state of Punjab to face charges of trafficking in persons. He was charged with 31 counts of immigration law violations. According to police, the multimillionaire rock star used his concert tour visits to Western cities as a cover for his trafficking racket.559

In January 2004, three people were arrested in Mumbai for involvement in illegal organ trafficking. The suspects paid as many as 20 people for their kidneys and prepared fake documents, which indicated that the donor and recipients were related, for clearance with the health department.560 In February 2004, the Mumbai city crime branch arrested two more people in connection with the racket.561 In late March 2004, police in Mumbai raided 64 dance bars and arrested 572 people, including bar girls and customers. This was the second such raid of bars in Mumbai in less than a month. Three bar owners were charged under the Prevention of Immoral Trafficking Act. Thirty-two bar managers, 261 bar girls, 50 other employees, and 229 customers were arrested.562 In that same month, the chief executive officer of a private news channel and his associate were arrested on charges of trafficking in persons. The two men took people abroad on the pretext of providing them employment. The arrests were made after one of the victims, who had been taken to Israel, made a complaint. When the victims arrived in Israel, the accused traffickers allegedly took their passports and

552 Chapter VI, article 18. 553 Chapter VI, article 19. 554 1983 2 SCC 308(322), 1983 Cri LR (SC) 560(2). 555 ECPAT International Online Database, 28 January 2003, http://www.ecpat.net. 556 Himanshi Dhawan, “Government Spruces up Parlours, Salons,” Times of India, 25 October 2004. 557 “Racket in Infant Trafficking Smashed,” Tribune News Service, 23 April 2003. 558 “India Kidney Donor Arrests,” BBC News World Edition, 20 June 2003. 559 “India’s Top Rock Star Faces Public Rage in Human Trafficking Slur,” Agence France Presse, 27 October 2003. 560 “3 Held for Running Kidney Sale Racket,” Times of India, 6 January 2004. 561 “Two More Held in Kidney Scam,” Times of India, 11 February 2004. 562 “Police Arrest Hundreds in Raids on Bombay Beer Bars,” Deutsche Presse-Agentur, 28 March 2004.



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return tickets and returned to India.563 In September 2004, police in Delhi uncovered a ring responsible for trafficking in 50 kidneys. Three people were arrested for suspected involvement in the ring. The kidneys were removed at four top hospitals in Delhi and one hospital in the western state of Gujarat.564


NATSEC (National Action against Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation of Children) is a network in Maharashtra state comprising 300 organizations representing 32 districts. NATSEC has organized a program to raise social awareness against trafficking and sexual exploitation of children in 22 districts in Maharashtra state with support from the United Nations Development Fund for Women. Sampada Grameen Mahila Sanstha works to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS among truck drivers and women in prostitution through promotion of condom use and counseling services. The organization operates in the Sangli District of Maharashtra.565 ATSEC (Action against Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation of Children) has chapters in New Delhi and West Bengal.566

Bhoomika Vihar surveyed girls in 58 villages in four districts—Araria, Katihar, Kishanganj, and Purnia—in Bihar’s Kosi region. On the basis of the survey findings, a report titled “Bojh” (Burden) was released in March 2004 by Patna state Women Development Corporation.567 Save our Sisters (SOS) is a movement that was launched by Save the Children India to combat trafficking and sexual exploitation at the national and regional levels. SOS’s four main objectives are advocacy, prevention, legislation, and rehabilitation.568 The Indian Committee of Youth Organizations is a national youth coordinating network of 348 organizations across India. It aims to strengthen nongovernmental organization activities aimed at preventing sexual abuse and exploitation of children and at providing improved services for victims.569 Terre des Hommes runs projects to combat child trafficking in the state of West Bengal.570

The Human Welfare Association was recently granted the first project in Uttar Pradesh to sensitize the public and the government to the problem of child trafficking and formulate a strategy to combat child it.571 Manav Seva Santhsan organized a 2-day South Asian regional conference in March 2004 in association with Japan Foundation Asia Center. The main aim of the conference was to work on the basis of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) forum to combat cross-border trafficking jointly.572 Sanlaap supports child protection programs for children of women in prostitution in red-light areas of Kolkata,573 provides psychosocial counseling to child victims of prostitution, and runs shelters for rescued and at-risk women and children.574 Prerana works for the rights, protection,

563 “India: Mediapersons Held for Human Trafficking,” Asia Media, 7 March 2004. 564 “Indian Organ Gang Sells 50 Kidneys,” Deutsche Presse-Agentur, 11 September 2004. 565 Sampada Grameen Mahila Sanstha can be found on the Internet at http://www.vampnews.org/about_us.html. 566 ECPAT International Online Database, 28 January 2003, http://www.ecpat.net. 567 “Girl Trafficking a Big Problem,” Times of India, 16 March 2004. 568 “Anti Trafficking—Save our Sisters Movement (SOS),” Save the Children India, 2004, http://www.savethechildrenindia.com/antitrafficking.htm 569 ECPAT International Online Database, November 2004, http://www.ecpat.net. 570 Stop Child Trafficking, “Child Trafficking Projects in India,” 16 January 2004, http://www.stopchildtrafficking.org/site/India.171.0.html. 571 Rajeev Dikshit, “Varanasi a Child-Trafficking Hub?” Times News Network, 2 January 2004. 572 “UP Not Ready to Tackle Human Trafficking,” Times News Network, 20 March 2004. 573 SANLAAP, A Situational Analysis of Child Sex Tourism in India (Agra, Delhi, Jaipur), End Child Prostitution, Pornography, and Trafficking, December 2003, http://www.ecpat.net/eng/Ecpat_inter/projects/sex_tourism/India-SANLAAP.Web.pdf 574 ECPAT International Online Database, November 2004, http://www.ecpat.net.



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welfare, and development of the victims of commercial sexual exploitation and trafficking. It provides a wide spectrum of services to victims of trafficking and prostitution, including those with HIV/AIDS.575

Women residents of the largest slums in Delhi, Yamuna Pushta, have come together to put an end to trafficking of women and children in their neighborhood. The women started the group after children started disappearing from their neighborhood. The group gathers local intelligence, keeps an eye on suspects in the neighborhood, and even accompanies police on raids. The women operate from a small makeshift office with a thatched roof and claim to have rescued 25 girls between early 2003 and early 2004.576 The Asian Development Bank (ADB) undertook regional technical assistance in July 2001 in Bangladesh, India, and Nepal. ADB wanted to increase its understanding of how its existing country programs and regional policy could be used to support and strengthen antitrafficking initiatives in the region and to improve capacity-building and other efforts by stakeholders to develop effective antitrafficking programs.577 Multilateral Initiatives

In November 2001, the Bangladeshi government and UNICEF cohosted a 3-day

South Asia Consultation for the Second World Congress against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children. One hundred and fifty participants from seven member countries of the South Asian Association for Regional Corporation (SAARC) attended, including high-level government delegates, children, and representatives of NGOs and media and international organizations. The SAARC forum, founded in 1985, aims to promote cultural ties and economic and social development among its member states (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka).578


In October 2003, Indian President A. B. J. Kalam arrived in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to talk with officials about Dubai’s large Indian migrant population.580 During the biennial meeting of the Border Security Force (BSF) and the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) in April 2003, India proposed joint patrolling of the common border between India and Bangladesh. In November 2003, the BDR rejected the BSF’s draft proposal on the modalities of that agreement.581

The Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission facilitated the 23–24 October 2003 Stop the Traffic 2 Conference with the National Human Rights Commission of India and the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia. The conference focused on women

575 Prerana can be found on the Internet at http://www.prerana.org. 576 Anuradha Mukherjee, “Pushta’s Female Crime-Busters,” Times of India, 8 March 2004. 577 Asian Development Bank, Combating Trafficking of Women and Children in South Asia: Guide for

Integrating Trafficking Concerns into ADB Operations (Manila: Asian Development Bank, April 2003). 578 “Background and Facts on the SAARC Forum,” Associated Press Worldstream, 6 January 2004. 579 “Background and Facts on the SAARC Forum,” Associated Press Worldstream, 6 January 2004. 580 “Indian President Meets Dubai Officials, Discusses Conditions of Migrant Workers,” Associated Press

Worldstream, 20 October 2003. 581 “It Takes Two to Manage a Border,” Indian Express, 10 November 2003.



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trafficked to Australia for prostitution and other women experiencing abuse within the sex industry.582

On the 55th Human Rights Day (10 December 2003), the foreign affairs parliamentary secretary of Australia announced initiatives to promote and protect human rights in the Asia–Pacific region. Recipients of the 2003–04 Human Rights Small Grants Scheme were also announced. Under this scheme, judges, lawyers, police, community leaders, and other citizens in Bangladesh, India, Laos, and Sri Lanka are to receive Australian support for human rights training activities.583

The governments of Nepal and India announced in late December 2003 that their human rights commissions would sign an agreement to control cross-border trafficking.584 In March 2004, the Australian government announced funding of $A 200,000 to help India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka stamp out forced prostitution. The money is to be used for raising awareness of trafficking in persons, for improving regional police and judicial understanding of trafficking, and for assisting officers in those countries in prosecuting incidences of trafficking.585

In June 2004, it was announced that India would be one of eight countries to receive US$50 million from the US government to help fight human trafficking. The other recipients were Brazil, Cambodia, Indonesia, Mexico, Moldova, Sierra Leone, and Tanzania.586

In September 2004, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) sponsored a 3-day meeting of South Asian government officials, representatives from United Nations agencies, and representatives of nongovernmental organizations. The meeting took place in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Government officials signed a five-point joint statement, agreeing that children in South Asia deserve better protection from traffickers and sexual abusers. Participating countries were Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.587

582 “‘Tackling Trafficking’: Progress Paper on the Role of NHRIs,” Asia Pacific Human Rights Network, New Delhi, India, February 2004. 583 “AUSAID: Human Rights Day,” M2Presswire, 10 December 2003. 584 “Nepal, India to Sign Human Rights Accord,” BBC Monitoring International Reports, 27 December 2003. 585 “Australian Government Contributes to Stop International Sex Slavery,” ABC News Online, 9 March 2004. 586 “Bush Combats Human Trafficking with 50 Million Dollars,” Agence France Presse, 16 July 2004. 587 “Child Sex-Declaration,” United News of Bangladesh, 1 October 2004.



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JAPAN

Trafficking Routes

Japan is primarily a country of destination for trafficking in women and children for commercial sexual exploitation. According to a 2003 United Nations (UN) report, Japan is one of the top nine destination countries for sex trafficking in the world.588 The Philippines and Thailand top the list of countries of origin for women and girls trafficked to Japan, followed by a growing number of South American countries (especially Colombia and Peru), Eastern European589 countries, and other nations such as Indonesia. Japan has also served as a transit country for women from the Philippines trafficked to South Korea.


Several factors contribute to Japan’s being one of the top destination countries for trafficked women and girls. First, a thriving adult entertainment industry exists in Japan that includes “thousands of hostess bars, in many of which sex is not sold, and an intersecting and enormous sex industry.”590 Japan’s underground sex trade is estimated to take in US$83 billion annually and is one of Japan’s fastest-growing industries.591 Establishing accurate figures of foreign female employment in the industry is difficult. A 2000 estimate suggested that of 120,000 foreign women in Japan as many as 75,000 were in the sex industry under duress. The entertainment industry’s operation is highly gendered: men are the customers, and women are expected to fulfill highly gender-specific roles to satisfy customer demand. The industry employs an enormous number of Japanese women as well, and most of these women are in the industry voluntarily. In fact, “there is no evidence to suggest that trafficked women make up more than a small proportion of women working within the entertainment industry, and prostitution is only a part of that industry.”592

A second factor involves Japanese male attitudes toward women. Many Japanese men see women as second-class persons, an attitude that “underscores the tacit acceptance of women as sexual objects to satisfy men.”593 According to one foreign diplomat working in Japan, Japanese society shows little sympathy for victims of trafficking, believing such women come to Japan purely for money.594 In addition, Japanese authorities do not fully accept the idea that trafficked women are actually victims. Women in the sex industry are largely viewed as voluntary participants, resulting in a very narrow definition of trafficking and thus less than ideally rigorous investigation and combating of trafficking.595

588 “UN Maps Human Trafficking,” Associated Press, 12 May 2003. 589 Suvendrini Kakuchi, “Men’s Attitudes Blamed for Sex Industry Boom,” Inter Press Service, 17 December 2003. 590 Sally Cameron, “Trafficking of Filipino Women to Japan: A Case of Human Security Violation in Japan,” paper prepared for the Conference on Globalization, Migration, and Human Security: Challenges in Northeast Asia, United Nations University, Tokyo, 6–7 October 2003. 591 Suvendrini Kakuchi, “Men’s Attitudes Blamed for Sex Industry Boom,” Inter Press Service, 17 December 2003. 592 Sally Cameron, “Trafficking of Filipino Women to Japan: A Case of Human Security Violation in Japan,” paper prepared for the Conference on Globalization, Migration, and Human Security: Challenges in Northeast Asia, United Nations University, Tokyo, 6–7 October 2003. 593 Suvendrini Kakuchi, “Men’s Attitudes Blamed for Sex Industry Boom,” Inter Press Service, 17 December 2003. 594 Yoshimi Nagamine, “Japan Urged to Stamp out Trafficking in Women,” Daily Yomiuri (Tokyo), 29 November 2003. 595 Sally Cameron and Edward Newman, “Trafficking of Filipino Women to Japan: Examining the Experience and Perspectives of Victims and Government Experts—Executive Summary,” in Coalitions against Trafficking



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Third, Japan’s restrictive visa regime has created enormous opportunities for profit by criminal groups that facilitate the illegal immigration of women to Japan. Though demand is strong for foreign female workers in Japan and a large number of women are willing to migrate, opportunities for legal migration are lacking. Criminal gangs have seized on this gap, facilitating women’s migration to Japan and exploiting them in the process. The involvement of organized criminal groups (yakuza) in trafficking women to Japan is well documented. The yakuza’s ties to criminal groups in countries of origin for migrants—including Brazil, China, Colombia, Hong Kong, Mexico, the Philippines, Russia, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand—is also well documented.596 Forms of Trafficking

Trafficking in women into the Japanese sex industry first received attention in the late 1970s and early 1980s, when Filipino women began migrating to Japan in large numbers, often falling victim to exploitation in the process.597 In 2002, 123,322 people came to Japan on entertainer visas, 60 percent of them Filipino women. The majority of these women work in pubs as hostesses, sometimes prostituting themselves.598 Most Filipinas trafficked to Japan are sent by organized criminal groups. Family or friends of the victim often initiate contact with the recruiter. Most victims are told they will work as singers, cashiers, chambermaids, or hostesses, but in reality they are forced to sell or administer drugs, appear in pornographic videos, prostitute themselves, or recruit other Filipino women. The criminals involved use a number of control mechanisms, such as confiscation of passports, bullying tactics, threats, abuse, or withholding of salary. Some Filipino women reported that they had contact with corrupt Japanese officials.599

According to a sample survey of 100 Filipino women who were sent to Japan by trafficking rings, 80 percent were forced into prostitution. Only a small percentage of women were aware beforehand that they would be sent there to work in prostitution. Nearly half were between 15 and 18 years of age at the time they were sent to Japan, and nearly half were sexually assaulted by members of the trafficking gangs that sent them there.600

Thousands of Thai women and girls are trafficked to Japan every year, many of them ending up in the sex industry.601 At least 17,000 undocumented Thais are in Japan, 60 percent of whom are women; most probably work in prostitution.602 Thai government sources paint a bleaker picture, reporting that more than 30,000 Thai women have been trafficked to Japan by yakuza gangs.603 Thai women are usually promised lucrative jobs but find themselves trapped in debt—ranging between US$25,000 and US$40,000—that they must work for months or

in Human Beings in the Philippines—Phase 1, 21 March 2000, http://www.unodc.org/pdf/crime/human_trafficking/Exec_summary_UNU.pdf. 596 Owed Justice: Thai Women Trafficked into Debt Bondage in Japan (New York: Human Rights Watch,

September 2000). See also “Prostitution Ring Luring Brazilian Men, Women to Japan.” Kyodo News Service, 31 July 2001. 597 Owed Justice: Thai Women Trafficked into Debt Bondage in Japan (New York: Human Rights Watch, September 2000). 598 Harumi Ozawa, “Human Trafficking Becoming a Hot Topic,” Daily Yomiuri (Tokyo), 5 October 2003. 599 Sally Cameron and Edward Newman, “Trafficking of Filipino Women to Japan: Examining the Experience and Perspectives of Victims and Government Experts—Executive Summary,” in Coalitions against Trafficking

in Human Beings in the Philippines—Phase 1, 21 March 2000, http://www.unodc.org/pdf/crime/human_trafficking/Exec_summary_UNU.pdf. 600 “Filipinas Sent to Japan Forced into Prostitution: Survey,” Mainichi Daily News, 14 December 2003. 601 “Thousands of Thai Women Trafficked to Japan: Japanese Government Unresponsive, Says Report,” Human

Rights News, 21 September 2000, http://hrw.org/english/docs/2000/09/21/thaila699.htm. 602 Harumi Ozawa, “Human Trafficking Becoming a Hot Topic,” Daily Yomiuri (Tokyo), 5 October 2003. 603 “Over 30,000 Thai Women Forced into Japanese Sex Trade,” Thai Press Reports, 18 August 2003.



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years to pay off.604 They are kept under constant surveillance, and disobedience can lead to arbitrary fines being imposed by their employers, physical abuse, and even resale into higher levels of debt.605

Most trafficked Thai women work in “dating” snack bars in Japan, where duties include entertaining customers at the bar and accompanying them to nearby hotels to perform sexual services. Some Thai women repay their debts over a period ranging between several months and 2 years and continue to work in Japan to earn money to support themselves and their families in Thailand.606 Others are arrested and deported back to Thailand. Thai women who marry yakuza leaders often become involved in the trafficking of their fellow countrywomen to Japan.607

The Thai Embassy is contacted by at least four or five trafficking victims each month.608 In May 2003, an alleged top yakuza gangster was arrested in Bangkok, Thailand, on trafficking charges. He confessed to using Thailand as a base for providing Thai and Chinese women for the sex trade in Canada, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States.609 In December 2003, a Thai woman was arrested in Bangkok for trafficking Thai women and children to Japan for the sex trade. The arrested woman told victims they would be given jobs in restaurants.610 In March 2004, following the escape of five Thai women from Japanese brothels, Thai police arrested two members of a trafficking gang that sent Thai women to Japan to work in prostitution. The gang members were charged with procurement and luring women into prostitution. The women, ages 18 to 29, told police that the gang, which was based in Bangkok, promised them jobs as hostesses in Japan, but all of them were forced into prostitution. To obtain visas, the women married strangers, who took them to a third country for immigration stamps and accompanied them to Japan.611

Young women from Bali and Java in Indonesia have been told that they are being recruited for cultural or traditional dance missions to Japan. When they arrive in Japan, they are instead put to work in karaoke bars or strip clubs and forced to work as waitresses or hostesses, or offer sexual services.612

As of November 2003, more than 70 Colombian women claiming to be victims of trafficking had sought refuge at the Colombian Embassy.613 The embassy reportedly started receiving calls from trafficked women in 1997. Many Colombian women from the countryside seek jobs in cities, where they are solicited to come to Japan.614

In March 2003, the Japanese Interior Ministry’s Department on Human Trafficking discovered a network based in Chisinau, Moldova, that trafficked young women from Moldova to work in nightclubs in Japan. The network was led by a 30-year-old woman who

604 “Thousands of Thai Women Trafficked to Japan: Japanese Government Unresponsive, Says Report,” Human

Rights News, 21 September 2000, http://hrw.org/english/docs/2000/09/21/thaila699.htm. 605 Owed Justice: Thai Women Trafficked into Debt Bondage in Japan (New York: Human Rights Watch, September 2000), www.hrw.org/reports/2000/japan 606 Owed Justice: Thai Women Trafficked into Debt Bondage in Japan (New York: Human Rights Watch, September 2000). 607 “Over 30,000 Thai Women Forced into Japanese Sex Trade,” Thai Press Reports, 18 August 2003. 608 Harumi Ozawa, “Human Trafficking Becoming a Hot Topic,” Daily Yomiuri (Tokyo), 5 October 2003. 609 “Japanese Yakuza Gangster Arrested in Thailand,” Agence France Presse, 28 May 2003. See also “Japanese Man Wanted in Japan Nabbed in Bangkok,” Japan Economic Newswire, 28 May 2003. 610 “Thai Woman Jailed for 21 Years for Trafficking Women, Girls to Japan,” Agence France Presse, 31 December 2003. 611 “Thai Police Bust Group Trafficking Women to Japan,” Xinhua General News Service, 11 March 2004. 612 Ruth Rosenberg, ed., Trafficking of Women and Children in Indonesia (International Catholic Migration Commission and American Center for International Labor Solidarity, 2003). 613 Yoshimi Nagamine, “Japan Urged to Stamp out Trafficking in Women,” Daily Yomiuri (Tokyo), 29 November 2003. 614 Harumi Ozawa, “Human Trafficking Becoming a Hot Topic,” Daily Yomiuri (Tokyo), 5 October 2003.



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recruited young women through ads published in local newspapers. It had been active since 2000, and the case was the first registered of trafficking of Moldovan women to Japan. The women obtained visas on the basis of apparently legal contracts and invitations from the Japanese Embassy in Ukraine.615

Japanese male tourists are known to make trips for the purpose of sex tourism.616 In fact, Japanese men make up the largest number of sex tourists in Asia. They travel to Australia, Cambodia, Hong Kong, the Philippines, South Korea, Sri Lanka, and Thailand to pay for sex, often with minors.617

Child prostitution and child pornography are serious problems in Japan. Child prostitution is reportedly rising in Japan, thanks in part to the growing use of the Internet. Of Japan’s more than 3,000 pornographic sites, 40 percent contain images of minors. Between January and November 2002, 666 cases of child prostitution relating to online dating sites were filed, nearly 300 more than those filed in 2001.618


Prostitution as a form of sexual offense is subject to the Prostitution Prevention Law of 1956;619 the Penal Code;620 the Child Welfare Law;621 and the Law for Punishing Acts Related to Child Prostitution and Child Pornography, and for Protecting Children.

The Prostitution Prevention Law prohibits soliciting for purposes of prostitution,622 procuring a person for prostitution,623 coercing a person into prostitution,624 receiving compensation from the prostitution of others,625 inducing a person to be a prostitute by paying an “advance,”626 concluding a contract for making a person a prostitute,627 furnishing a place for prostitution,628 engaging in the business of making a person a prostitute,629 and furnishing funds for prostitution.630

The Penal Code prohibits inducing a female to engage in sexual intercourse.631 The Penal Code punishes by imprisonment for 10 years kidnapping of a person for profit,

615 “Moldovan Police Report Women Trafficked to Japan,” BBC Monitoring International Reports, 26 March 2003. 616 “Man Held over Naked Minor Photos,” Japan Times, 6 September 2003. 617 End Child Prostitution, Pornography, and Trafficking (ECPAT) International Online Database, 22 March 2004, http://www.ecpat.net. 618 “Child Prostitution through Internet Spirals in Japan,” OneWorld South Asia, 8 January 2003. 619 Law No. 118, dated 24 May 1956. The law replaced the Regulation for Control of Prostitutes, which limited prostitution to women who were officially registered. In 1908, the government passed Ministry of Home Affairs Ordinance No. 16, which penalized unregulated prostitution. In 1947, Imperial Ordinance No. 9 punished a person who entices a woman to act as a prostitute. For a discussion of the legislative history of antiprostitution law in Japan, see Andrew D. Morrison, “Teen Prostitution in Japan: Regulation of Telephone Clubs,” Vanderbilt

Journal of Transnational Law 31, no. 2 (1998): 457. 620 Law No. 45 of 1907, as amended by Law No. 31 of 1991. 621 Law No. 164 of 1947, as amended by Law No. 88 of 1974 and Law Nos. 54 and 55 of 1978. 622 Article 5. 623 Article 6. 624 Article 7. 625 Article 8. 626 Article 9. 627 Article 10. 628 Article 11. 629 Article 12. 630 Article 13. 631 Article 182.



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obscenity, or marriage.632 Punishment of imprisonment for 7 years applies to anyone who receives a person who has been kidnapped or sold.633 In addition, punishment of imprisonment from 2 to 15 years applies to anyone who “kidnaps another by force or allurement for the purpose of transporting the same out of Japan [or] … buys or sells another for the purpose of transporting the same out of Japan.”634

The Penal Code imposes a punishment of imprisonment from 3 months to 5 years on any person who “illegally arrests or confines another.”635

The Penal Code also prohibits abducting a minor. Such an offense carries a punishment of imprisonment from 6 months to 7 years.636 In addition, the Child Welfare Law prohibits inducing children to practice obscene acts or keeping a child under one’s control for purposes harmful to the child.637

The Child Welfare Law prohibits forcing children to beg638 or to practice obscene acts639 and keeping children under control of a person “for purposes harmful to the child both in mind and body.”640

In November 1999, the government of Japan passed the Law for Punishing Acts Related to Child Prostitution and Child Pornography, and for Protecting Children. The law defines child prostitution as the act of performing sexual intercourse with a child641 in return for giving, or promising to give, remuneration to the child, the person who acts as an intermediary in sexual intercourse, the protector of the child,642 or the person who has the child under his or her supervision.643 Anyone who commits a crime of child prostitution is subject to imprisonment with labor for up to 3 years and a fine.644 The same punishment applies to an intermediary in the offense of child prostitution.645 The punishment increases to imprisonment with labor for up to 5 years and a fine for anyone who acts as an intermediary in an offense of child prostitution as his or her business.646 Solicitation of child prostitution is an offense punishable by imprisonment with labor for up to 3 years and a fine.647 If a person solicits child prostitution as his or her business, punishment is enhanced to imprisonment with labor for up to 5 years and a fine.648

Anyone who “produces, possesses, transports, imports, or exports from Japan child pornography” is subject to punishment by imprisonment with labor for up to 3 years and a fine.649

Trade in children for the purpose of child prostitution and child pornography is an offense punishable by imprisonment with labor from 1 to 10 years.650 Any Japanese national

632 Article 225. The article provides that a “person who kidnaps another by force, threat, fraud, or enticement for the purpose of profit, immorality, or marriage shall be punished with imprisonment at forced labor for not less than 1 year and not more than 10 years.” 633 Article 227. 634 Article 226. 635 Article 222. 636 Article 224. 637 Article 34. 638 Article 34(2). 639 Article 34(6). 640 Article 34(9). 641 Article 2 defines a child as “a person under the age of 18 years.” 642 Article 2 defines the protector of the child as “a person who exercises parental power over the child or who is the guardian or suchlike and who is taking actual care of the child.” 643 Article 2. 644 Article 4. 645 Article 5(1). 646 Article 5(2). 647 Article 6(1). 648 Article 6(2). 649 Article 7(2).



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who transports a child who has been abducted, kidnapped, sold, or bought in a foreign country for the purpose of child prostitution or child pornography is subject to imprisonment with labor for not less than 2 years.651

The 1999 law states that offenses of child prostitution, intermediation of child prostitution, solicitation of child prostitution, and production and distribution of child pornography—as well as trading in children and attempting to trade in children for the purposes of child prostitution and child pornography—when committed by a Japanese national outside Japan are punishable under the provisions of the Penal Code.652 The law establishes dual liability of an offender—both the employee and employer (whether that employer is a legal entity or a natural person)—when the employee, for business purposes, commits crimes of intermediation or solicitation of child prostitution and distribution or production of child pornography.653

The act provides for education, enlightenment, research, and study as preventive measures by state and local entities to combat child prostitution and child pornography.654 In addition, the act provides for the protection of children who have suffered mental or physical damage,655 the improvement of systems to protect children who have suffered mental or physical damage,656 and the promotion of international cooperation.657

The Law on Control and Improvement of Amusement Business658 prohibits any person who runs an amusement business from soliciting customers659 or any business that employs persons under 18 years of age to entertain or dance with customers.660 The law also confines “sex-related business” to restricted areas.661 This regulatory scheme for businesses is also provided by the Enterprises Affecting Public Morals Law.

A recent amendment to the Code of Criminal Procedure is the Law for the Inquest of Prosecution, which was passed by the Diet (Japanese parliament) on 12 May 2000. The amendment includes various measures to alleviate the serious psychological damage often inflicted on victimized children who are examined as witnesses in an open court: (a) a system in which an appropriate person accompanies the witness in examinations, (b) a system that blocks the appearance of the witness from the defendant and the observers, and (c) examination of the witness through a video link.

The Prostitution Protection Law provides for the protection and rehabilitation of victims of prostitution, in addition to providing measures to prevent prostitution. As stated in article 1, “The purpose of this law is, in view of the fact that prostitution impairs the dignity of the human being, corrupts sex morals, and deprives the society of good manners, to prevent prostitution by punishing acts … promoting prostitution and at the same time by taking measures for guidance, disposition, protection, and rehabilitation of such females.” The law authorizes the court to place a woman662 who is convicted of public solicitation in a “guidance home”663 for 6 months,664 regardless of the period of the criminal sentence. The guidance

650 Article 8(1). 651 Article 8(2). 652 Article 10. 653 Article 11. 654 Article 14. 655 Article 15. 656 Article 16. 657 Article 17. 658 Law No. 122 of 10 July 1948. 659 Article 22(1). 660 Article 22(3). 661 Article 28. 662 Article 17. The article applies in cases in which the woman has reached the age of 20 years. 663 Article 17(2). 664 Article 18.



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home may discharge the woman before the expiration of the 6-month period. During her stay in the guidance home, the woman receives the necessary treatment to enable her to function in society. The law also mandates the establishment of “females’ consultative offices” to respond to females needing protection, to carry out necessary investigations into such matters, and to provide such females with “temporary protection.”665 In addition to vocational training, the offices also provide medical treatment and psychological counseling.666

An amendment of April 1998 to the Law on Control and Improvement of Amusement Business provides additional protection for foreign women who are forced to work in debt-bondage. The law provides for a hiatus of 5 years before a person who has been convicted of assisting in the illegal employment of foreigners can qualify for a license for an amusement business. The law also prohibits owners and managers of a “sex-related amusement business” from making their employers heavily indebted or depriving them of their passports.

In February 2000, the government of Japan adopted the Anti-Organized Crime Law, extending the definition of money laundering and enhancing the suspicious transactions reporting system.667

The Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act imposes a punishment of imprisonment for up to 3 years and a fine on anyone who “had an alien engage in illegal work in relation to business activities,” “has placed an alien under his control for the purpose of having the alien engage in illegal work,” and “has repeatedly mediated … the procurement of an alien to engage in illegal work.”668

In 2002, police arrested 28 exploiters of trafficked women in 16 different cases.669 In March 2003, an underworld leader, Koichi Hagiwara—nicknamed “Sony” by his

victims for his habit of videotaping them naked—was sentenced to 22 months in prison. He had trafficked 400 Colombian women into Japan between February 1999 and December 2002. He reportedly earned ¥10 million per month, and had a bank account worth US$9 million.670 He was convicted of violating immigration and labor laws. The conviction was a welcome sign for some that Japanese courts were finally taking the problem of trafficking seriously; for others, it was nothing more than a small break that did little to control the problem.671

In September 2003, Japanese police arrested a Cambodian man for allegedly posting photos of naked minors on a Web site in Cambodia that was linked to child prostitution tours he ran for Japanese clients. He was arrested at Tokyo’s Narita Airport on suspicion of violating child prostitution laws. Reportedly, it was the first time a foreigner had been arrested for allegedly violating a provision of the child prostitution law concerning public display.672

In November 2003, the Metropolitan Police Department in Tokyo raided a large organization suspected of trafficking women from Colombia to Japan.673 In December 2003, the government ordered an investigation into a group of assemblymen from a suburb of Tokyo who used public funds to pay for Thai hostesses, whom they allegedly brought to their hotels during a trip to Bangkok. The uproar, however, focused more on the use of public

665 Article 34. 666 Article 34. 667 Financial Action Task Force, Annual Report 1999–2000, (Paris: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, 22 June 2000), http://www.fatf-gafi.org/dataoecd/13/42/34328015.pdf. Before the adoption of the new law, the most important legislation in this regard was the Anti-Drug Special Law of 1991. 668 Article 72(3). 669 Harumi Ozawa, “Human Trafficking Becoming a Hot Topic,” Daily Yomiuri (Tokyo), 5 October 2003. 670 David McNeill, “Japan: Pink Heaven for Traffickers,” Japan Times, 1 February 2004. 671 David McNeill, “Japan: Pink Heaven for Traffickers,” Japan Times, 1 February 2004. 672 “Man Held over Naked Minor Photos,” Japan Times, 6 September 2003. 673 Yoshimi Nagamine, “Japan Urged to Stamp out Trafficking in Women,” Daily Yomiuri (Tokyo), 29 November 2003.



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money (the men were ordered to pay back around US$6,000) than on the implications of prostitution and its links to trafficking.674

In January 2004, the city of Tokyo embarked on new measures to curb teen prostitution. Although sex with underage girls is illegal, men reportedly have a “widespread obsession” with schoolgirls, paying up to hundreds of dollars to have sex with them. The city has proposed banning men from meeting girls who are younger than 16 between 11:00 p.m. and 4:00 a.m. without the approval of the girls’ parents. The city will also amend its bylaws to prohibit sex shops from selling used underwear from girls younger than 16.675 Nongovernmental and International Organization Responses

End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography, and Trafficking of Children for Sexual

Purposes (ECPAT) Japan Kansai works toward eliminating commercial sexual exploitation of children in cooperation with other ECPAT networks and other relevant organizations in Japan. The Street Children Program of the Franciscan Chapel Center in Tokyo aims at educating the public about the commercial sexual exploitation of children and ending trafficking in children. The program supports street children foundations in Mongolia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam and has coordinated a series of fundraising events to support organizations working to end the sexual exploitation of children.676 Another nongovernmental organization (NGO), Stop Child Prostitution, works to stop the widespread sale of child pornography in Japan.677 Men’s Thinking about the Role of Men, composed of 10 male members, organizes programs to inform men about the rights of women. It offers workshops, seminars, and open discussions that encourage men to talk about sex and analyze prostitution. Other activist groups have launched programs to influence attitudes toward prostitution.678

The House of Women Saalaa and HELP Asian Women’s Shelter are the only two shelters accepting foreign female victims of trafficking in Japan. Of the 224 women who sought shelter at HELP Asian Women’s Shelter in fiscal 2002, 96 were foreigners, and 58 percent of those women were victims of trafficking. The 96 foreign women included 43 Thais, 28 Filipinas, and 5 Colombians.679

The Japan Network against Trafficking in Persons (JNATIP) was established in late 2003 by NGOs, shelters, and lawyers to press the government to establish a law banning trading in persons.680 The network has been pushing for a bill that would protect and support victims until they are eventually repatriated. JNATIP thus far has organized public forums and lobbied female lawmakers, with some success. In response to JNATIP’s approaches, one female Diet member has stated that she is eager to create a task force on human trafficking with other lawmakers. 681

674 Suvendrini Kakuchi, “Men’s Attitudes Blamed for Sex Industry Boom,” Inter Press Service, 17 December 2003. 675 “What’s New,” Beyond Border Newsletter no. 4, Spring 2004, p. 8 676 ECPAT International Online Database, 22 March 2004, http://www.ecpat.net. 677 Suvendrini Kakuchi, “Child Prostitution Finds Mobile Pimp,” Asia Times, 26 September 2001. 678 Suvendrini Kakuchi, “Men’s Attitudes Blamed for Sex Industry Boom,” Inter Press Service, 17 December 2003. 679 Harumi Ozawa, “Human Trafficking Becoming a Hot Topic,” Daily Yomiuri (Tokyo), 5 October 2003. 680 Yoshimi Nagamine, “Japan Urged to Stamp out Trafficking in Women,” Daily Yomiuri (Tokyo), 29 November 2003. See also Harumi Ozawa, “Human Trafficking Becoming a Hot Topic,” Daily Yomiuri (Tokyo), 5 October 2003. 681 Harumi Ozawa, “Human Trafficking Becoming a Hot Topic,” Daily Yomiuri (Tokyo), 5 October 2003.



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In December 2001, Japan hosted the 4-day Second World Congress against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children in Yokohama. As a result of the congress, a statement titled the “Yokohama Global Commitment 2001” was adopted, “reaffirming the need for protection and promotion of the right of every child to be protected from all forms of sexual exploitation.” More than 3,050 people attend the congress, including delegates from 136 governments and representatives of international organizations, NGOs, and the private sector.682

In 2001, a 2-day summit was held in Tokyo between Japan and members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)—Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.683 In a joint declaration at the end of the summit, the leaders of Japan and ASEAN promised to improve regional economic and security cooperation and to establish a free trade zone within 10 years. They promised to work closely to fight terrorism, piracy, and human trafficking.684

In May 2003, the Japanese government attended the East Asian and Pacific ministerial meeting on children in Bali, Indonesia. Ministers and senior government officials, NGO representatives, and other representatives from 23 countries attended. The participants of the conference unanimously adopted the “Bali Consensus,” which underlines the need for governments in the region to fulfill children’s rights and protect them.685

The Japanese government provides international aid to antitrafficking projects in Southeast Asia. Japan pledged US$3 billion in aid to Southeast Asia, half of which will be allocated for the Mekong River region (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam).686 It was announced in May 2003 that the Japanese government and the United Nations were to provide US$1.2 million for a project in Vietnam and Cambodia addressing the problem of trafficking in women and children. The project, carried out by the ILO, aims at building policies to encourage people in seven localities in the two countries to cooperate in the fight against trafficking and to raise awareness of its dangers.687

In July 2004, the government of Japan pledged US$800,000 to help improve Indonesia’s birth registration system. The contribution will support the development of a new law and guidelines for birth registration, as well as helping to fund a public awareness campaign and the production of training manuals in 10 districts of Java and eastern Indonesia.688

682 “Child Exploitation Congress Closes,” Japan Times, 21 December 2001. 683 “Two-Day ASEAN Summit on Security, Economy Begins in Tokyo,” Deutsche Presse-Agentur, 11 December 2003. 684 Amy Bickers, “ASEAN Summit Ends with Pledge for Free Trade Agreements, Aid,” Voice of America News, 12 December 2003. 685 “Twenty-Three Countries to Attend Meeting on Children in Bali,” Antara, 3 May 2003. See also United Nations Children’s Fund, “East Asian and Pacific Nations Act for Children.” News Note, 7 May 2003, http://www.unicef.org/media/media_7135.html. 686 Audrey McAvoy, “Japan Pledges US$3 Billion in Aid for ASEAN, Leaders Push for Regional Free Trade Zone,” Associated Press Worldstream, 12 December 2003. 687 “UN Pledges $1.2 Million to Prevent Human Trafficking in Vietnam and Cambodia,” Vietnam News Brief, 9 May 2003. 688 “Low Rate of Indonesian Birth Certificates Opens Way to Sex Abuse: UNICEF,” Agence France Presse, 13 July 2004.



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KIRIBATI

Trafficking Routes

Despite a lack of specific evidence on trafficking, Kiribati is believed to be a transit

country for trafficking in persons from China en route to the Marshall Islands, Australia, Canada, and the United States.


The law does not specifically prohibit trafficking of persons, and the government has

received no reports that persons were trafficked to, from, or within the country; however, some observers believe that trafficking occurs.

A number of articles in Kiribati’s Penal Code may be used to prosecute cases of trafficking. The code prohibits kidnapping, or the conveying of any person beyond the borders of Kiribati without that person’s consent.689 The offense is a felony punishable by imprisonment for 7 years.690 Abduction is defined as compelling any person by force or inducing him or her by any deceitful means to go from any place.691 Section 244 of chapter 67 of the code perhaps comes the closest to prohibiting trafficking in persons by making it a felony to kidnap or abduct “any person in order that such person may be subjected, or may be so disposed of as to be put in danger of being subjected, to grievous harm, or slavery, or the unnatural lust of any person.”692 The punishment for this offense is imprisonment for 10 years. If kidnapping or abduction is committed with the intent of secretly and wrongfully confining the victim, the punishment is imprisonment for 7 years.693 Furthermore, persons who knowingly conceal or confine a victim of kidnapping or abduction can be punished as if they had kidnapped or abducted the victim.694 Finally, it is a felony to lead, take away, decoy, entice, or detain any child below the age of 14, as well as to knowingly receive or harbor such a child. The offense is punishable by imprisonment for 7 years.695

Some provisions of the Penal Code inconsistently criminalize abduction of women and girls for sexual purposes. For example, the code makes it a felony to abduct or detain a woman of any age against her will for marriage or sexual intercourse, or for marriage to or carnal knowledge by another person. The punishment is imprisonment for 7 years.696 However, it is only a misdemeanor to abduct an unmarried girl below the age of 18, against the will of her parents, to have her engage in sexual intercourse with any man,697 or to take any unmarried girl below the age of 15, for any purpose, against the will of her parents.698 In addition, making a reasonable mistake as to the victim’s age is a complete defense.699

The code does not specifically prohibit engaging in prostitution; however, procuring or attempting to procure a woman for prostitution is a misdemeanor that is punishable by

689 Chapter 67, section 241(a). 690 Chapter 67, section 242. 691 Chapter 67, section 241(b). 692 Chapter 67, section 244. 693 Chapter 67, section 243. 694 Chapter 67, section 245. 695 Chapter 67, section 246. 696 Chapter 67, section 131. 697 Chapter 67, section 132. According to section 41 of the Penal Code, if a section defining a specific misdemeanor does not provide for a punishment, the default punishment of 2 years’ imprisonment and a fine must be applied. 698 Chapter 67, section 247. 699 Chapter 67, section 132.



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imprisonment for 2 years.700 Having the woman’s consent is not a defense.701 Specifically, the code prohibits procuring a girl below the age of 18 to have unlawful sexual intercourse with any other person; any woman or girl to become a common prostitute; any woman or girl to leave Kiribati with the intent of becoming an inmate of or frequenting a brothel elsewhere; and any woman or girl to leave her usual place of abode in Kiribati for the purpose of engaging in prostitution.702 Similarly, if threats, intimidation, false promises or false representations are used to procure any woman for sexual intercourse, or if drugs are used to overpower the victim and enable another person to have sexual intercourse with her, the perpetrator is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by 2 years’ imprisonment.703 It is a separate misdemeanor offense to conspire with another person “to induce any woman or girl, by means of any false pretense or other fraudulent means, to permit any man to have unlawful sexual intercourse with her.”704 The code also makes it a felony to procure, or attempt to procure, men for “any act of gross indecency with another male person.”705 The punishment is imprisonment for 5 years. The provisions related to procurement apply extraterritorially; however, a person may not be convicted of these offenses on the basis of uncorroborated testimony of only one witness.706

The code prohibits detaining any woman or girl against her will in a brothel or on any premises for sexual intercourse. The punishment is imprisonment of 2 years. The perpetrator is deemed to have detained a woman if he or she withholds from the victim any of her clothing or other belonging, or threatens her with legal proceedings, to compel or induce her to remain in a brothel.707 Keeping and managing a brothel or knowingly permitting one’s premises to be used as a brothel or for habitual prostitution are also prohibited.708

The Penal Code makes it a misdemeanor for a man to knowingly live off the earnings of prostitution or to publicly and persistently solicit women for immoral purposes. If a man lives with or is habitually in the company of a prostitute, he is deemed to have committed the offense.709 Likewise, it is a misdemeanor for a woman to exercise control, direction, or influence over the movements of a prostitute in a manner suggesting that she is aiding, abetting, or compelling prostitution.710

A number of provisions prohibit sexual contact with children and prostitution of children. Having any sexual contact with a girl below the age of 13 is a felony that is punishable by life imprisonment. Attempts to do so are punishable by imprisonment for 2 years.711 Sexual intercourse with a girl below the age of 15 is a misdemeanor that is punishable by imprisonment for 5 years; however, reasonably mistaking the victim’s age is a sufficient defense, and prosecution must begin within 12 months of the commission of the offense.712 The victim’s consent to sexual intercourse is irrelevant in both instances.713 An owner or occupant is prohibited from inducing a girl to have sexual intercourse with any man or and from allowing her on the premises for that purpose. If a victim is below the age of 13,

700 Chapter 67, section 136(1). 701 Chapter 67, section 136(2). 702 Chapter 67, section 136(1). 703 Chapter 67, section 137. 704 Chapter 67, section 149. 705 Chapter 67, section 155. 706 Chapter 67, sections 136 and 137. 707 Chapter 67, section 140. 708 Chapter 67, section 148. 709 Chapter 67, section 145. 710 Chapter 67, section 146. 711 Chapter 67, section 134. 712 Chapter 67, section 135. 713 Chapter 67, sections 134(3) and 135(3).



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the offense is a felony punishable by life imprisonment.714 If a victim is below the age of 15, the offense is a misdemeanor, and the punishment is imprisonment for 2 years.715 However, in both cases, the reasonable mistake as to victim’s age is a sufficient defense.716

The code also prohibits any parent or person who has custody of a child below the age of 15 from hiring out or otherwise using the minor for prostitution or unlawful sexual intercourse “or for any unlawful and immoral purpose.”717 The parent or guardian is deemed to have committed this offense when a child is let for hire to a common prostitute or other person of known immoral character.718 The punishment is imprisonment for 2 years. Hiring or otherwise obtaining possession of a child below the age of 15 for such purposes is punishable in the same way.719 Similarly, a common prostitute or other person of known immoral character who hires a child is deemed to have intended to commit the offense.720 It is also a misdemeanor for a parent or person with custody of a child below the age of 15 to assault, mistreat, neglect, or abandon the child or to expose the child to such mistreatment in a manner that is likely to cause the child “unnecessary suffering or injury to health (including … any mental derangement).”721 The punishment is imprisonment for 5 years.

Indecent assault of any woman or girl is a felony punishable by imprisonment for 5 years. If the victim is below the age of 15, her consent is irrelevant.722 Indecent assault against any man is punishable by imprisonment for 7 years.723

The code states that, in sexual offenses, any mistake as to a female victim’s age is immaterial unless the section of the code that defines the offense provides otherwise.724 A number of sections that prohibit sexual intercourse with underage girls contain a specific exception to this rule.

The Penal Code grants the courts and the police the authority to undertake measures to protect victims of sexual exploitation. Thus, a magistrate who receives sworn information giving reasonable cause to suspect that a woman or girl has been detained for immoral purposes may issue a warrant to search for the victim and take her to a safe place.725 The victim has been “unlawfully detained for immoral purposes” if she has been detained to be carnally known by any man, and if she is below the age of 15, below the age of 18 and detained against her will or the will of her parents, or over the age of 18 and detained against her will.726 The law also allows parents or other persons providing pertinent information to the magistrate to accompany the police officers during the search.727 Furthermore, if the court determines that “the seduction, prostitution, or unlawful detention of any female under the age of 18 has been caused, encouraged, or favored by her father, mother, [or] guardian,” the court may divest those persons of their parental rights and appoint a guardian.728

Kiribati’s laws may allow the actions of a victim in prostitution-related offenses to be decriminalized. For instance, the Penal Code states, “No legal proceedings, whether civil or

714 Chapter 67, section 138. 715 Chapter 67, section 139. 716 Chapter 67, sections 138 and 139. 717 Chapter 67, section 141(1). 718 Chapter 67, section 141(2). 719 Chapter 67, section 142(1). 720 Chapter 67, section 142(2). 721 Chapter 67, section 226. 722 Chapter 67, section 133. 723 Chapter 67, section 154. 724 Chapter 67, section 160. 725 Chapter 67, section 143(1). 726 Chapter 67, section 143(3). 727 Chapter 67, section 143(5). 728 Chapter 67, section 144.



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criminal, shall be taken against any such woman or girl for taking away or being found in possession of any such apparel, as was necessary to enable her to leave [the] brothel.”729

According to section 249 of the Penal Code, compelling any person to labor against his or her will is a misdemeanor.730

Multilateral Responses

In May 2003, the representatives of the government of Kiribati attended the East Asian and Pacific ministerial meeting on children in Bali, Indonesia. Ministers, senior officials, nongovernmental organizations, and other representatives from 23 countries participated. The participants unanimously adopted the Bali Consensus, which underlines the need for governments in the region to fulfill children’s rights and protect them.731

729 Chapter 67, section 140(3). 730 Chapter 67, section 249. 731 “Twenty-Three Countries to Attend Meeting on Children in Bali,” Antara, 3 May 2003. See also UNICEF, “East Asian and Pacific Nations Act for Children,” News Note, 7 May 2003, http://www.unicef.org/media/media_7135.html.



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LAOS

Trafficking Routes

The Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR) is a country of both origin and transit for trafficking in women and children. Cases have been documented of women and children being trafficked from Laos to Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, and Thailand, as well as to North America. Although there is trafficking within the Lao PDR, the vast majority of trafficking activity is believed to involve cross-border travel.732 Chinese victims are taken through Laos en route to Europe and the United States, and Vietnamese girls may be trafficked through Laos en route to Thailand.733 Factors That Contribute to the Trafficking Infrastructure

Criminal networks throughout the entire Southeast Asia region traffic young girls and women for sexual exploitation.734 Many experts believe that Laos is poised for trafficking in children because of its open borders, a stagnant economy that does not create a sufficient number of jobs, the low educational levels among its children, and a high portion of the population made up of ethnic minority groups, which are considered to be especially vulnerable to trafficking.735

Trafficking from Laos to Thailand is facilitated by the long, shared border between the two countries, by the linguistic and cultural similarities between them, and by the greater wealth in Thailand.736 One survey reported that working in Thailand was often seen as preferable to attending school in Laos because of the lack of sufficient employment opportunities in Laos.737 In Laos, the only available employment for many children and young women is a factory job with poor working conditions and a low salary. The bleak employment situation motivates children to take jobs in pubs, selling alcohol; they then gradually drift into prostitution. Other children are trafficked into prostitution through false promises of jobs as domestic servants.738


732 “Lao PDR,” International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor Mekong Subregional Project to Combat Trafficking in Women and Children, 20 September 2004, http://www.ilo.org/public/english/region/asro/bangkok/child/trafficking/wherewework-laosdetail.htm. 733 Karen C. Tumlin, “Trafficking in Children in Asia: A Regional Overview,” February 2000, http://www-ilo-mirror.cornell.edu/public/english/region/asro/bangkok/child/trafficking/downloads/jakarta.pdf. 734 Deborah Haynes, “International Community Must Fight Child Sex Networks in SE Asia: UN,” Agence

France Presse, 19 April 2004. See also Brian Calvert, “In Trafficking Case, Court Balks Again,” Cambodia

Daily, 27 February 2002. 735 Karen C. Tumlin, “Trafficking in Children in Asia: A Regional Overview,” February 2000, http://www-ilo-mirror.cornell.edu/public/english/region/asro/bangkok/child/trafficking/downloads/jakarta.pdf. 736 Annuska Derk, Combating Trafficking in South-East Asia: A Review of Policy and Programme Responses, IOM Migration Research Series 2 (Geneva: International Organization for Migration, 2000.

737 Jeswant Kaur, “Disappearing into the Underworld,” e-Media, 18 April 2004, http://www.emedia.com.my/Current_News/MM/Sunday/Frontpage/20040418082107.

738 Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, Sexually Abused and Sexually Exploited Children

and Youth in the Greater Mekong Subregion: A Qualitative Assessment of Their Health Needs and Available

Services (New York: United Nations, 2000).



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It has been estimated that at least 200,000 to 225,000 women and children are trafficked from Southeast Asia annually. Most of the trafficking occurs within the region (60 percent of the destinations are major cities of the region; 40 percent are outside the region).739

Researchers have found that sexual exploitation of Laotians mainly takes place in entertainment establishments such as nightclubs, local pubs, hotels, guesthouses, and private homes. They have found that girls are required to sit with men and encourage them to drink beer; the girls are then paid a percentage of the beer profits and are encouraged to make “easy” money by having sex with customers.740

A 2003 survey by the International Labor Organization (ILO) estimated that hundreds of Laotian children may have fallen victims to child traffickers in the 3 years preceding publication of the survey. More than half of Laotian children ages 15 to 17 who left for Thailand from three southern Laotian provinces had not been heard from since leaving home; a similar number of younger children (ages 10 to 14) had not contacted their families either.741 Lao girls are particularly vulnerable to cross-border traffickers and often end up in exploitative conditions, including prostitution, forced labor, and domestic servitude.742

There are reports that children have been recruited to serve in the Laotian government armed forces. Furthermore, given the widespread involvement of child soldiers at the nearby border between Thailand and Myanmar, there are concerns that children could be recruited by armed opposition groups in Laos.743 Government Responses

The Penal Code of Laos provides for punishment by imprisonment for 5 to 15 years

for anyone who sells, trades, or abducts a human being for ransom.744 A person seeking income from the sex trade is subject to punishment by imprisonment

for 6 months to 3 years. In addition, anyone who lives on earnings from the sex trade, who prostitutes young girls, or who forces into prostitution young girls who are dependent on him or her is subject to punishment by imprisonment for 3 to 5 years.745

Earning a living from sex procurement is a crime punishable by imprisonment for 3 months to 7 years. Also, assisting or providing facilities for prostitution is an offense punishable by imprisonment for 3 months to 1 year.746

A person who sexually abuses a child under 15 years of age in such a manner as to cause physical injury or to permanently disable the child is subject to punishment by

739 Annuska Derk, Combating Trafficking in South-East Asia: A Review of Policy and Programme Responses, IOM Migration Research Series 2 (Geneva: International Organization for Migration, 2000. 740 Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, Sexually Abused and Sexually Exploited Children

and Youth in the Greater Mekong Subregion: A Qualitative Assessment of Their Health Needs and Available

Services (New York: United Nations, 2000). 741 “Many Child Migrants in Laos Could Be Victim of Human Trafficking/ILO,” Agence France Presse, 17 December 2003. See also “Lao PDR,” International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor Mekong Subregional Project to Combat Trafficking in Women and Children, 20 September 2004, http://www.ilo.org/public/english/region/asro/bangkok/child/trafficking/wherewework-laosdetail.htm. 742 “Lao PDR,” International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor Mekong Subregional Project to Combat Trafficking in Women and Children, 20 September 2004, http://www.ilo.org/public/english/region/asro/bangkok/child/trafficking/wherewework-laosdetail.htm. 743 Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, “Laos Country Report,” In Child Soldiers Global Report, 2001 (London: Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, 2001). 744 Article 92. 745 Article 123. 746 Article 122. As an alternative to punishment by imprisonment under this provision, the Penal Code provides for reeducation of an offender without incarceration.



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imprisonment for up to 15 years.747 Punishment by imprisonment for up to 5 years can be imposed on an individual who has a sexual relationship with a child under 15 years of age.748

The Penal Code criminalizes deceiving officials for the purpose of migrating, sending people abroad, or aiding in illegal immigration.749 Punishment is imprisonment for 6 months to 3 years.750

The Labor Law prohibits forced labor.751 Employment of a child under 15 years old is prohibited,752 and guidelines are provided for employing children between the ages of 15 and 18.753 Nongovernmental and International Organization Responses

Child Wise, the Australian affiliate of ECPAT (End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography, and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes), launched a training program in August 2000 for foreign government tourist authorities and the travel and tourism industry in Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam.754

Village Focus International received a small grant to explore the issue of trafficking in Laos. The goal of the project was to build organizational expertise and to strengthen regional cooperation. Village Focus International has also received a larger grant from the U.S. State Department and a smaller amount of funding from other donors to conduct fieldwork.755 The second AusAID-funded Child Wise Think Tank meeting was held in Hanoi, Vietnam, in early July 2003 in cooperation with the Vietnamese National Administration of Tourism. Participants from National Tourism Associations of Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines, and Vietnam attended, as well as tourism representatives from the private sector and NGOs working in the area of child protection. Reiterated in this meeting was the need to pursue development of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Traveler’s Code, which calls for the protection of children from sexual exploitation in tourism.756 In January 2004, ASEAN tourist authorities and NGOs adopted the draft of the ASEAN Traveler’s Code.757 The Asia Foundation assists the Lao Women’s Union in a project to reconcile national laws on children’s and women’s rights with international conventions. The foundation also supported the first counseling services for victims of trafficking and violence in Laos and continues to support the Lao Youth Union in its production of a video on safe migration and trafficking.758

The United Nations Inter-Agency Project on Human Trafficking in the Greater Mekong Subregion (UNIAP) was established in June 2000 to facilitate a stronger and more coordinated response to trafficking in people in the Greater Mekong subregion. UNIAP brings

747 Article 119. 748 Article 120. 749 Article 69. 750 Article 69. 751 Article 4. 752 Article 37. 753 Article 37. 754 “Media Releases,” Child Wise, 16 April 2004, http://www.ecpat.org/media-releases.html. 755 “Village Focus International,” Terre des Hommes, Bangkok, 20 September 2004, http://www.tdhsea.org/out%20laos/vfilaos.htm. 756 Child Wise, “Child Wise Tourism,” ECPAT Australia 68 (February 2003):2, http://www.childwise.net/uploads/newsletter_february_2003.pdf. 757 Wahyoe Boediwardhana, “ASEAN Tourist Bodies, NGOs Move to Curb Child Exploitation,” Jakarta Post, 17 January 2004. 758 Asia Foundation, “Combating Trafficking of Women and Children,” April 2004, http://www.asiafoundation.org/pdf/Trafficking.pdf.



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together 6 governments, 13 United Nations agencies, and 8 international NGOs.759 In late 2003, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) announced its Trafficking Statistics Project, a database containing reports, articles, and other documents focusing on the trafficking problem in Asia, particularly in the Mekong subregion.760

In Laos, the ILO’s International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor (IPEC) has formed partnerships with the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare (MoLSW) and the Lao Front for National Construction. During the first stage of the ILO–IPEC Mekong Subregional Project to Combat Trafficking in Women and Children, a national steering committee under the auspices of the MoLSW was set up to bring together key stakeholders from a wide range of ministries, mass organizations, and workers’ and employers’ organizations. The second phase of the project involves setting up action plans in six provinces to eradicate trafficking, to assist in capacity building, to raise national awareness, and to provide technical assistance, together with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), to Laos and Thailand regarding their memoranda of understanding on employment migration and trafficking in persons.761

The Mekong Children’s Forum was a joint advocacy effort of the ILO–IPEC Mekong Subregional Project to Combat Trafficking in Children and Women and Save the Children U.K. In October 2004, at a conference in Bangkok, Thailand, the forum presented the Mekong Children’s Recommendations for Action on Human Trafficking to government officials from five Mekong countries—Cambodia, China (Yunnan and Guangxi provinces), Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam. Recommendations included closing karaoke bars linked to the sex trade, clamping down on corruption and bribery, and calling on parents and the public to do more to protect children from trafficking.762


In May 2003, the East Asian and Pacific ministerial meeting on children took place in Bali, Indonesia. Ministers and senior government officials, NGO representatives, and other representatives from 23 countries attended. The participants of the conference unanimously adopted the “Bali Consensus,” which underlines the need for governments in the region to fulfill children’s rights and protect them.763

Australia is to commit $A 1.5 million over 3 years to support the Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions. Recipients of the 2003–2004 Human Rights Small Grants Scheme—judges, lawyers, police, community leaders, and other citizens in Bangladesh, India, Laos, and Sri Lanka—are to receive Australian support for human rights training activities.764 The Asia Regional Cooperation to Prevent People Trafficking Project

759 “United Nations Inter-Agency Project on Human Trafficking in the Greater Mekong Sub-region,” November 2004, http://www.humantrafficking.org/countries/eap/cambodia/ngos/intl/uniap.html. 760 “Notice Board: UNESCO Launches Human Trafficking Database,” Step by Step 12 (Third Quarter 2003). 761 “Lao PDR,” International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor Mekong Subregional Project to Combat Trafficking in Women and Children, 20 September 2004, http://www.ilo.org/public/english/region/asro/bangkok/child/trafficking/wherewework-laosdetail.htm. 762 Save the Children U.K. and International Labor Organization, “Mekong Children Offer Governments Comprehensive Action Plan to Fight Human Trafficking,” press release from the Mekong Children’s Forum on Human Trafficking, Bangkok, Thailand, 11–17 October 2004. 763 “Twenty-Three Countries to Attend Meeting on Children in Bali,” Antara, 3 May 2003. See also United Nations Children’s Fund, “East Asian and Pacific Nations Act for Children.” News Note, 7 May 2003, http://www.unicef.org/media/media_7135.html. 764 “AUSAID: Human Rights Day,” M2Presswire, 10 December 2003.



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was launched in December 2003. Funded by the Australian government, the 3-year project is a collaboration between Australia, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Thailand.765


765 “Australia and Cambodia Commence Anti–Human Trafficking Initiative,” Deutsche Presse-Agentur, 19 December 2003. 766 “Six Asian Nations Progress Towards Human Trafficking Pact,” Agence France Presse, 30 July 2004.



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MACAU Trafficking Routes

Macau Special Administrative Region is a region of destination for trafficking in

women and children from Russia and Vietnam. It may also be a country of origin for women trafficked to Australia and Taiwan. Factors That Contribute to the Trafficking Infrastructure

A link is known to exist between organized crime in Macau and trafficking in persons.

Such organizations have a long history of running lucrative prostitution, gambling, and people-smuggling rackets in the country.767 Forms of Trafficking

Vietnamese women are often trafficked to Macau for forced marriage.768

Government Responses The Criminal Code of Macau prohibits selling, transferring, or purchasing a human being or reducing a person to the status of or condition of a slave for forced labor. The punishment is imprisonment of between 10 and 20 years.769 Procuring any individual for prostitution is prohibited.770 Procuring a minor for prostitution is specifically prohibited.771 The minimum age of employment is 16 years.

The code applies to acts conducted outside of Macau when those acts are committed by a national or resident of Macau and when they involve trafficking of human beings or trading in slaves.772

A law of passed in 1987 established the Penal Regime against Corruption.773 A high commission was established in 1997 to investigate cases of corruption and bribery of public servants.774

767 “Macau Beefs up Security ahead of Jiang’s Anniversary Vivist,” Agence France Presse, 15 December 2000. 768 Jackie Bong-Wright, “Gender and Development in Vietnam in the 21st Century,” paper presented at a conference on Vietnam in 2001: Prospects for Economic and Social Progress, Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, Vietnamese Professionals of America, and L’Association des Techniciens Vietnamiens d’Outre-Mer, Washington, D.C., 16–17 November 2000. 769 Article 153. 770 Article 164. 771 Article 170. 772 Article 5. 773 Decree Law No. 14/87/M of 1987. 774 Law No. 11/90/M of 1997.



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MALAYSIA Trafficking Routes

Malaysia is a country of origin, destination, and transit for trafficking in women and children. Women and children are trafficked to Malaysia from Cambodia, China, Colombia, Ecuador, India, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines, Russia, Thailand, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam. Malaysians are trafficked to Australia, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Macau, and Singapore. Sabah, a state in the south of Malaysia, is the main entrance point to Malaysia from the Philippines, particularly for Filipinas trafficked for the sex industry.775 Malaysia is a transit country for trafficking between Thailand and the Philippines as well as between other countries, such as Japan, Korea, and the United States. Internal trafficking also occurs. Factors That Contribute to the Trafficking Infrastructure

Criminal networks throughout Southeast Asia traffic young girls and women for

sexual exploitation.776 Malaysian law enforcement, lacking manpower and intelligence, is no match for powerful criminal groups involved in trafficking in Malaysia.777

More than half of the 1 million to 2 million Indonesian migrants in Malaysia are working illegally. Abuses against Indonesian workers, such as withheld wages, unsafe working conditions, verbal and physical abuse, and restrictions on freedom of movement, are rampant.778 Of the approximately 240,000 domestic workers in Malaysia, 90 percent are from Indonesia. Nearly 18,000 domestic workers escaped or ran away from their Malaysian employers in 2003, largely because of abusive working conditions. Nevertheless, because of the hidden nature and isolation of domestic work, the lack of legal protections, and the limited number of services and service providers, only a small proportion of domestic workers suffering from abuse register those complaints or seek assistance. Furthermore, the labor agencies, both licensed and unlicensed, that facilitate migration from Indonesia to Malaysia often extort money from potential migrant workers, issue fraudulent documents, and mislead women and girls about their working conditions. Abuse is compounded by the fact that labor agencies control most aspects of the migration process from Indonesia to Malaysia with very little oversight from either government.779

Chinese students form the largest contingent of the 32,000 foreign students in Malaysia. Aiming to become a regional education hub, the Malaysian government planned to set up regional recruitment offices in Chinese cities and double the intake of foreign students. Experts say traffickers take advantage of such policies by bringing in students from China,

775 Diana Wong and Gusni Saat, “Trafficking of Filipino Women to Malaysia: Examining the Experiences and Perspectives of Victims, Government and NGO Experts: Executive Summary,” United Nations Global Program against Trafficking in Human Beings, Vienna. 776 Deborah Haynes, “International Community Must Fight Child Sex Networks in SE Asia: UN,” Agence

France Presse, 19 April 2004. See also Brian Calvert, “In Trafficking Case, Court Balks Again,” Cambodia

Daily, 27 February 2002. 777 Baradan Kuppusamy, “Malaysia: Sex Traffickers Find It Easy to Evade Police,” Inter Press Service, 12 May 2004. 778 “Malaysia: Labor Accord Fails Indonesian Migrant Workers: Bilateral Agreement Denies Basic Labor Protections, Excludes Domestic Workers,” Human Rights Watch, 11 May 2004. 779 “Help Wanted: Abuses against Female Migrant Domestic Workers in Indonesia and Malaysia,” Human

Rights Watch 16, no. 9(B) (July 2004).



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paying their tuition fees, and collecting their student identification cards before sending them to work in restaurants, hotels, and brothels.780

A shortage of legal channels for adoption, as well as of babies available for adoption, fuels a growing demand for illegal adoption in Malaysia. In addition, the bureaucratic red tape involved in a legal adoption process discourages childless couples.781

Other factors that contribute to the trafficking infrastructure are scattered laws and nonuniform statistics on the trafficking problem in Malaysia. For example, the police and the Immigration Department keep different data on the issue.782 In addition, trafficking from certain areas, such as West Kalimantan, Indonesia, is facilitated by the ease with which people can cross the land border undetected.783 A visa-exemption agreement between Vietnam and Malaysia also facilitates trafficking between those two countries.784 Forms of Trafficking

At least 200,000 to 225,000 women and children are estimated to be trafficked from Southeast Asia annually. Most of the trafficking occurs within the region (60 percent to major regional cities of the region, 40 percent outside the region).785 Women and girls are trafficked to and from Malaysia for forced prostitution. Trafficking in Malaysia also exists for the purposes of forced labor and illegal adoption.

Government figures for 2002 show that 5,600 foreigners were deported for involvement in the sex trade: 2,155 Indonesians, 1,230 Chinese, 946 Thais, 298 Vietnamese, 189 Filipinos, 138 Uzbeks, and 125 Cambodians.786 More foreign women are being brought into the country for prostitution, police statistics show. For the first 6 months of 2004, police arrested 1,019 women, compared with 876 women during the same period in 2003. Many of them were found working in health spas, massage parlors, pubs, karaoke bars, nightclubs, discotheques, and private homes. The women, mostly ages 18 to 25, were from Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam. Many were jailed and deported, and action was taken against brothel and club owners.787

According to the government-backed Malaysian Human Rights Commission (Suhakam), women are lured to Malaysia with promises of jobs as maids, waitresses, or salesgirls but often end up forced into the commercial sex industry. Many of them are reluctant to tell immigration and police officers that they have been forced into the industry for fear of arrest.788 Indonesian girls and women are usually brought in as domestic maids and then sold by their agents to work in discos and bars and to provide sexual services.789 The

780 Baradan Kuppusamy, “Malaysia: ‘Noon Brides’ a Booming Business, Activists Complain,” Inter Press

Service, 15 July 2003. 781 Leslie Lau, “For Sale: China students’ Babies: The Big Demand for Babies among Infertile Couples Has Fuelled a Lucrative but Illegal Adoption Racket in Malaysia,” Straits Times (Singapore), 2 December 2002. 782 Jeswant Kaur, “Disappearing into the Underworld,” e-Media, 18 April 2004, http://www.emedia.com.my/Current_News/MM/Sunday/Frontpage/20040418082107. 783 “Women and Children Trafficking in W. Kalimantan Worst in Indonesia,” Antara, 22 September 2003. 784 “Malaysian National Jailed in Vietnam for Trafficking Prostitutes,” Agence France Presse, 26 September 2003. 785 Annuska Derk, Combating Trafficking in South-East Asia: A Review of Policy and Programme Responses, IOM Migration Research Series 2 (Geneva: International Organization for Migration, 2000. 786 Baradan Kuppusamy, “Malaysia: ‘Noon Brides’ a Booming Business, Activists Complain,” Inter Press

Service, 15 July 2003. 787 Adrian David, “More Foreign Women Being Lured Here for Vice,” New Straits Times (Malaysia), 31 July 2004. 788 Annie Freeda Cruez, “Chinese Girls Lured by Tales of Love, Riches,” New Straits Times (Malaysia), 12 August 2004. 789 “Girls Lured to Work in M’sia End up in Sex Industry—Suhakam Report,” Bernama, 1 June 2004.



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Malaysian and Indonesian police cooperated in uncovering an Indonesian criminal syndicate that trafficked about 200 Indonesian women to Malaysia for sexual exploitation from 2001 to 2003. Most of the victims were between the ages of 17 and 25 and were sold to pimps in Malaysia for between RM 1,700 (US$425) and RM 3,500.790

Girls from Thailand who come to work as masseuses or as tourists also end up in prostitution. Chinese girls come as students or as tourists. Commonly, Chinese girls have Malaysian boyfriends who abandon the girls after they are detained for overstaying in Malaysia.791 In addition, a popular phenomenon exists in Malaysia known as “noon brides,” in which young women, often from rural China, are kept in luxury condominiums by older, rich Malaysian businessmen for company and sex. Many noon brides are lured to Malaysia on the pretext of working in offices, as nurses, or as interpreters. Some are forced into sexual relations.792

Indonesian domestic workers in Malaysia suffer abuse at every step of the hiring process. Before they even reach Malaysia, they deal with “unscrupulous labor agents, discriminatory hiring processes, and months-long confinement in overcrowded training centers.”793 Recruiters often withhold information about the working conditions that the women will encounter. When they enter Malaysia, the domestic workers typically work 16 to 18 hours a day, 7 days a week, with little rest during the day. Earnings average US$92 to US$105 per month (half the amount a Filipina domestic worker earns). Some fail to ever receive the money owed to them; others receive it all in one lump sum at the end of a 2-year contract. Often their passports are confiscated and they are forbidden from contact with the outside world.794

Malaysian girls are trafficked internally for forced prostitution. In the first 6 months of 2004, police rescued six local underage girls from vice syndicates.795

Malaysian women are trafficked abroad for the commercial sex industry. In October 2001, police in Vancouver, Canada, infiltrated a prostitution ring involving 11 Malaysian women. At least five of them had been duped by traffickers before their arrival in Canada, and all 11 were subject to slavelike abuses while working in Canada. Canadian authorities deported them back to Malaysia when none agreed to testify.796

More recently, Canadian police learned of a “trafficking pipeline” that brought Malaysian, Thai, and Vietnamese women into British Columbia for the sex industry. The women arrived on student or visitor’s visas, and many bought fake certificates stating that they were trained massage therapists. The women were shipped back and forth between Vancouver and Calgary to work in massage parlors. Many have now disappeared into the Asian communities of Vancouver, Calgary, and Toronto. The suspected mastermind behind the scheme told undercover police that he had a contact in Vancouver who owned a brothel filled with Malaysian women and moved them every 6 months to avoid detection.797

790 “Indonesia: Women Trafficking Gang Uncovered,” Jakarta Post, 12 February 2004. 791 “Girls Lured to Work in M’sia End up in Sex Industry—Suhakam Report,” Bernama, 1 June 2004. 792 Baradan Kuppusamy, “Malaysia: ‘Noon Brides’ a Booming Business, Activists Complain,” Inter Press

Service, 15 July 2003. 793 “Help Wanted: Abuses against Female Migrant Domestic Workers in Indonesia and Malaysia,” Human

Rights Watch 16, no. 9(B) (July 2004), p. 5. 794 “Help Wanted: Abuses against Female Migrant Domestic Workers in Indonesia and Malaysia,” Human

Rights Watch 16, no. 9(B) (July 2004). 795 Adrian David, “More Foreign Women Being Lured Here for Vice,” New Straits Times (Malaysia), 31 July 2004. 796 Monique Trepanier, “Trafficking in Women for Purposes of Sexual Exploitation: A Matter of Consent?” Canadian Woman Studies, June 2003. 797 “Human Trafficking Pipeline; Far-Reaching Sex Ring,” Edmonton Sun, 10 November 2003.



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Hundreds of Chinese men and women from Malaysia have gone to work in restaurants and fast-food chains in the United Kingdom. Suspected of working for criminal organizations based in Malaysia, the illegal immigrants probably answer ads in Malaysian newspapers offering travel and employment in exchange for large sums of money. They arrive in the United Kingdom financially indebted to the criminal groups. The illegal immigrants have been sent to work in Chinese restaurants and fast-food outlets in all major cities of the United Kingdom.798

Babies are illegally trafficked for adoption in Malaysia from Indonesia799 and Thailand.800 Malaysian authorities have investigated an illegal baby adoption syndicate involving Chinese students studying in Malaysia. Chinese students are approached and offered money to be surrogate mothers, and childless Malaysian couples are approached to buy those babies. 801 Government Responses

The Women and Girls Protection Act802 prohibits procurement of a female for the

purpose of prostitution either inside the country or elsewhere.803 It is also illegal to detain a female in a brothel or any other place against her will with the intent that she be employed or used for the purpose of prostitution or for any unlawful or immoral purpose.804

Trafficking in female persons is explicitly prohibited. The act states that imprisonment for up to 5 years, a fine, or both will be imposed on “[a]ny person who buys, sells, traffics in, or procures or brings into or takes out of Malaysia for the purpose of such traffic, and whether or not for the purpose of present or subsequent prostitution, any female person.”805

Living on the earnings of prostitution is punishable by a fine, imprisonment for up to 5 years, or both.806 A second or subsequent offense is punishable by whipping in addition to the prison term.807 If a person is proven to live with or be habitually in the company of a woman in prostitution or to have exercised control, direction, or influence over the movements of a woman in prostitution in such a manner as to show that the person is aiding, abetting, or compelling her prostitution, the person is deemed to be knowingly living on the earnings of prostitution.808

Keeping or managing a place of public resort for the purpose of prostitution is punishable by imprisonment for up to 3 years, a fine, or both.809 Maintaining a brothel is punishable by imprisonment for up to 5 years, a fine, or both.810 The act also prohibits soliciting in any place of public resort for the purpose of prostitution. Punishment is imprisonment for up to 6 months, a fine, or both.811

798 Hugo Duncan, “Three Held over Trafficking Ring,” Press Association, 25 August 2004. 799 Robert Go, “Malaysia: Baby Trafficking, Child Trading Pose Problem for Jakarta,” Straits Times (Singapore), 22 July 2002. 800 “Outlook Poor for Thai kids Adopted in M’sia,” Nation (Thailand), 15 October 2003. 801 Leslie Lau, “For Sale: China students’ Babies: The Big Demand for Babies among Infertile Couples Has Fuelled a Lucrative but Illegal Adoption Racket in Malaysia,” Straits Times (Singapore), 2 December 2002. 802 Act No. 106 of 1973. 803 Article 16(a–g). 804 Article 16(h–j). 805 Article 18. 806 Article 19(1). 807 Article 19(2). 808 Article 19(3). 809 Article 20. 810 Article 21. 811 Article 22.



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The 1997 Anticorruption Act812 criminalizes soliciting or accepting any gratification as an inducement or reward for doing or refraining from doing an act in relation to a public official’s public duties.813 Punishment for the offense is up to 20 years’ imprisonment.814 The act established the Anticorruption Agency to implement its provisions.815

In 2002, Malaysia passed the Child Act,816 which provides for protection of children in need.817 The act imposes a punishment of imprisonment for up to 15 years and a fine on anyone who (a) sells, lets for hire, buys, hires, or otherwise disposes of a child for the purpose of prostitution within or outside of Malaysia;818 (b) procures a child for prostitution within or outside of Malaysia;819 (c) brings, takes out of Malaysia, or assists in bringing or taking out of Malaysia by false pretenses, false representation, fraudulent, or deceitful means a child for prostitution;820 (d) brings into Malaysia, receives, or harbors a child, knowing that a child has been procured for purposes of prostitution;821 (e) detains a child in a brothel against the child’s will;822 (f) detains a child in a place against a child’s will with the intent of employing a child in prostitution;823 (g) advertises a child for purposes of prostitution or seeks information for that purpose;824 or (h) attempts to do any of those acts.825

Aiding, abetting, or controlling a prostitution of a child is punishable by imprisonment for up to 3 years, a fine, and whipping of not more than six strokes.826 The same punishment is imposed on anyone who “engages or hires, for any valuable consideration, a child to provide services for that person’s sexual gratification.”827

The act criminalizes participating in the unlawful transfer of possession, custody, or control of a child. Punishment is imprisonment for up to 5 years, a fine, or both.828 The same punishment applies to any person who unlawfully harbors a child “with respect to whom the temporary or permanent possession, custody, or control has been transferred or conferred for valuable consideration by any other person within or outside Malaysia.”829

The act punishes importation of a child by false pretenses by imprisonment for up to 5 years, a fine, or both.830 The same punishment applies to anyone who takes or sends out a child, whether within or outside of Malaysia, without appropriate consent of the person having lawful custody.831

The Women and Girls Protection Act provides for the removal of a woman or girl in prostitution to a “place of refuge,”832 especially if she is “in urgent need of protection as there

812 Act No. 575 of 1997. 813 Sections 10–15. 814 Section 16. 815 Sections 3–9. 816 Act No. 611, 2001. 817 Part VI. 818 Article 43(1)(a). 819 Article 43(1)(b). 820 Article 43(1)(c). 821 Article 43(1)(d). 822 Article 43(1)(f). 823 Article 43(1)(g). 824 Article 43(1)(h). 825 Article 43(1)(k). 826 Article 43(1)(i). 827 Article 43(1)(j). 828 Article 48(1). 829 Article 48(2). 830 Article 49. 831 Article 52. 832 Section 7 states, “(1) If the Protector has reasonable cause to believe that any female person under the age of 21 years (a) is being trained or used for the purpose of prostitution or any immoral purposes, or (b) lives in or frequents any brothels, or (c) is habitually in the company or under the control of brothel-keepers or procurers or



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is reasonable cause to believe that she is being threatened or intimidated for the purpose of prostitution.”833 The act affords the same protection to a trafficked woman who “has been brought into or is to be sent out of Malaysia” for the purpose of prostitution.834

The Women and Girls Protection Act provides that no witness in any proceeding under the act is obliged or permitted to disclose the identity of an informer or the substance of the information received from him or her. Similarly, a witness is not obliged or permitted to state any matter that might lead to the informer’s discovery.835

The constitution states, “No person shall be held in slavery,”836 and “All forms of forced labor are prohibited.”837

In 2002, when the Penal Code was amended, a number of prostitution-related offenses from the Women and Girls Protection Act were adopted. In particular, the amendments included a crime of exploitation for the purposes of prostitution in section 372.

According to a recent Human Rights Watch report, Malaysia’s “employment laws do not extend equal protection to domestic workers, leaving their work hours, payment of overtime wages, rest days, and compensation for workplace injuries unregulated. The Malaysian government leaves the resolution of most workplace abuse cases to profit-motivated labor suppliers, who are often accused of committing abuses themselves.”

Malaysian immigration policies tie domestic workers’ employment visas to their employers, thereby discouraging women from leaving their employers, even under abusive conditions. Immigration authorities and police detain and deport workers caught without valid documents, rarely identifying cases of abuse or trafficking.838

Suhakam was established under the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia Act 1999. The functions of Suhakam, as set out in section 4(1) of the act, are “to promote awareness of and provide education relating to human rights; to advise and assist the Government in formulating legislation and procedures and recommend the necessary measures to be taken; to recommend to the Government with regard to subscription or accession of treaties and other international instruments in the field of human rights; and to inquire into complaints regarding infringements of human rights.”839 Suhakam organized a workshop titled “National Trafficking: The Importance of Developing a National Plan of Action” in October 2004 in Kuala Lumpur. Representatives from law enforcement authorities, government agencies, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and foreign embassies participated.840 Suhakam has

persons employed or directly interested in business carried on in brothels or in connection with prostitution, he may … order such female person to be removed to a place of refuge and there temporarily detained and brought before the Court of a Magistrate within 24 hours.” Under section 8 of the same act, she may be detained in a place of refuge for a period of 3 years, and then placed under the supervision of the social welfare officer appointed by the protector for that purpose. 833 Section 9 states that “any female may on her own application in writing be received by the Protector into a place of refuge if the Protector is satisfied that such female is in urgent need of protection as there is reasonable cause to believe that … she is being threatened or intimidated for the purpose of prostitution or for the purpose of having carnal knowledge with another for any immoral purpose.” 834 Section 10. 835 Article 32(1). Article 32(2) further provides that “if any books, documents, or papers which are evidence or liable to inspection in any civil or criminal proceeding whatsoever contain any entry in which any informer is named or described or which might lead to his discovery, the Court shall cause all such passages to be concealed from view or to be obliterated so far as may be necessary to protect the informer from discovery.” 836 Article 6(1). 837 Article 6(2). 838 “Help Wanted: Abuses against Female Migrant Domestic Workers in Indonesia and Malaysia,” Human

Rights Watch 16, no. 9(B) (July 2004). 839 Human Rights Commission of Malaysia, “Functions & Powers,” October 2004, http://www.suhakam.org.my/en/about_functions.asp. 840 Human Rights Commission of Malaysia, “Events & Activities,” October 2004, http://www.suhakam.org.my/en/events/details.asp?id=170.



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called for more humane treatment for victims as well as a national task force to fight the growing exploitation of foreign women.841

The Malaysian government has been criticized for treating trafficking victims as criminals. Currently, most victims are charged regardless of whether they came voluntarily to work in the sex industry or were lured with false promises by agents. They are often imprisoned for overstaying their visas, not possessing valid documents, or engaging in prostitution.842 Recently, the Attorney General’s Office called for tougher sentences for traffickers and others who force women and girls into prostitution. However, it is questionable whether harsher sentences will affect the problem if the level of enforcement remains the same. In 2002, police investigated only 10 cases of forced prostitution and prostitution in general. Of those, 9 cases were prosecuted, 7 resulted in convictions, and 2 are still pending in court (as of May 2004). In 2003, police reportedly investigated 83 cases related to prostitution. Of those, 31 cases were prosecuted, 23 resulted in convictions, and 8 are pending in court. A further 41 cases are still under investigation (as of May 2004). This increase represents only a small percentage of prostitution-related incidents. For example, in 2003, a total of 5,878 foreign nationals were deported for involvement in prostitution; thousands more probably remain undetected.843


Women’s Aid Organization (WAO) is an NGO, providing shelter, counseling, and assistance to female victims of violence and their children, abused foreign domestic workers, and trafficking victims. WAO also operates a hotline for domestic workers who are being abused.844 All Women’s Action Society (AWAM) offers counseling and legal advice for women in crisis. Together with the Bar Council Legal Aid Centre, AWAM offers women free legal advice in the areas of family, labor, and immigration law.845

Tenaganita is an organization working to protect the rights of women and migrant workers. Programs include a national focal point program (an information-gathering source on migration); a migrant rights and health desk; a domestic workers program; and a program on trafficking in women and children that includes rescue, counseling, repatriation, advocacy, networking, and skills development.846 Multilateral Initiatives

In May 2003, the Malaysian government attended the East Asian and Pacific

ministerial meeting on children in Bali, Indonesia. Ministers and senior officials, NGO representatives, and other representatives from 23 countries attended. The participants of the conference unanimously adopted the “Bali Consensus,” which underlines the need for governments in the region to fulfill children’s rights and protect them.847

841 “Humane Treatment Sought for Foreign Sex-Trade Victims in Malaysia,” Agence France Presse, 14 April 2004. 842 “Humane Treatment Sought for Foreign Sex-Trade Victims in Malaysia,” Agence France Presse, 14 April 2004. 843 Yong Tiam Kui, “Checking the Flesh Trade,” New Straits Times (Malaysia), 9 May 2004. 844 “Women’s Aid Organization,” Human Trafficking.org, October 2004, http://www.humantrafficking.org/countries/eap/malaysia/ngos/national/womens_aid.html. 845 “All Women’s Action Society (AWAM),” Human Trafficking.org, October 2004, http://www.humantrafficking.org/countries/eap/malaysia/ngos/national/awam.html. 846 “Tenaganita (Women’s Force),” Human Trafficking.org, October 2004, http://www.humantrafficking.org/countries/eap/malaysia/ngos/national/tenaganita.html. 847 “Twenty-Three Countries to Attend Meeting on Children in Bali,” Antara, 3 May 2003.



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The Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission facilitated the 23–24 October 2003 Stop the Traffic 2 Conference with the National Human Rights Commission of India and the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia. The conference focused on women trafficked to Australia for prostitution and other women experiencing abuse within the sex industry.848

In January 2004, the Malaysian prime minister, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, made an official visit to Cambodia during which he and the Cambodian prime minister, Hun Sen, discussed the issue of trafficking in persons. Badawi agreed to a request by Hun Sen to send Cambodian trafficking victims in Malaysia home through the Cambodian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur.849

In May 2004, Malaysia and Indonesia signed an agreement on labor migration. The agreement was criticized by Human Rights Watch for denying basic protections to migrant workers and for excluding household workers. The agreement seeks to regulate recruitment procedures for the hundreds of thousands of Indonesians who migrate to Malaysia every year.850 As of July 2004, both countries were negotiating a memorandum of understanding on domestic workers. 851

848 “‘Tackling Trafficking’: Progress Paper on the Role of NHRIs,” Asia Pacific Human Rights Network, New Delhi, India, February 2004. 849 “Malaysian PM in Cambodia to Discuss Fight against Human Trafficking,” Deutsche Presse-Agentur, 26 January 2004. 850 “Malaysia: Labor Accord Fails Indonesian Migrant Workers: Bilateral Agreement Denies Basic Labor Protections, Excludes Domestic Workers,” Human Rights Watch, 11 May 2004. 851 “Help Wanted: Abuses against Female Migrant Domestic Workers in Indonesia and Malaysia,” Human

Rights Watch 16, no. 9(B) (July 2004).



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MALDIVES

Trafficking Routes Little information is available on trafficking in persons in Maldives.

Forms of Trafficking and Factors That Contribute to the Trafficking Infrastructure

Although tourism is a major source of income in Maldives, the government claims that it does not face a problem with child sex tourism. It attributes this absence of child sex tourism to the geographical characteristics of the country and the strict rules for tourists. For example, tourists are prohibited from staying on local inhabited islands without permission; as a result, tourists have little contact with local people. Furthermore, the local culture and religion strictly forbid prostitution, and discussing topics of a sexual nature is taboo.852

The Maldives government also claims that commercial sexual exploitation of children is not a problem.853 Government Responses

According to the Maldives government, legislation pertaining to trafficking is unnecessary, because trafficking is not an issue in the country.854 Nongovernmental and International Organization Responses

The Change Makers Maldives, a group of children and young adults, works to address issues related to child rights and child abuse.855

In September 2004, a UNICEF-sponsored 3-day meeting with South Asian governments, United Nations agencies, and NGOs took place in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Government officials signed a five-point joint statement, agreeing that children in South Asia deserve better protection from traffickers and sexual abusers. Participating countries were Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.856 Multilateral Initiatives

In January 2004, leaders from the member states of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC)—Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka—met in Islamabad for the first summit in 2 years. SAARC, founded in 1985, promotes cultural ties and economic and social development among member states. At the previous summit, in 2002, the member states adopted conventions to step up cooperation among law enforcement authorities to fight the trafficking of women and children, terrorism, and the drug trade.857

852 End Child Prostitution, Pornography, and Trafficking (ECPAT) International Online Database, 15 March 2004, http://www.ecpat.net. 853 ECPAT International Online Database, 15 March 2004, http://www.ecpat.net. 854 ECPAT International Online Database, 15 March 2004, http://www.ecpat.net. 855 ECPAT International Online Database, 15 March 2004, http://www.ecpat.net. 856 “Child Sex-Declaration,” United News of Bangladesh, 1 October 2004. 857 “Background and Facts on the SAARC Forum,” Associated Press Worldstream, 6 January 2004.



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MARSHALL ISLANDS Trafficking Routes

Families in the United States have illegally adopted children and infants from the Marshall Islands. Factors That Contribute to the Trafficking Infrastructure

Because of a law passed by the Marshall Islands parliament in 2002, all adoptions are required to go through the court system as of 1 October 2003. To circumvent this law, adoption agencies have allegedly flown pregnant women to the United States to give birth, after which the babies are handed over for adoption there.858 According to one study, “extreme poverty, breakdown of traditional family support systems, and the exploitation of the cultural understanding of adoptions” have propelled some Marshallese women to give up their children for adoption. Whereas for Americans and Westerners adoption of a child implies a severance of all ties with the birth mother and her family, in the Marshall Islands adoption is seen as linking the birth family and the adoptive family. Thinking in this way, many Marshallese women give their children up for adoption unaware that they are permanently relinquishing all rights to their children. Of Marshallese mothers interviewed for the study, 82.2 percent reported that, at the time they agreed to hand their baby over to the adoption agency, they believed their child would return to them at the age of 18 “with a good education and material wealth.”859 Forms of Trafficking

According to reports, Hawaii-based adoption agencies have solicited Marshallese women to put their children up for adoption, charging the adopting families thousands of dollars.860 Marshallese women have been flown to Hawaii, where they deliver their babies and then turn them over to agencies for adoption by American families.861 Pregnant women have also allegedly flown to Oklahoma, Utah, and some other states for the same purpose.862


The Criminal Code does not criminalize trafficking in people as a sex crime.863 The constitution states, “No person shall be held in slavery or involuntary servitude, nor shall any person be required to perform forced or compulsory labor.”864

858 “Illegal Adoptions Found to Continue: Island Officials Seek Help from U.S. to Stop Practice,” Baltimore Sun, 19 February 2004. 859 Jini L. Roby and Stephanie Matsumura, “If I Give You My Child, Aren’t We Family? A Study of Birthmothers Participating in Marshall Islands—U.S. Adoptions,” Adoptions Quarterly 5, no. 4 (2002): 7–31. 860 “Marshall Islands to Crack down on Illegal Adoptions,” BBC Worldwide Monitoring, 5 February 2004. 861 “New Concerns about Illegal Adoptions of Marshall Islands Babies,” PacNews, 13 April 2004 862 “Illegal Adoptions Found to Continue: Island Officials Seek Help from U.S. to Stop Practice,” Baltimore Sun, 19 February 2004. 863 However, under articles 151–153, the code recognizes incest, rape, and sodomy as sex crimes. Punishment for rape is imprisonment for up to 25 years. 864 Section 2(1). Section 2(2) clarifies that, for the purposes of this section, the term forced or compulsory labor does not include (a) any labor required by the sentence or order of a court, (b) any other labor required of a person lawfully detained if reasonably necessary for the maintenance of the place of detention, or (c) any service required by law in lieu of compulsory military service when that service has been lawfully required of others.



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The Criminal Code criminalizes the voluntary giving or receiving of anything of value as a corrupt payment for an official act. The payment in that circumstance is considered bribery. Punishment for the bribery offense is imprisonment for up to 5 years and a fine.865 The Criminal Code imposes a penalty of imprisonment not exceeding 10 years for anyone who commits an offense of kidnapping.866

In 2002, the Marshall Islands passed the Adoption Act,867 which applies to the adoption “of all resident children of the Marshall Islands.”868 Under the act, a child is any person under 16 years of age.869 The act states that children eligible for adoption are children who have not attained the age of 16 years.870

Under the act, the High Court of the Republic of Marshall Islands has “original and exclusive jurisdiction to grant an adoption.”871 Pursuant to the act,872 the Central Adoption Authority was established in February 2004.873 Some of the duties of the Central Adoption Authority are to investigate into “the backgrounds and circumstances under which an adoption is being proposed by the natural parents,”874 to monitor postadoption progress,875 and to provide a resource to adoptive parents for postadoption consultation.876

It is unlawful to “solicit the birth parents of a child, guardians of a child, or member of their families and other relatives to put up a child for adoption.”877 In addition, it is unlawful to facilitate contact between the prospective adoptive parents and the child’s natural parents.878 Also prohibited is “knowingly encouraging, advising, or facilitating a person to travel outside the Republic for purposes of placing that person’s child or children, whether born or unborn, for adoption.”879 It is unlawful for anyone to offer financial remuneration,880 aid,881 gifts,882 promises of items of monetary value,883 or future opportunities to any natural parent or guardian884 for the purpose of inducing that parent or guardian to relinquish parental rights or to consent to an adoption.

The act further defines who is eligible to petition for adoption,885 when consent to adoption is required,886 when consent is not required,887 and when consent can be revoked.888

865 Article 118. 866 Article 135. 867 Adoption Act 2002, passed at the 23rd Constitutional Regular Session, P.L. 2002–64. 868 Section 2(1). 869 Section 3(1)(h). 870 Section 18. 871 Section 4. 872 Section 5 on “Establishment of Central Adoption Authority.” 873 “Marshall Islands to Crack down on Illegal Adoptions,” BBC Worldwide Monitoring, 5 February 2004. 874 Section 6(1)(b). 875 Section 6(1)(d). 876 Section 6(1)(e). 877 Section 10(a). 878 Section 10(b). 879 Section 10(c). 880 Section 29(1)(a). 881 Section 29(1)(b). 882 Section 29(1)(c). 883 Section 29(1)(d). 884 Section 29(1)(e). 885 Section 11. 886 Section 13. 887 Section 16. 888 Section 17.



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When deciding about granting the adoption, the court needs to consider whether the adoption is in the best interest of the child.889

Any violation of the Adoption Act is an offense punishable by a fine, imprisonment for no more than 12 months, or both.890

In October 2001, the parliament of the Marshall Islands passed new antiprostitution legislation.891 In July 2004, the High Court of the Marshall Islands, applying the new antiprostitution law, sent a Chinese national, Wang Ya Zhen, to prison for 90 days and fined her US$1,000.892

The authority for immigration matters has been transferred to the Attorney General’s Office, which is charged with the approval procedure for the issuance of passports. The change is aimed at providing a more controlled environment for the issuance of these documents.893 Effective 1 March 2004, the Central Adoption Authority determined that only one U.S. adoption agency, Journeys of the Heart from Hillsborough, Oregon, is licensed to facilitate international adoptions between the Marshall Islands and the United States.894

To combat the recent increase in illegal migration to the islands, the government has implemented an advance application requirement for Asian nationals desiring a visa to enter the Marshall Islands. Visitors who have met the basic criteria are granted a 1-month visitor’s visa on arrival. The visa can be extended to 90 days, provided that valid proof of financial support is available.895

889 Section 25(d). In addition, section 25(d) states that the court needs to consider whether the necessary consent has been obtained, whether the consent has been given voluntarily, and whether the natural parent or guardian fully understands the consequences of an adoption. 890 Section 30. 891 Fili Sagapolutele and Giff Johnson, “Government Briefs: Marshall Islands,” Pacific Islands.cc, http://www.pacificislands.cc/pm122001/pmdefault.cfm?articleid=11. 892 “First Woman Convicted under Marshalls’ Prostitution Law,” Radio New Zealand, 1 July 2004. 893 “Focus on Passports,” Marshall Islands Journal, 18 January 2002, http://166.122.164.43/archive/2002/February/02-07-10.htm. 894 Joint Council on International Children’s Services, “Marshall Islands Licenses Only One Adoption Agency,” 14 April 2004, http://www.jcics.org/Marshall_Islands.htm. 895 “Marshalls Move to Stem Illegal Aliens,” Marianas Variety, 17 January 2003, http://166.122.164.43/archive/2003/January/01-17-08.htm.



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FEDERATED STATES OF MICRONESIA Trafficking Routes

Little information is available on trafficking in persons in the Federated States of Micronesia.


There is no legislation specifically dealing with trafficking. Other general provisions

may be applied to instances of trafficking, however. For example, the constitution states that slavery and involuntary servitude are prohibited except to punish crime. The removal or confinement of any child younger than 14 by force, deception, or threat without his or her parents’ consent is prohibited.

The law also prohibits kidnapping, which under the code of the state of Kosrae is defined as “forcibly or fraudulently and deceitfully, and without authority, imprisoning, seizing, detaining, or inveigling away any person … with intent to cause the person to be secreted against his will, or sent out of the State against his will, or sold or held as a slave or for ransom.”896 Kidnapping is defined as a category one felony and is punishable by imprisonment of up to 10 years, by a fine of up to US$20,000, or by both.897

Prostitution is illegal in Micronesia. According to the law of the state of Chuuk, prostitution is defined as “the act of performing, or offering or agreeing to perform, a sexual act for hire, either as a prostitute or as a customer of a prostitute.”898 Punishment for the offense is a fine or imprisonment for not more than 1 year.

The Criminal Code of the state of Pohnpei also explicitly prohibits practicing prostitution or aiding in that practice. Punishment for the offense is a fine or imprisonment for up to 6 months.899 The code also forbids pandering, which is defined as “causing, inducing, persuading, or encouraging another person by promises, threats, violence, or by any means or scheme to engage in the practice of prostitution.”900 The pandering offense also covers receiving, giving, or agreeing to receive or give any money or thing of value for procuring or attempting to procure another person for prostitution.901 Punishment for the offense is imprisonment for up to 1 year, a fine, or both.902

A number of provisions criminalize sexual relationships with minor children. For instance, under the code of the state of Kosrae, it is a category one felony to have any sexual contact with a child under the age of 13.903 The code of the state of Yap similarly prohibits sexual contact with children under the age of 13 and punishes such acts with imprisonment of up to 10 years, a fine of up to US$10,000, or both.904 The code of the state of Chuuk punishes sexual contact with children under 13 with imprisonment of up to 5 years and a fine of up to

896 Section 13.306. 897 Section 13.1201. 898 Chuuk State Law No. 2-94-2, section 1(F). The section further states, “Prostitution includes engaging in or agreeing or offering to engage in sexual conduct with another person, and engaging in any lewd act between persons, for money or other consideration, either as the person paying or the person receiving the money or other consideration.” 899 Pohnpei State Law No. 176-84, section 8-7. 900 Section 8-9(2)(a). 901 Section 8-9(2)(b). 902 Section 8-9(1). 903 Section 13.312. 904 Section 206.



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US$5,000.905 However, a reasonable mistake as to victim’s age can be used as a defense under the codes of both Yap and Chuuk.

In February 2002, the president of the Federated States of Micronesia signed new legislation establishing money laundering as a national crime. The new legislation enables the government to identify, seize, and confiscate any proceeds from such crimes.906

905 Section 2054. 906 Freedom House, “Country and Related Territory Reports: Micronesia,” Freedom in the World 2001–2002

(New York: Freedom House, 2002), http://www.freedomhouse.org/research/freeworld/2002/countryratings/micronesia.htm.



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MONGOLIA

Trafficking Routes

Mongolia is a country of origin and transit for trafficking in women and children.

Women from Mongolia are trafficked to Asian countries, such as China, South Korea, and Turkey, as well as European countries. Factors That Contribute to the Trafficking Infrastructure

Since 1990, poverty and homelessness among Mongolia’s youth have forced many girls and young women to turn to prostitution. The 2000 census put the number of homeless children at 1,300; police reports suggested about 100 girls were involved in prostitution. However, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) place these numbers considerably higher.907 Forms of Trafficking

Trafficking is a relatively new phenomenon in Mongolia.908 A group of 11 trafficked Mongolian women was repatriated from China in June 2004. The women were promised work in a Beijing restaurant, but after traveling there in January 2004, they were forced into prostitution.909

One report stated that illegal female immigrants from Ethiopia living in Mongolia have been forced to dance naked there.910 Government Responses

The Criminal Code of Mongolia prohibits habitual prostitution. Punishment is a fine

or imprisonment for up to 2 years.911 The code prohibits involving a minor in prostitution. Punishment is a fine or imprisonment for up to 4 years.912 The punishment increases to imprisonment for up to 5 years in cases of organized criminal activities.913

Recruiting others into prostitution and sending others abroad for the purpose of prostitution is an offense punishable by imprisonment for 3 to 8 years.914

In addition, the code prohibits intercourse with a minor younger than 16 years of age. Punishment is imprisonment for up to 3 years or correctional labor for up to 1 year.915

The government of Mongolia and the International Labor Organization signed a memorandum of understanding in 2002 in connection with the second stage of the International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor.916

907 “Mongolia Attempting to Combat Child Homelessness, Prostitution,” BBC Monitoring International Reports, 5 March 2004. 908 Asia Foundation, “Combating Trafficking of Women and Children,” April 2004, http://www.asiafoundation.org/pdf/Trafficking.pdf. 909 “Mongolian Women Trafficked to China Freed, Return Home,” BBC Monitoring International Reports, 13 June 2004. 910 “IOM Official Says Ethiopian Women in Mongolia Forced to Dance Naked,” BBC Monitoring International

Reports, 8 March 2004. 911 Article 111(2). 912 Article 111(1). 913 Article 111(3). 914 Article 111-1. 915 Article 110.



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The Asia Foundation supported research by the Center for Human Rights and Development to increase the understanding of trafficking in Mongolia, recommend policy responses, and establish baseline data on the problem in the country.917

The United Nations Children’s Fund, in cooperation with the Mongolian government, provides health and nutritional care, supplementary education for children from underprivileged families, guidance for homeless children, and rehabilitation for young female victims of trafficking and sexual exploitation.918

The Mongolian Youth Development Centre (MYDC) offers social, educational, physical, and cultural opportunities for children. The MYDC runs a rehabilitation program to assist girls in Ulaanbaatar involved in prostitution.919

916 “Mongolia, International Labour Organization Sign Memorandum on Child Labour,” BBC Monitoring

International Reports, 16 October 2002. 917 Asia Foundation, “Combating Trafficking of Women and Children,” April 2004, http://www.asiafoundation.org/pdf/Trafficking.pdf. 918 “Noblesse Oblige in Global Village,” Korea Herald, 11 August 2004. 919 “Mongolia, International Labour Organization Sign Memorandum on Child Labour,” BBC Monitoring

International Reports, 16 October 2002.



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MYANMAR

Trafficking Routes

Myanmar is mainly a country of origin for trafficking in women and children. The

majority of victims are trafficked to Thailand, but women and children are also trafficked to Australia, China, Singapore, and Taiwan. Jungle paths from Myanmar to Thai villages are used for transporting victims of trafficking. Victims are trafficked from other areas of Myanmar to towns along the China–Myanmar border. Additionally, Myanmar serves as a transit point for Chinese girls trafficked to northern Thailand and as a country of destination for women from Vietnam. Children are trafficked internally within the country to serve as soldiers. Factors That Contribute to the Trafficking Infrastructure

Criminal networks throughout Southeast Asia traffic young girls and women for sexual exploitation.920

Poverty, civil unrest, and political conditions are major factors that contribute to trafficking in women and children in Myanmar. Myanmar is ruled by a military regime with a record of abusing minority ethnic groups within the country. That mistreatment results in migration out of the country, most notably to Thailand, where the refugees are desperately poor and become vulnerable to exploitation.921 Myanmar’s ethnic minorities are particularly vulnerable—on average they have only 1.3 years of schooling, and 30 percent have never been to school at all. Impoverished and often uneducated, many of them seek better lives abroad and consequently become victims of trafficking.922

Furthermore, armed conflict between the Myanmar Army and rebel factions and minority groups has left some populations living in desperate situations, deepening the vulnerability of women and children to exploitation.923 Forms of Trafficking

At least 200,000 to 225,000 women and children are estimated to be trafficked from Southeast Asia annually. Most of the trafficking occurs within the region (60 percent to major regional cities of the region, 40 percent outside the region).924

Women and children are trafficked from Myanmar to Thailand primarily for the purpose of prostitution. Most of the victims are kept in Thai brothels.925 An estimated 20,000 to 30,000 Myanmar women and girls are prostituted in Thailand; however, in 2002, it was estimated that 10,000 women and children from Myanmar enter into prostitution in Thailand

920 Deborah Haynes, “International Community Must Fight Child Sex Networks in SE Asia: UN,” Agence France Presse, 19 April 2004. See also Brian Calvert, “In Trafficking Case, Court Balks Again,” Cambodia

Daily, 27 February 2002. 921 “Thailand’s Sex Industry Importing Myanmar Virgins: Report,” Agence France Presse, 6 September 2000. 922 Rosalie S. Matilac and Regina P. Florendo, “Research on Child Trafficking in Southeast Asia,” Asia against Child Trafficking (Asia ACTS), Quezon City, Philippines, February 2002. 923 End Child Prostitution, Pornography, and Trafficking (ECPAT) International Online Database, March 2004, http://www.ecpat.net. 924 Annuska Derk, Combating Trafficking in South-East Asia: A Review of Policy and Programme Responses, IOM Migration Research Series 2 (Geneva: International Organization for Migration, 2000). 925 ECPAT International Online Database, March 2004, http://www.ecpat.net.



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every year alone. In fact, women and children from Myanmar constitute the largest number of migrants forced or lured into prostitution in Thailand.926

Reportedly, Myanmar women and girls are commonly sold to Chinese men as mail-order brides and for the purpose of forced marriage. More than 100 Myanmar women are reported to be living in the Chinese province of Anhwei alone, where they are exploited by their Chinese husbands sexually and forced to work on farms and as housemaids.927

In a review of the illegal sex industry, police in the state of Victoria, Australia, found that two immigration scams involving foreign women were behind the sex-slave industry. One scam involved mainly Myanmar and Thai women who were lured by Australian crime groups with promises of employment. Police identified several Asian and Australian criminals who had deposited millions of Australian dollars in the bank accounts of the women (about $A 10,000 each), so that they would be able to qualify for tourist visas to Australia. When the women arrived, they would claim refugee status, which allowed them to work for 1 year until their case was heard. In the meantime, they were forced into prostitution to pay off the debts incurred to their pimps. After about 6 months of sexual exploitation around the country, the women were allowed to keep about half the money they generated.928

Child sex tourism is another widespread form of trafficking in Myanmar. Foreigners from China, Thailand, and European countries travel to Shan state for the purpose of engaging in sexual activities with children, some of them reportedly as young as 12 years old.929

Myanmar is believed to have the largest number of child soldiers in the world.930 In April 2003, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights adopted resolution 2003/12, which deplored continuing human rights violations in Myanmar, including the “systematic use of child soldiers.”931 Estimates based on interviews with former child soldiers suggest that a total of 70,000 (20 percent) child soldiers are in the 350,000-strong Myanmar national army, known as Tatmadaw; other estimates place the proportion of child soldiers in the Tatmadaw at 35 to 45 percent. Nonstate armies also recruit and use child soldiers. The United Wa State Army was estimated to have 2,000 children in its ranks, and the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army was believed to employ 500 child soldiers. The Kachin Independence Army has forcibly recruited boys and girls for forced labor and possible combat,932 and the Karen National Union and Karenni National Liberation Army have reportedly recruited children and forced them to engage in combat.933

Local authorities tasked to engage in “forced recruitment” are required to provide the government with a certain quota of soldier recruits, and the easiest people to recruit are street

926 Rosalie S. Matilac and Regina P. Florendo, “Research on Child Trafficking in Southeast Asia,” Asia against Child Trafficking (Asia ACTS), Quezon City, Philippines, February 2002. See also Mark Baker, “Sex Slaves Sent Home but an Endless Pool Replaces Them,” Sydney Morning Herald, 19 July 2003. 927 “Myanmar: Authorities Cracking Down on ‘Human Trafficking’ in Shan State,” Global News Wire—World

News Connection, 18 December 2002. 928 Padraic Murphy, “Lured by Wealth, Sex Slaves Go Home with Little Savings,” Sydney Morning Herald, 14 July 2003. 929 ECPAT International Online Database, March 2004, http://www.ecpat.net. 930 “U.N. Spotlights Child Soldiers,” Human Rights Watch, 30 January 2003. 931 “Myanmar (Burma),” in Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, “Child Soldier Use 2003: A Briefing for the UN Security Council Open Debate on Children and Armed Conflict,” 16 January 2004, http://www.hrw.org/reports/2004/childsoldiers0104/. 932 “Myanmar (Burma),” in Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, “Child Soldier Use 2003: A Briefing for the UN Security Council Open Debate on Children and Armed Conflict,” 16 January 2004, http://www.hrw.org/reports/2004/childsoldiers0104/. 933 United Nations General Assembly and United Nations Security Council, “Children and Armed Conflict: Report of the Secretary-General,” 30 October 2003, p. 11, http://www.essex.ac.uk/armedcon/story_id/000161.pdf.



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children.934 Children have been kidnapped by soldiers on their way home from school and at ports, bus stations, and train stations.935 Boys and girls as young as 11 have been forced to do a variety of military tasks, such as carrying equipment and supplies for soldiers and serving as servants, human shields, fighters, mine sweepers, or sex slaves.936 Children were also used to commit human rights abuses against civilians and other child combatants, including rounding up villagers for forced labor, burying homes and villages, and executing people. No disarmament, demobilization, or reintegration programs are available for child soldiers in Myanmar. Children suspected of desertion have been subjected to beatings, imprisonment, forced re-recruitment, and even execution.937

Saudi authorities arrested a couple from Myanmar in February 2004 who had allegedly sold their own son for the equivalent of US$2,600 together with an undisclosed number of children. The couple offered both Saudi and foreign children for sale.938


The Penal Code prohibits “habitual dealing in slaves”939 or “buying or disposing of

any person as a slave.”940 The code also prohibits international trafficking or importation of a girl from a foreign country to engage in illicit intercourse.941 In addition, the code prohibits procurement of minors942 and importation of children under 10 years old.943

The Suppression of Prostitution Act of 1949 provides defines a brothel as “any house, building, room, any kind of vehicle/vessel/aircraft or place habitually used for the purpose of prostitution or used with reference to any kind of business for the purpose of prostitution.”944

Forced marriages are prohibited in Myanmar. The Penal Code prohibits kidnapping or abducting a woman “with intent that she may be compelled, or knowing it to be likely that she will be compelled, to marry any person against her will.”945

The code also prohibits buying946 or selling947 a minor for the purpose of “prostitution or illicit intercourse with any person or for any unlawful and immoral purpose.” The legal age

934 United Nations General Assembly and United Nations Security Council, “Children and Armed Conflict: Report of the Secretary-General,” 30 October 2003, p. 11, http://www.essex.ac.uk/armedcon/story_id/000161.pdf. 935 “Myanmar (Burma),” in Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, “Child Soldier Use 2003: A Briefing for the UN Security Council Open Debate on Children and Armed Conflict,” 16 January 2004, http://www.hrw.org/reports/2004/childsoldiers0104/. 936 Kevin Heppner, “My Gun Was as Tall as Me”: Child Soldiers in Myanmar (New York: Human Rights Watch, 2002), pp. 5–6, http://hrw.org/reports/2002/burma/. See also “Myanmar (Burma),” in Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, “Child Soldier Use 2003: A Briefing for the UN Security Council Open Debate on Children and Armed Conflict,” 16 January 2004, http://www.hrw.org/reports/2004/childsoldiers0104/. 937 “Myanmar (Burma),” in Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, “Child Soldier Use 2003: A Briefing for the UN Security Council Open Debate on Children and Armed Conflict,” 16 January 2004, http://www.hrw.org/reports/2004/childsoldiers0104/. 938 “Saudi Arabia: Child Trafficking for Labor, Prostitution,” ANSA English Media Service, 18 February 2004. 939 Article 371 provides that “whoever habitually imports, removes, buys, sell, traffics, or deals in slaves shall be punished with deportation for life or with imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years and shall also be liable to fine.” 940 Article 370. Punishment for such an offense is a fine and imprisonment for up to 7 years. 941 Article 366B. Under the article, a girl is a female who is under the age of 21. 942 Article 388. 943 Article 369. 944 Section 2(a), amended by the Law Amending the Suppression of Prostitution Act, 1949, the State Peace and Development Council Law No. 7/98, 6 April 1998. 945 Article 366. The article further prohibits kidnapping or abducting a woman so that she may be forced or seduced into participating in illicit intercourse. 946 Article 372.



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of consent for sexual relations is 18 years. Punishment for the offenses may be up to 10 years of imprisonment.

The Child Law948 prohibits “employing or permitting a child to perform work which is hazardous to the life of the child or which may cause disease to the child or which is harmful to the child’s moral character.”949 Punishment is imprisonment for up to 6 months and a fine.950

The Child Law imposes punishment of imprisonment for up to 2 years, a fine, or both on any person “neglecting knowingly that a girl under his guardianship who has not attained the age of 16 is earning a livelihood by prostitution”951 and “permitting a child under his guardianship to live together or to consort with a person who earns a livelihood by prostitution.”952 The same punishment applies to anyone who uses a child in pornographic cinema, video, television, or photography.953

The Burma Immigration Act954 prohibits a foreigner from entering the country without an immigration permit. Under the act, anyone who assists or attempts to assist any person in illegally entering Myanmar is subject to imprisonment, a fine, or both.955 The act also punishes anyone who willfully suppresses information or gives false information to prevent the apprehension of any foreigner who has illegally entered Myanmar.956 Falsifying an immigration permit or tampering with or altering such a permit subjects the offender to a prison sentence of up to 12 months.957

The 1947 constitution prohibits forced labor and involuntary servitude.958 Similarly, the Penal Code prohibits unlawful exaction of labor against a person’s will. Article 374 of the code explicitly states that “whoever unlawfully compels any person to labor against the will of that person shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to 1 year, or with fine, or with both.” However, the Towns Act of 1907 and the Villages Act of 1908, which are still in effect, allow forced labor.

The 1993 Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Law addressed money laundering in the context of trafficking in drugs.959

In 2002, Myanmar’s Working Committee for the Prevention of Trafficking in Persons adopted the National Plan of Action to combat trafficking in persons, which includes measures “for prevention, prosecution, protection, repatriation, and reintegration, as well as provisions for assessing domestic and cross-border trafficking, setting up a national task force, holding national workshops, training government officials, rehabilitating victims of trafficking, and promoting the role of [NGOs].”960

947 Article 373. The article provides this explanation: “Any prostitute or any person keeping or managing a brothel who buys, hires, or otherwise obtains possession of a female under the age of 18 years shall, until the contrary is proved, be presumed to have obtained possession of such female with the intent that she shall be used for the purposes of prostitution.” 948 State Law and Order Restoration Council Law No. 9/93, 14 July 1993. 949 Chapter XVII, article 65(a). 950 Chapter XVII, article 65(a). 951 Chapter XVII, Article 66(a). 952 Chapter XVII, Article 66(b). 953 Chapter XVII, Article 66(f). 954 The Burma Immigration [Emergency Provisions] Act, dated 13 June 1947. 955 Article 13(5). 956 Article 13(6). 957 Articles 13(a) and 12(b) further prohibit people from impersonating or falsely representing themselves with regard to issuing of immigration permits or from making any false statements with the intent to obtain an immigration permit. 958 Article 19. 959 State Law and Order Restoration Council Law No. 1/93, 27 January 1993. 960 “Myanmar ‘Perplexed’ by U.S. Plans to Impose Sanctions over Human Trafficking,” Global News Wire—

Asia Africa Intelligence Wire, 20 September 2003.



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Myanmar authorities participate in a mobile team to combat trafficking in persons—a joint project with the United Nations Inter-Agency Project on Human Trafficking in the Greater Mekong Subregion (UNIAP). On the prevention side, the government has sponsored numerous programs on national television and radio, as well as programs at schools, that educate the population about the dangers of trafficking.961 Special educational programs target vulnerable populations in remote and border areas of the country, most notably in the Tanintharyi Tenasserim division, Kayin Karen state, and the eastern and northern parts of Shan state,962 where people are most vulnerable to trafficking.

Between July 2002 and July 2003, the Working Committee for Prevention of Trafficking in Persons detected 206 cases of trafficking, which resulted in the arrest of 390 alleged traffickers and the rescue of 1,008 potential victims.963 In addition, according to Myanmar’s police director, action was taken between 1999 and October 2002 against 120 human traffickers on 84 separate cases, and the offenders were sentenced to prison sentences ranging from 3 to 14 years.964 The committee provides repatriation assistance to Myanmar victims of trafficking taken abroad; more than 11,000 persons have been assisted in arranging their safe return to Myanmar.965 In 2002, a total of 5,722 Myanmar migrant laborers, including 2,156 women, were repatriated from Thailand. The government also operates a reception center for repatriated victims, which was established in the town of Myawaddy on the Myanmar border with Thailand in February 2002.966 In December 2002, the government established trafficking prevention committees in villages and towns in Shan state. The committees, set up jointly by the Township General Administration Departments and the People’s Police Force, are responsible for investigating cases of trafficking and preventing potential victims from traveling to the border areas.967 Nongovernmental and International Organization Responses

Child Wise, the Australian affiliate of End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography, and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes (ECPAT), launched a training program in August 2000 for foreign government tourist authorities and the travel and tourism industry in Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. The training was funded by AusAID, the Australian government’s aid and development fund.968 The second AusAID-funded Child Wise think-tank meeting was held in Hanoi, Vietnam, in early July 2003. Participants from national tourism associations of Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines, and Vietnam were in attendance, as well as representatives from the private sector tourism industry and from NGOs working in the area of child protection. Reiterated at this meeting was the need to pursue development of an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) traveler’s code. Such a code would call for the protection of children

961 “Myanmar ‘Perplexed’ by U.S. Plans to Impose Sanctions over Human Trafficking,” Global News Wire—

Asia Africa Intelligence Wire, 20 September 2003. 962 “Myanmar: Police Director Reports ‘Sharp Increase’ in Human Trafficking Cases,” Global News Wire—Asia

Africa Intelligence Wire, 29 November 2002. 963 “Myanmar ‘Perplexed’ by U.S. Plans to Impose Sanctions over Human Trafficking,” Global News Wire—


Africa Intelligence Wire, 29 November 2002. 965 “Myanmar ‘Perplexed’ by U.S. Plans to Impose Sanctions over Human Trafficking,” Global News Wire—


Africa Intelligence Wire, 29 November 2002. 967 “Myanmar: Authorities Cracking Down on ‘Human Trafficking’ in Shan State,” Global News Wire—World

News Connection, 18 December 2002. 968 “Media Releases,” Child Wise, 16 April 2004, http://www.ecpat.org/media-releases.html.



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from sexual exploitation in tourism.969 In January 2004, ASEAN tourist authorities and NGOs adopted the draft of the code.970

Save the Children U.K. has been working in Myanmar by educating children and families in the border areas about the threats of trafficking, training young people to make informed choices before they migrate to work, putting local pressure on traffickers to halt their activities, raising awareness about sexually transmitted diseases, and helping with repatriation and reintegration of trafficked children.971

The International Labor Organization (ILO) opened a liaison office in Yangon in June 2002 and in September that year appointed a permanent liaison officer. It was announced in May 2003 that an agreement was reached between the ILO and the State Peace and Development Council to appoint an independent ILO facilitator with a mandate to receive complaints about forced labor. The agreement was postponed, however, after serious human rights abuses and mass political activist arrests at the end of May 2003.972 The ILO–International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor (IPEC) Mekong Subregional Project to Combat Trafficking in Children and Women works with government departments on the prevention and elimination of child labor and trafficking; on occupational safety and health in agriculture, construction, mining, and micro and small enterprises; and on microinsurance and microfinancing for informal sector workers to address the concerns of key groups of vulnerable workers.973

In late 2003, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization announced its Trafficking Statistics Project, a database containing reports, articles, and other documents focusing on the trafficking problem in Asia, particularly the Mekong subregion.974

UNIAP was established in June 2000 to facilitate a stronger and more coordinated response to trafficking in people in the Greater Mekong subregion. UNIAP brings together 6 governments, 13 United Nations agencies, and 8 international NGOs.975 Multilateral Initiatives

In May 2003, the Myanmar government attended the East Asian and Pacific ministerial meeting on children in Bali, Indonesia. Ministers, senior government officials, NGO representatives, and other representatives from 23 countries attended. The participants of the conference unanimously adopted the “Bali Consensus,” which underlines the need for governments in the region to fulfill children’s rights and protect them.976

969 Child Wise, “Child Wise Tourism,” ECPAT Australia 68 (February 2003): 2, http://www.childwise.net/uploads/newsletter_february_2003.pdf. 970 Wahyoe Boediwardhana, “ASEAN Tourist Bodies, NGOs Move to Curb Child Exploitation,” Jakarta Post, 17 January 2004. 971 Save the Children U.K., “Child Trafficking in Myanmar and China,” 30 April 2002, http://www.scfuk.org.uk/scuk/jsp/resources/details.jsp?id=476&group=resources&section=project&subsection=details&pagelang=en. 972 “Myanmar (Burma),” in Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, “Child Soldier Use 2003: A Briefing for the UN Security Council Open Debate on Children and Armed Conflict,” 16 January 2004, http://www.hrw.org/reports/2004/childsoldiers0104/. 973 “Where We Work: Vietnam: Mekong Sub-Regional Project to Combat Trafficking in Children and Women,” International Labor Organization Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, Bangkok, Thailand, 15 March 2005, http://www.ilo.org/public/english/region/asro/bangkok/child/trafficking/wherewework-vietnam.htm 974 “Notice Board: UNESCO Launches Human Trafficking Database,” Step by Step 12 (Third Quarter) 2003. 975 “United Nations Inter-Agency Project on Human Trafficking in the Greater Mekong Sub-region,” Human

Trafficking.org, November 2004, http://www.humantrafficking.org/countries/eap/cambodia/ngos/intl/uniap.html. 976 “Twenty-Three Countries to Attend Meeting on Children in Bali,” Antara, 3 May 2003. See also United Nations Children’s Fund, “East Asian and Pacific Nations Act for Children.” News Note, 7 May 2003, http://www.unicef.org/media/media_7135.html.



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In June 2003, Myanmar and Thailand signed the Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in the Employment of Workers, which, among other things, contains measures for repatriating the Myanmar victims of trafficking from Thailand.977

Also in June 2003, Australia announced a 3-year, $A 5 million program to curb trafficking in Southeast Asia, specifically Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Thailand. The money will provide legal assistance and assist with policing and monitoring of trafficking.978 The Asia Regional Cooperation to Prevent People Trafficking Project was launched in December 2003. Funded by the Australian government, the 3-year project is a collaboration of Australia, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Thailand.979


977 “Myanmar ‘Perplexed’ by U.S. Plans to Impose Sanctions over Human Trafficking,” Global News Wire—

Asia Africa Intelligence Wire, 20 September 2003. 978 “Australia Establishes Anti–Human Smuggling Program in SE Asia,” Agence France Presse, 19 June 2003. 979 “Australia and Cambodia Commence Anti–Human Trafficking Initiative,” Deutsche Presse-Agentur, 19 December 2003. 980 “Six Asian Nations Progress Towards Human Trafficking Pact,” Agence France Presse, 30 July 2004.



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NAURU

Trafficking Routes

Little information exists about trafficking in persons in Nauru. There are concerns that Nauru, like most Pacific Island nations, will face future problems with sex tourism, especially child sex tourism, as pedophile activities steer clear of Southeast Asia and seek new markets in the Pacific.981


According to the president of Nauru, the country does not have any plans to develop a national plan of action on commercial sexual exploitation of children because the problem does not exist in Nauru.982

981 End Child Prostitution, Pornography, and Trafficking (ECPAT) International Online Database, 15 March 2004, http://www.ecpat.net. 982 ECPAT International Online Database, 15 March 2004, http://www.ecpat.net.



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NEPAL

Trafficking Routes

Nepal is primarily a country of origin and destination for trafficking in women and

children. The primary destination country for Nepalese women and children is India, but victims are also trafficked to the Middle East, other parts of Asia, and Europe. An estimated 12,000 women and children are trafficked from Nepal every year.983 Some nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) claim that the number could be as high as 30,000.984 According to yet another estimate, 100,000 Nepali girls are trafficked to or through India every year. The girls end up in brothels in India or Pakistan or in Middle Eastern or South Asian countries.985

Women trafficked to the Middle East or Europe usually are taken through India, where Delhi and Mumbai serve as the main transit points. In the past, victims were recruited mostly from villages and rural areas; however, according to reports, in recent years victims are more frequently lured from restaurants, discos, and factories in Nepal’s cities and towns.986

Bhutanese women are often trafficked to neighboring Nepal, and children are trafficked through Nepal and India to Pakistan. Internal trafficking also exists. Many children are trafficked to Kathmandu and other urban areas.987 Factors That Contribute to the Trafficking Infrastructure

Throughout South Asia, trafficking is attributed not only to poverty, but also to the breakdown of traditional livelihoods, the lack of education and skills for women and children, natural disasters, the breakdown of families as a result of wars, the low social status of women, and gender discrimination.988 A common superstition in the region, that a virgin girl can rid a man of a sexually transmitted disease, fuels the demand for young girls.989

Nepalese women and girls were trafficked to India even during British rule, but the volume of trafficking shot up in the 1960s. One explanation offered for this increase is the oil boom in the Middle East. Rich Arabs began to travel to Bombay (now Mumbai) to spend money on the kind of entertainment not available to them in their own countries. They preferred the fair complexions of Nepalese girls to the darker women from southern India, increasing the demand for Nepalese girls.990

Of the 300,000 people who enter the job market every year in Nepal, barely 20 percent get jobs within the country, and many are compelled to migrate. Women cannot get passports or permission to go work overseas without the consent of a family member; thus, many girls seeking income overseas resort to illegal means.991 Ninety percent of Nepalese reside in rural

983 Bal Kumar KC, Govind Subedi Yogendra Bahadur Gurung, and Keshab Prasad Adhikari, Nepal: Trafficking

in Girls with Special Reference to Prostitution: A Rapid Assessment (Geneva: International Labor Organization, International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor, November 2001). 984 Sanjaya Dhakal, “Nepal’s Victims of Trafficking Shy away from Justice,” Oneworld.net, 8 January 2004. 985 “When Victims Become Accused,” Times of India, 13 October 2003. 986 Rema Nagarajan, “No Red Lights on This Road to Hell,” Hindustan Times, 27 January 2002. 987 Gauri Pradhan and Sumnima Tuladhar, The State of the Rights of the Child in Nepal 2002 (Kathmandu: Child Workers in Nepal Concerned Centre), http://www.cwin-nepal.org/resources/reports/roc_2002/index.htm. 988 “SAARC: CS Groups Demand Implementation of SAARC Convention on Human Trafficking,” Pakistan

Newswire, 2 January 2004. 989 Debra Armentrout, “Child Trafficking Continues to Threaten Young Women in India,” Digital Freedom

Network, 15 November 2002. 990 Rema Nagarajan, “No Red Lights on This Road to Hell,” Hindustan Times, 27 January 2002. 991 Sanjaya Dhakal, “Nepal’s Victims of Trafficking Shy away from Justice,” Oneworld.net, 8 January 2004.



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areas, cut off from many educational and economic opportunities.992 Less educated women tend to be unaware of the issue of trafficking and are, therefore, easier to lure away from home.993 According to one report, however, intensive awareness campaigns in villages over the past 12 years have made villagers wary about sending their women away for jobs, causing the traffickers to shift to cities and towns, where women are often farther from their families.994

Certain aspects of Nepalese culture—such as unmatched marriage; child marriage; gender discrimination; and excessive spending at feasts, festivals, and funerals that strain household income—also contribute to vulnerability. Under the Nepalese deukis system, wealthy families buy young girls to offer to temple idols. The girls, who are forbidden to marry, are often forced into prostitution.995

The towns along the 1,800-kilometer Nepal–India border (about 1,100 miles)996 are filled with busy markets that cater to people from both countries, creating a natural market for trafficking, smuggling, and prostitution.997 The low risk of prosecution and enormous profit potential make Nepal a haven for traffickers.998 Forms of Trafficking

The main form of trafficking in Nepal is for prostitution.999 An estimated 200,000 Nepalese women and girls work in Indian brothels, in cities such as Mumbai, Pune, New Delhi, and Kolkata.1000 According to one estimate, 20 percent (40,000) of trafficked Nepalese women working in the Indian sex trade are younger than 16 years of age.1001 Trafficking crosses many caste and ethnic groups in Nepal, but the most at-risk populations are members of the hill ethnic group and lower castes.1002

False marriages, sham love affairs, and promises of better jobs abroad are common ways of luring women and girls from their homes.1003 Traffickers falsely promise parents that their daughters will be taken to work in factories, and some parents unwittingly marry their daughters off to traffickers. The girls often end up being sexually exploited, however.1004 Girls who migrate from rural areas to urban areas, whether they are sent by their families or

992 Debra Armentrout, “Child Trafficking Continues to Threaten Young Women in India,” Digital Freedom

Network, 15 November 2002. 993 Kausalya Mohan Babu, “Nepal’s Sex-Trade Victims,” Washington Times, 28 September 2002. 994 Rema Nagarajan, “No Red Lights on This Road to Hell,” Hindustan Times, 27 January 2002. 995 Stephanie Salter, “One Woman’s Work to Stop Child Prostitution in Nepal,” San Francisco Chronicle, 7 November 2001. 996 Barbara Gunnell, “Nothing to Sell but Their Bodies,” New Statesman 133, no. 4677 (1 March 2004): 32–33. 997 Debra Armentrout, “Child Trafficking Continues to Threaten Young Women in India,” Digital Freedom

Network, 15 November 2002. 998 Asian Human Rights Commission–Human Rights Solidarity, “Women in Nepal: The Trafficking of Women and Girls—Human Rights Violations That Cross Borders,” in The Rising Nepal, 22 January 2001, http://www.ahrchk.net. 999 Pamela Constable, “For Nepali Girls, a Way Station to Dignity,” Washington Post, 24 April 2001. 1000 Sanjaya Dhakal, “Nepal’s Victims of Trafficking Shy away from Justice,” Oneworld.net, 8 January 2004. 1001 Child Workers in Nepal Concerned Centre, “Facts about Human Trafficking, 13 April 2004, http://www.cwin-nepal.org/press_room/factsheet/fact_trafficking.htm. 1002 Bal Kumar KC, Govind Subedi Yogendra Bahadur Gurung, and Keshab Prasad Adhikari, Nepal: Trafficking

in Girls with Special Reference to Prostitution: A Rapid Assessment (Geneva: International Labor Organization, International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor, November 2001). 1003 Rema Nagarajan, “No Red Lights on This Road to Hell,” Hindustan Times, 27 January 2002. 1004 Debra Armentrout, “Child Trafficking Continues to Threaten Young Women in India,” Digital Freedom

Network, 15 November 2002.



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do so voluntarily, become vulnerable to trafficking because they are without a support network of family and friends.1005

In a 2001 International Labor Organization (ILO) assessment, 25 percent of the trafficked Nepalese girls surveyed were below 14 years of age when they were trafficked, and more than half were below 16. Most of the girls’ parents had given silent consent or were somehow involved in their trafficking. The owners of the brothels where the girls worked usually kept between 90 and 95 percent of the girls’ earnings; the girls serviced an average of 14 clients a day, with a maximum of 40 and a minimum of 3. Three-fifths of the girls reported that their clients did not use condoms.1006

An estimated 1.7 million children work in Nepal,1007 and thousands are trafficked internally and internationally for purposes of child labor.1008 Thousands of Nepalese children are trafficked to India each year to work in carpet factories in Bhadoi (Mirjapur), in the circus, and in the domestic service industry. Boys also work on potato farms and road construction projects, or they are forced to beg.1009

The Communist Party of Nepal (CPN-Maoist) still recruits and uses child soldiers, despite CPN-Maoist denials of the practice. Child recruits have allegedly been used as fighters, human shields, messengers, and porters. In early 2003, the CPN-Maoists conducted large-scale abductions of schoolchildren. Many of the children were returned within days after enduring political indoctrination.1010 Others remain unaccounted for, however, and some girls told of sexual abuse.1011 Children were also taken in another abduction spree by Maoist soldiers in early 2004.1012 In the Karnali zone in the midwest region, an estimated 5,000 children are enlisted in CPN-Maoist forces.1013 Human rights organizations have claimed that more than 30 percent of CPN-Maoist soldiers are children.1014

A report to the United Nations Security Council in 2003 showed no indications of systematic recruitment of minors by the Royal Nepal Army. However, the Nepalese government has taken children into custody who are suspected of being affiliated with the CPN-Maoist insurgency. Government forces reportedly use some children as informers.1015

1005 Bal Kumar KC, Govind Subedi Yogendra Bahadur Gurung, and Keshab Prasad Adhikari, Nepal: Trafficking

in Girls with Special Reference to Prostitution: A Rapid Assessment (Geneva: International Labor Organization, International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor, November 2001). 1006 Bal Kumar KC, Govind Subedi Yogendra Bahadur Gurung, and Keshab Prasad Adhikari, Nepal: Trafficking

in Girls with Special Reference to Prostitution: A Rapid Assessment (Geneva: International Labor Organization, International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor, November 2001). 1007 “ILO Launches Plan to Crack down on Child Trafficking,” Child Labor News Service, 5 January 2001. 1008 Child Workers in Nepal Concerned Centre, A Situational Analysis of Child Sex Tourism in Nepal

(Kathmandu Valley and Pokhara), December 2002, http://www.ecpat.net/eng/Ecpat_inter/projects/sex_tourism/Nepal.Web.pdf. 1009 Child Workers in Nepal Concerned Centre, “Facts about Human Trafficking, 13 April 2004, http://www.cwin-nepal.org/press_room/factsheet/fact_trafficking.htm. 1010 Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, “Child Soldier Use 2003: A Briefing for the UN Security Council Open Debate on Children and Armed Conflict,” 16 January 2004, http://www.hrw.org/reports/2004/childsoldiers0104/. 1011 “Agenda Item 113: Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Children,” United Nations General Assembly, 58th Session, 30 October 2003. 1012 “UNICEF Expresses Concern at Nepalese Rebel Recruitment of Child Soldiers,” BBC Monitoring

International Reports, 25 February 2004. 1013 “Nepal Maoists Enlist 5,000 Child Soldiers in Mid-west,” BBC Monitoring International Reports, 28 February 2004. 1014 “UNICEF Expresses Concern at Nepalese Rebel Recruitment of Child Soldiers,” BBC Monitoring

International Reports, 25 February 2004. 1015 Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, “Child Soldier Use 2003: A Briefing for the UN Security Council Open Debate on Children and Armed Conflict,” 16 January 2004, http://www.hrw.org/reports/2004/childsoldiers0104/.



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Tourism has long been a driving economic force in Nepal, yet child sex tourism has not yet surfaced as a major problem in Nepal, nor is it highly visible. However, the general sentiment is that it could become prevalent in the near future. Interviews with at-risk children revealed that tourists do solicit sex from them, mostly in the tourist areas of Kathmandu and Pokhara. The average child victim of sex tourism is between 8 and 14 years of age and is from a poor family or is without a family. Boys are reportedly favored over girls. The average perpetrator is between 35 and 50 years of age, is usually a male from Europe or Australia, and is either working or backpacking in Nepal.1016 Government Responses

Article 20(1) of Nepal’s constitution explicitly prohibits “traffic in human beings, slavery, serfdom, or forced labor in any form is prohibited.” It also states that “any contravention of this provision shall be punishable by law.”1017

The Muluki Ain, a section of the Criminal Code that addresses human rights trafficking, defines the trafficking of human as a crime. It prohibits taking any persons, by fraud or incitement, out of the country with the intention of selling them.1018 The Muluki Ain decrees prison sentences of 10 to 20 years for trafficking offenses.1019 In cases in which the purchaser is found within the borders of Nepal, he or she is subject to the same punishment as the seller.1020

Similarly, the Human Trafficking (Control) Act of 1986 is a specific law relating to crimes of trafficking in persons.1021 Section 4 of the act expressly prohibits selling “human beings for any purpose”; transporting “any person abroad with the intent of sale”; involving any woman in prostitution through allurement, enticement, deceit, or coercion or by any other method; and assisting or conspiring and attempting to complete any of the acts mentioned above.1022 Punishment for the offense of selling a person is imprisonment for up to 20 years, and anyone who takes a person to a foreign territory with the intention of selling that person is subject to imprisonment for up to 10 years. A crime of forcing a woman into prostitution is punishable by imprisonment for up to 15 years. Accomplices to the traffickers are punished with imprisonment for up to 10 years.1023

Furthermore, even though Nepal’s national legislation does not contain specific provisions protecting children from trafficking,1024 the Children’s Act, 2084, of 1992 contains certain provisions addressing child trafficking. The act, which defines a child as any “human being below the age of 16 years,”1025 prohibits the use or involvement of children in any “immoral profession.”1026 It also prohibits child pornography and discrimination between sons

1016 Child Workers in Nepal Concerned Centre, A Situational Analysis of Child Sex Tourism in Nepal

(Kathmandu Valley and Pokhara), December 2002, http://www.ecpat.net/eng/Ecpat_inter/projects/sex_tourism/Nepal.Web.pdf. 1017 Article 20(1) of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal 2047 (1990). 1018 Article 1. 1019Article 1. The penalty is 10 years’ imprisonment if the perpetrator is caught before the sale, and 20 years’ imprisonment if he or she is caught after the sale. 1020 Article 1. 1021 Section 11 of this act stipulates that no other law apply in matters that are covered by this act. 1022 Section 4. 1023 Article 8. 1024 Bal Kumar KC, Govind Subedi Yogendra Bahadur Gurung, and Keshab Prasad Adhikari, Nepal: Trafficking

in Girls with Special Reference to Prostitution: A Rapid Assessment (Geneva: International Labor Organization, International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor, November 2001). 1025 Article 2(a). 1026 Article 16.



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and daughters.1027 Moreover, it prohibits parents from selling their children as offerings to gods during religious rites or rituals.1028

In addition, the Foreign Employment Act, 2042, of 1985 provides minors (children below the age of 18) and women with some protection from trafficking; it states that “the license-holder shall not have the authority to provide the foreign employment to the minors and women.”1029 The government of Nepal established a separate special court, which is supposed to take cases on trafficking in Kathmandu. Beyond efforts relating to the judiciary, the project also calls for establishing special antitrafficking investigative units within the Nepal police.1030 The Nepal police force also has incorporated the issues of trafficking in children and child sex abuse in its regular training program.1031

After a Nepalese woman committed suicide in Kuwait in 1998 after her employers attempted to rape her, the Nepalese government came under pressure to regulate the migration of women abroad. The cabinet decided to ban female migration to the Gulf states. However, the Department of Labor and Employment revoked the ban in January 2002, fearing that it would compel women to migrate illegally, thus increasing their vulnerability to exploitation. The ban is still effective in the informal sector for women who, for example, want to work as domestic servants.1032

The number of women victims of trafficking seeking justice has decreased in the past few years. Only 54 cases were filed in 2002–03 (130 cases were filed in 1997–98, and 40 were filed in 2001–02). Social stigma, threats, the lengthy and costly judicial process, the possibility of revictimization, and lack of access to the legal system prevent more victims from filing cases. Plus, there is little evidence available to prosecute the main perpetrators. Nepalese law against trafficking is very strict, and concrete evidence is required for a successful prosecution. It takes a minimum of 2 years to deliver a verdict, and victims usually must testify several times, so many of the victims simply stop pursuing their cases. The accused, who are often relatives or acquaintances of the victims, pressure the women to drop the charges. In 40 percent of cases, police fail to catch the offender. Guilty verdicts are handed down in only 33 percent of cases, and of those cases, 61 percent result in prison sentences of more than 10 years.1033

Women generate 11 percent of Nepal’s total foreign exchange revenues. To support women’s right to emigrate, the government set aside 10 percent of its foreign employment quota for women and underprivileged sectors of society, who may receive loans of up to US$1,400 without collateral.1034 Nongovernmental and International Organization Responses

More than 100 organizations are working in Nepal to improve girls’ lives. The organizations focus on a variety of antitrafficking activities, including education, reproductive

1027 Article 5. 1028 Article 14. 1029 Article 11, amending section 12. However, the act limits this prohibition by stating that the foreign employment may be provided to women by obtaining the permission of his majesty’s government and guardians. 1030 “Nepal to India: Ending the Trafficker’s Paradise,” Human Rights Features, 24 February 2001, http://www.hrdc.net/sahrdc/hrfeatures/HRF32.htm. 1031 Gauri Pradhan, Innocent Victims: Trafficking in Women and Girls across Nepal–India border, 3 June 2004, http://www.cwin-nepal.org/resources/issues/trafficking.htm. 1032 Sanjaya Dhakal, “Nepal Women Seek to Remove Curbs on Working Abroad,” Oneworld.net, 5 February 2004. 1033 Sanjaya Dhakal, “Nepal’s Victims of Trafficking Shy away from Justice,” Oneworld.net, 8 January 2004. 1034 Sanjaya Dhakal, “Nepal’s Victims of Trafficking Shy away from Justice,” Oneworld.net, 8 January 2004.



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health, legal training, and domestic violence counseling. Most of the organizations are located in the Kathmandu Valley.1035

The National Network against Girl Trafficking is a coalition of about 65 NGOs that has been working through various awareness programs to prevent trafficking of women and girls. The Alliance against Trafficking in Women and Children in Nepal is a loose network of 15 organizations. Action against Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation of Children (ATSEC) is a network of 29 grassroots organizations in Jhapa, the eastern district of Nepal.1036 Maiti Nepal, a network of 29 grassroots organizations in the eastern district of Nepal, is working to prevent trafficking for forced prostitution.1037 The group’s members do criminal investigations; wage legal battles against traffickers; and advocate for victims on the local, national, and international level. Rescued girls are given shelter, counseling, health care, informal education in literacy and law, and income-generating skills.1038 The group has set up an antitrafficking network along the Nepal–India border with assistance from both governments.1039 In 2004, Maiti Nepal announced that in the 10 years since it was established, it saved 1,200 women from becoming trafficking victims.1040

ABC/Nepal works to end trafficking of women and children from Nepal by organizing and implementing various community programs. The group concentrates its activities on prevention, rehabilitation, research and publication, and lobbying and networking.1041

Child Workers in Nepal Concerned Center (CWIN) produces annual and biannual reports on the state of the children’s rights. The center has recorded a total of 2,866 cases of child victims of labor exploitation, children murdered or otherwise killed, missing children, abused (including sexually abused) children, trafficked children, children forced into prostitution, and children affected by armed conflict or by conflict with the law.1042

In 2001, the ILO International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor launched a 2-year effort to eliminate child trafficking. The goal was to target 2,000 Nepalese families and provide aid to 400 children rescued from exploitative conditions.1043

The Asian Development Bank undertook a Regional Technical Assistance program in July 2001 in Bangladesh, India, and Nepal. The bank wanted to increase its understanding of how its existing country programs and regional policy could be used to support and strengthen anti-trafficking initiatives in the region.1044

Other organizations working to combat the commercial sexual exploitation of children or trafficking in Nepal include Planete Enfants, Watch, Shanti Rehabilitation, Sttri Shakti, Nai Bikhas Sangh, the United Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Save the Children UK, Save the Children US, Save the Children Norway, Saathi, and the Peace Rehabilitation Center.1045

1035 Shreshna Basnet, Pooja Aryal, Liza Malla, and Himali Tumbahangphey, Organisations Working for Girls in

Nepal: Who Is Doing What? (London: Save the Children UK). 1036 End Child Prostitution, Pornography, and Trafficking (ECPAT) International Online Database, 26 February 2003, http://www.ecpat.net. 1037 ECPAT International Online Database, 5 April 2004, http://www.ecpat.net. 1038 Maiti Nepal can be found on the Internet at http://www.maitinepal.org. 1039 “80 Nepalese Women Rescued from Being Trafficked to India,” Xinhua General News Service, 5 January 2004. 1040 “Nepal’s Anti-women Trafficking Organization Rescues 1,200 women in Last Decade,” BBC Monitoring

International Reports, 6 April 2004. 1041 ABC/Nepal can be found on the Internet at http//www.abcnepal.org.np. 1042 The State of the Rights of the Child in Nepal: Bi-annual National Report, January–June 2003 (Kathmandu: Child Workers in Nepal Concerned Centre, 2003). 1043 “ILO Launches Plan to Crack Down on Child Trafficking,” Child Labor News Service, 5 January 2001. 1044 Asian Development Bank, Combating Trafficking of Women and Children in South Asia: Guide for

Integrating Trafficking Concerns into ADB Operations (Manila: ADB, April 2003). 1045 ECPAT International Online Database, 5 April 2004, http://www.ecpat.net.



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In November 2001, the Bangladeshi government and UNICEF cohosted a 3-day South



The governments of Nepal and India announced in late December 2003 that their human rights commissions would sign an agreement to control cross-border trafficking.1048

In September 2004, a UNICEF-sponsored 3-day meeting with South Asian governments, United Nations agencies, and NGOs took place in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Government officials signed a five-point joint statement, agreeing that children in South Asia deserve better protection from traffickers and sexual abusers. Participating countries were Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.1049

In October 2004, Interpol officers from India and Nepal decided to prepare an “agreed list” of suspected criminals who operate on both sides of the border. The first lists to be prepared were of those suspected of trafficking in persons and vehicle theft.1050

1046 “Background and Facts on the SAARC Forum,” Associated Press Worldstream, 6 January 2004. 1047 “Background and Facts on the SAARC Forum,” Associated Press Worldstream, 6 January 2004. 1048 “Nepal, India to Sign Human Rights Accord,” BBC Monitoring International Reports, 27 December 2003. 1049 “Child Sex-Declaration,” United News of Bangladesh, 1 October 2004. 1050 “India, Nepal Police Agree Measures to Boost Information Sharing,” BBC Monitoring International Reports,

27 October 2004.



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NEW ZEALAND

Trafficking Routes

New Zealand is a destination country for trafficking in women and children. Asian

women and girls, especially from Thailand, are brought to New Zealand for the sex industry.


Trafficking to New Zealand may be a relatively small problem, but it is a growing

one.1051 The Human Rights Commission has received a number of telephone calls from health

personnel reporting incidents of Thai girls younger than 18 years of age who had been subjected to sexual violence.1052 Thai women forced into prostitution in New Zealand work more than 12 hours a day and are coerced into having unsafe sex. They have little or no access to information about their legal rights or health issues.1053

Research and anecdotal evidence suggest that child prostitution is a growing problem in New Zealand. Children working in prostitution do not come from any one particular background; likewise, they enter prostitution for a variety of reasons, including homelessness, family breakdown, peer pressure, sexual abuse, poverty, drug and alcohol abuse, educational underachievement, or unemployment.1054 Christchurch has the reputation for being New Zealand’s child sex capital. An estimated 60 minors in prostitution work there, and groups of up to 20 children, some as young as 12 years of age, walk the streets of the city every evening. Many suffer from alcohol and drug addictions, and a large percentage have a background of sexual abuse.1055 Though exact figures are unknown, proportionally more Maori children are likely involved in prostitution because the risk factors that give rise to child prostitution are more common among Maori families (i.e., family breakdown, drug and alcohol abuse, poverty). Maori children and families are also affected by the breakdown of traditional support structures of their society and cultural alienation associated with historical injustice.1056

New Zealanders are known to travel to Asian and Pacific countries, such as Fiji, the Philippines, and Thailand, for sex tourism. New Zealand men have been charged with child sexual abuse in countries such as Fiji and India 1057

1051 Human Rights Commission, “Human Rights of Women,” 12 May 2004, http://www.hrc.co.nz/index.php?p=437&format=text&id=&keywords=&month=&year=&Submit=. 1052 New Zealand Ministry of Justice, “Protecting Our Innocence: New Zealand’s National Plan of Action against the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children,” New Zealand Ministry of Justice, Wellington, February 2002, http://www.justice.govt.nz/pubs/reports/2002/protect-innocence/. 1053 Human Rights Commission, “Submission of the Human Rights Commission on: Prostitution Reform Bill to the Justice and Electoral Select Committee, 5 December 2001, http://www.hrc.co.nz/hrc/worddocs/ Prostitution%20Reform%20Bill%20supp.%20sub.doc. 1054 New Zealand Ministry of Justice, “Protecting Our Innocence: New Zealand’s National Plan of Action against the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children,” New Zealand Ministry of Justice, Wellington, February 2002, http://www.justice.govt.nz/pubs/reports/2002/protect-innocence/. 1055 Anna Claridge, “Child Sex Shames Garden City,” Press (Canterbury, New Zealand), 21 February 2004. 1056 New Zealand Ministry of Justice, “Protecting Our Innocence: New Zealand’s National Plan of Action against the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children,” New Zealand Ministry of Justice, Wellington, February 2002, http://www.justice.govt.nz/pubs/reports/2002/protect-innocence/. 1057 New Zealand Ministry of Justice, “Protecting Our Innocence: New Zealand’s National Plan of Action against the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children,” New Zealand Ministry of Justice, Wellington, February 2002, http://www.justice.govt.nz/pubs/reports/2002/protect-innocence/.



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Child pornography, particularly that associated with the Internet, is a growing concern in New Zealand. The problem is largely associated with the possession and distribution of imported child pornography rather than with the production of child pornography within the country.1058 Government Responses

The Crimes Act prohibits trafficking in people by means of coercion or deception. Punishment is imprisonment for up to 20 years.1059

The Crimes Act criminalizes sexual conduct with children outside New Zealand. Punishment is imprisonment for up to 14 years.1060 In addition, the act imposes a punishment of imprisonment for up to 7 years on anyone who organizes or promotes child sex tourism.1061

The Crimes Act prohibits dealing in slaves. A person may be subject to imprisonment for up to 14 years for crimes involving the transfer of any woman either inside or outside the country with the intent that her labor be exploited.1062 The act also prohibits debt-bondage,1063 serfdom,1064 the sale of a woman for financial gain, or the transfer of such a woman to another person without her consent.1065 The act prohibits conspiring to induce a woman to have sexual intercourse with a man who is not her husband through fraudulent means or misrepresentation. Punishment for the offense is imprisonment for up to 5 years.1066 The act prohibits inducing any woman or girl to have sexual intercourse with another person by falsely representing to her that she is married to that person. Punishment for the offense is imprisonment for up to 7 years.1067

The act imposes punishment of imprisonment for up to 14 years on any person who abducts a woman or a girl for the purpose of marrying her or having sexual intercourse.1068 Kidnapping with the intent of confining or imprisoning a person or causing a person to be sent or taken out of New Zealand is punishable by imprisonment for up to 14 years.1069

In 2003, the government of New Zealand adopted the Prostitution Reform Act.1070 The purposes of this act are to safeguard the human rights of sex workers, to protect them from

1058 New Zealand Ministry of Justice, “Protecting Our Innocence: New Zealand’s National Plan of Action against the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children,” New Zealand Ministry of Justice, Wellington, February 2002, http://www.justice.govt.nz/pubs/reports/2002/protect-innocence/. 1059 Article 98D. 1060 Article 144A. 1061 Article 144C(1). In addition, article 144C(2) states, “the making or organizing of travel arrangements includes, but is not limited to, the purchase or reservation of tickets for travel to a country outside New Zealand, [and] the purchase or reservation of accommodation in a country outside New Zealand.” 1062 Article 148. 1063 Article 148(1)(e). In the article, debt-bondage is defined as “the status or condition arising from a pledge by a debtor of his personal service, or of the personal service of any person under his control, as security for a debt, if the value of these services, as reasonably assessed, is not applied towards the liquidation of the debt or if the length and nature of these services are not limited and defined.” 1064 Article 148(1)(e). In the article, serfdom is defined as “the status or condition of a tenant who is by any law, custom, or agreement bound to live and labour on land belonging to another person and to render some determined service to that other person, whether for reward or not, and who is not free to charge that status or condition.” 1065 Article 98(g). 1066 Article 136. 1067 Article 137. 1068 Article 208. 1069 Article 209. 1070 Act No. 28 of 2003.



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exploitation,1071 to promote the welfare and occupational health and safety of sex workers,1072 and to prohibit the use of children under 18 years of age in prostitution.1073

Under the Prostitution Reform Act, no contract for the provision of commercial sexual services is void.1074 The act protects sex workers by providing for their freedom to end a contract of commercial sexual services by stating, “Despite anything in a contract for the provision of commercial sexual services, a person may, at any time, refuse to provide, or to continue to provide, a commercial sexual service to any other person.”1075 Operators of businesses of prostitution must hold certificates.1076 The act imposes an obligation on such operators to adopt and promote safe sex practices.1077 Disregarding that obligation is an offense punishable by a fine.1078

The act empowers a territorial authority to make bylaws for its district prohibiting or regulating signs advertising commercial sexual services.1079 In addition, a territorial authority may pass bylaws regulating location of brothels in its district.1080

The act prohibits inducing or compelling persons to provide commercial sexual services or earnings from prostitution. Punishment is imprisonment for up to 14 years.1081

No one can assist in providing commercial sexual services of,1082 contract for commercial sexual services with, or be a client of a person younger than 18 years of age.1083

Moreover, it is illegal to receive earnings from commercial sexual services provided by such a person.1084 Punishment for violation of these provisions is imprisonment for up to 7 years.1085

A permit under the Immigration Act of 1987 cannot be granted to a person who has provided or intends to provide commercial sexual services,1086 has acted or intends to act as an operator of business of prostitution,1087 or has invested or intends to invest in a business of prostitution.1088

Under the Films, Videos, and Publications Classification Act 1993,1089 a publication is objectionable if it “promotes, supports, or tends to promote or support the exploitation of

1071 Article 3(a). 1072 Article 3(b). 1073 Article 3(d). 1074 Article 7. 1075 Article 17. 1076 Article 34. 1077 Article 8(1). The act states, “Every operator of a business of prostitution must take all reasonable steps to ensure that no commercial sexual services are provided by a sex worker unless a prophylactic sheath or other appropriate barrier is used if those services involve vaginal, anal, or oral penetration or another activity with a similar or greater risk of acquiring or transmitting sexually transmissible infections; and take all reasonable steps to give health information (whether oral or written) to sex workers and clients; and if the person operates a brothel, display health information prominently in that brothel; and not state or imply that a medical examination of a sex worker means the sex worker is not infected, or likely to be infected, with a sexually transmissible infection; and take all other reasonable steps to minimize the risk of sex workers or clients acquiring or transmitting sexually transmissible infections.” 1078 Article 8(2). 1079 Article 12. 1080 Article 14. 1081 Article 16. 1082 Article 20. 1083 Article 22. 1084 Article 21. 1085 Article 23. 1086 Article 19(1)(a). 1087 Article 19(1)(b). 1088 Article 19(1)(c). 1089 Act No. 94 of 1993.



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children,1090 or young persons,1091 or both, for sexual purposes.”1092 In addition, the Customs and Excise Act of 1996 prohibits importation of all publications within the meaning of the Films, Videos, and Publications Classification Act 1993 that the act considers objectionable.1093

Police used the new Prostitution Reform Act for the first time in November 2003 to charge a Christchurch man with offering a 16-year-old girl for sex at a massage parlor.1094 The Prostitutes’ Collective Charitable Trust, which represents women in prostitution nationwide, claims the police have taken little action since being given the power to arrest clients of minors in 2001 and have spent time making up a register of legal women in prostitution rather than prosecuting clients of minors.1095

The Ministry of Justice, in cooperation with other government departments and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), developed a national plan of action titled “Protecting Our Innocence.” The plan was finalized in December 2001 and addresses four major forms of sexual exploitation of children: child prostitution, child sex tourism, child pornography, and trafficking of children for sexual purposes. The plan provides a brief analysis; outlines applicable legislation, programs, and policies; and identifies future directions for each of the four forms of sexual exploitation. The plan also outlines activities undertaken to address the commercial sexual exploitation of children, delegates responsibility to specific agencies for certain activities, and establishes a time frame for such activities.1096

The Human Rights Commission, under the Human Rights Act of 1993, has the function of reporting to the prime minister on the desirability of legislative, administrative, or other action to better promote human rights.1097 In 2000, the commission launched the Pink Sticker Campaign to publicize its repatriation program, which provides a safe house, travel arrangements, and follow-up support from Thai women’s organizations for repatriation to Thailand. Pink stickers containing English and Thai information about how to access this service were put up in areas where women in prostitution work.1098

New developments in the Human Rights Commission’s continuing battle against sex slavery and trafficking in New Zealand resulted in a Thai woman’s being compensated for her forced labor. The commission had sought the return of around NZ$6,000 through the New Zealand Disputes Tribunal. The woman had paid the money to traffickers believing that they would find work for her in a New Zealand restaurant. Instead, on arriving in New Zealand, she discovered that she was required to work in prostitution. She escaped from the premises where she was being held and found her way to a police station. From there she was directed to the commission. Her case was the first civil claim made in New Zealand to retrieve money from traffickers who had cheated a victim.1099

1090 Under the Children, Young Persons, and their Families Act of 1989, child means a boy or girl under the age of 14 years. 1091 Under the Children, Young Persons, and their Families Act of 1989, young person means a boy or a girl of or over the age of 14 but under 17. 1092 Section 3(2). 1093 Section 54(1). 1094 Anna Claridge, “Child Sex Shames Garden City,” Press (Canterbury, New Zealand), 21 February 2004. 1095 Anna Claridge, “Police Could Purge Teen Sex Workers,” Press (Canterbury, New Zealand), 25 February 2004. 1096 End Child Prostitution, Pornography, and Trafficking (ECPAT) International Online Database, 26 April 2004, http://www.ecpat.net. 1097 ECPAT International Online Database, 26 April 2004, http://www.ecpat.net. 1098 Human Rights Commission, “Human Rights of Women,” 12 May 2004, http://www.hrc.co.nz/index.php?p=437&format=text&id=&keywords=&month=&year=&Submit=. 1099 Human Rights Commission, “Human Rights of Women,” 12 May 2004, http://www.hrc.co.nz/index.php?p=437&format=text&id=&keywords=&month=&year=&Submit=.



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The New Zealand government has supported and funded numerous programs to prevent commercial sexual exploitation of children, such as the Child and Young Person’s Prostitution Program, the Internet Safety Group, and public education initiatives for potential sex tourists from New Zealand.1100 The Child and Young Person’s Prostitution Program developed from collaboration between the Prostitutes’ Collective Charitable Trust and the Youth Health Trust.1101

The Child, Youth, and Family Department began a campaign addressing child prostitution after two girls, ages 11 and 13, were arrested in Christchurch.1102 The department has sought to work with other agencies, including the police, to address commercial sexual exploitation of children.1103 Nongovernmental and International Organization Responses

End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography, and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes (ECPAT) New Zealand plays an active role in raising awareness of commercial sexual exploitation of children and works on projects concerning child prostitution, child pornography, child sex tourism, and trafficking in children. It has focused much attention on addressing the “demand” side of such exploitation through public awareness and media campaigns. ECPAT New Zealand developed a government-funded pamphlet for distribution to New Zealanders leaving the country at international airports. The pamphlet sets out laws relating to child sex tourism and encourages New Zealanders to pass on any information to the police about a New Zealander who commits a sexual crime against a child abroad.1104 ECPAT New Zealand worked with the government to create “Protecting Our Innocence,” the national plan of action against the commercial sexual exploitation of children. It also conducted a research project on the extent of commercial sexual exploitation of children in New Zealand.1105

Te Aronga Hou Trust provides programs geared specifically for Maori children, including children in prostitution.1106


The police have an established network of contacts with other government agencies

and law enforcement agencies overseas. A liaison officer is located in Thailand to facilitate the flow of information on New Zealand sex offenders operating there. However, as of early

1100 ECPAT International Online Database, 26 April 2004, http://www.ecpat.net. 1101 New Zealand Ministry of Justice, “Protecting Our Innocence: New Zealand’s National Plan of Action against the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children,” New Zealand Ministry of Justice, Wellington, February 2002, http://www.justice.govt.nz/pubs/reports/2002/protect-innocence/. 1102 “CYF, Police, Agencies to Fight Child Prostitution Together,” New Zealand Press Association, 13 May 2001. 1103 New Zealand Ministry of Justice, “Protecting Our Innocence: New Zealand’s National Plan of Action against the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children,” New Zealand Ministry of Justice, Wellington, February 2002, http://www.justice.govt.nz/pubs/reports/2002/protect-innocence/. 1104 ECPAT International Online Database, 26 April 2004, http://www.ecpat.net. 1105 New Zealand Ministry of Justice, “Protecting Our Innocence: New Zealand’s National Plan of Action against the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children,” New Zealand Ministry of Justice, Wellington, February 2002, http://www.justice.govt.nz/pubs/reports/2002/protect-innocence/. 1106 New Zealand Ministry of Justice, “Protecting Our Innocence: New Zealand’s National Plan of Action against the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children,” New Zealand Ministry of Justice, Wellington, February 2002, http://www.justice.govt.nz/pubs/reports/2002/protect-innocence/.



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2002, there still had been little direct enforcement of the Crimes Amendment Act of 1995 and no convictions.1107

New Zealand Police Commissioner Rob Robinson and his Indonesian counterpart Da’I Bachtiar signed a memorandum of understanding in May 2004 to increase cooperation and training to combat terrorism and transnational crime, including people smuggling and trafficking in persons. The understanding is in addition to New Zealand’s NZ$300,000 contribution to the International Organization for Migration to educate Indonesian police about trafficking in persons.1108

1107 New Zealand Ministry of Justice, “Protecting Our Innocence: New Zealand’s National Plan of Action against the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children,” New Zealand Ministry of Justice, Wellington, February 2002, http://www.justice.govt.nz/pubs/reports/2002/protect-innocence/. 1108 Cameron Bates, “NZ Signs Police Cooperation Agreement with Indonesia,” New Zealand Herald, 7 May 2004.



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NORTH KOREA

Trafficking Routes

North Korea is a country of origin for trafficking in women and children. North Koreans who cross the border into China, particularly the northeast province of Jilin, often become victims of trafficking. The majority of North Korean women in China come from the border province of North Hamgyong, which has relatively easy access to Yanbian Autonomous Korean Prefecture in China. Factors That Contribute to the Trafficking Infrastructure

The collapse of the North Korean economy in the 1990s, coupled with agricultural

disasters and social, economic, and political policies, led to severe famine beginning in 1994.1109 Since then, an estimated 2 million to 3 million people have died of starvation in North Korea. Tens, even hundreds, of thousands of others have fled across the border to China, where they are vulnerable to criminal trafficking networks.1110 The border area is reportedly a hub for trafficking gangs who abduct or coerce women into prostitution, marriage, or labor exploitation.1111

China arrests and expels North Koreans without giving them the opportunity to seek asylum. The Chinese government maintains that no North Koreans are refugees and that its main obligation under a 1986 agreement with North Korea is to repatriate migrants. China offers incentives for informing on North Koreans, penalizes Chinese who assist the migrants, and even allows North Korean agents and border guards to cross into China and participate in the identification and roundup of North Koreans. As a consequence, all migrants are vulnerable to abuse, because they are unable to call on the Chinese government for protection. They live in constant fear in China that they will be deported back to North Korea. Those who cross the border repeatedly, stay for a long time, or have contact with South Koreans, missionaries, aid workers or other non-Chinese nationals are subject to severe punishments, even death, if they are discovered and returned to North Korea.1112

Another factor that contributes to the trafficking of North Koreans is that, with the advent of mobility and industrialization, agricultural life has become less attractive to women in China’s border provinces. This fact has spurred Chinese women to move elsewhere, resulting in a shortage of available brides. The shortage is compounded by China’s one-child policy and traditions that favor sons over daughters. In addition, North Korean refugees who flee to China often have no knowledge of the Chinese economy and society and do not speak Chinese, which makes them more vulnerable to traffickers.1113

1109 Human Rights Watch Report, “The Invisible Exodus: North Koreans in the People’s Republic of China,” November 2002, http://www.hrw.org. 1110 International Organization for Migration, “Traffickers Make Money through Humanitarian Crises,” Trafficking in Migrants, no. 19 (July 1999). 1111 “Famine Refugees in Limbo,” South China Morning Post, 29 October 2002. 1112 Human Rights Watch Report, “The Invisible Exodus: North Koreans in the People’s Republic of China,” November 2002, http://www.hrw.org. 1113 Young-ja Kim, “Human Rights Status of North Korean Women in China and Policy Proposals,” paper presented at the Second International Conference on North Korean Human Rights and Refugees, Seoul, December 2000.



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North Korean children leave for China for most of the same reasons that adults do. An additional factor is the breakdown of North Korea’s school system, leaving children with very little opportunity.1114

It is not uncommon for corrupt border guards and government officials in North Korea to assist the traffickers.1115


The number of North Korean women crossing the border has reportedly increased since 1998. Although no data exist on how many North Korean refugee women are trafficked, some nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) estimate that over 50 percent of all women who cross the border become victims of trafficking.1116 Most of the women are looking for opportunities to make money to send back to their families. Such opportunities consist of selling sexual services, either through prostitution or through arranged marriages, and either at the initiative of the women themselves or by agencies that abduct, shelter, or control the women in some way.1117 Some women reportedly go to China with the full expectation of selling themselves to survive. Others are abducted or duped into sexual exploitation. Many women and girls are also sold to traffickers by their parents.1118 Most North Korean women perceive their security so threatened in China and their situation so desperate at home that they are easily coerced into marriage or prostitution.1119

Bride trafficking is also a serious problem along the North Korean–Chinese border. North Korean women who flee to China are reportedly kidnapped at the border and sold to Chinese men, particularly ethnic Korean men of the Chosun tribe who have difficulty finding spouses locally.1120 Former victims who were able to escape to South Korea report that, in some villages in northeast China, about 1 out of 10 women are North Korean escapees.1121 Once a woman from North Korea marries a Chinese man, it is believed that her chances of being deported to North Korea decrease significantly.1122 Nevertheless, because the Chinese authorities do not recognize or register such marriages, the women live in constant fear that they will be discovered and deported.1123 This fear is exacerbated by the quotas on deportation imposed by the central government of China on local authorities.1124 Street children from North Korea are a growing problem in China. Known as kkot-jebi (child vagrants), they are usually unaccompanied minors who either have lost one or two

1114 Human Rights Watch Report, “The Invisible Exodus: North Koreans in the People’s Republic of China,” November 2002, http://www.hrw.org. 1115 Young-ja Kim, “Human Rights Status of North Korean Women in China and Policy Proposals,” paper presented at the Second International Conference on North Korean Human Rights and Refugees, Seoul, December 2000. 1116 Young-ja Kim, “Human Rights Status of North Korean Women in China and Policy Proposals,” paper presented at the Second International Conference on North Korean Human Rights and Refugees, Seoul, December 2000. 1117 Human Rights Watch Report, “The Invisible Exodus: North Koreans in the People’s Republic of China,” November 2002, http://www.hrw.org. 1118 Amnesty International, “Democratic People’s Republic of Korea: Persecuting the Starving: The Plight of North Koreans Fleeing to China,” 15 December 2000, p. 6. 1119 Human Rights Watch Report, “The Invisible Exodus: North Koreans in the People’s Republic of China,” November 2002, http://www.hrw.org. 1120 “Refugee Group Urges China to Curb Trafficking of North Korean Women,” Agence France Presse, 30 July 2003. 1121 Barbara Demick, “North Korea’s Brides of Despair,” Los Angeles Times, 18 August 2003. 1122 Amnesty International, “Democratic People’s Republic of Korea: Persecuting the Starving: The Plight of North Koreans Fleeing to China,” 15 December 2000, p. 7. 1123 Barbara Demick, “North Korea’s Brides of Despair,” Los Angeles Times, 18 August 2003. 1124 “Trafficking of North Korean Women in China,” Refugees International Bulletin, 28 July 2003.



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parents or have parents who are unable to care for them. Most appear to be boys over the age of 10. Considered the most mobile of migrants, the children cross the border frequently to conduct trade and bring their small earnings back to North Korea. They are often the first to be rounded up during the periodic crackdowns in China. Those lucky enough to make it to third countries, such as South Korea, are found to have suffered serious trauma from being raped, confined, or beaten in China.1125

Although no exact data are available, there are indications that children below the age of 18 are being recruited into government armed forces in North Korea. The minimum age for voluntary recruitment is reportedly 16, and the age for mandatory recruitment is 17. Children receive military and ideological training in secondary schools and special camps from a very early age. However, it is not known how many children are recruited annually and the number of children currently serving in the military.1126 Government Responses

Until 1987, the Criminal Code prohibited forcing a woman to engage in prostitution,

procuring women for prostitution, maintaining brothels, and recruiting women for prostitution. Punishment for these offenses was imprisonment for up to 5 years, or up to 10 years if the offense was committed against a minor.1127 However, those provisions were repealed.

The code prohibits sexual relations with a person who has not attained sexual maturity; however, no age limit is specified under this provision. The punishment is imprisonment for up to 3 years.1128 The offense is aggravated if seduction or perversion is involved in the act, with a penalty not to exceed 7 years in prison.1129 Debauchery with a minor is also prohibited and is subject to a penalty of up to 5 years in prison.1130 Rape is punishable by law, and the offense is aggravated if the victim has committed suicide as a consequence of rape or has not attained sexual maturity, with a maximum penalty of up to 10 years’ imprisonment.1131 Coercion of a woman for sexual relations by an employment supervisor or by a person on whom the woman is materially dependent is punishable by imprisonment for up to 5 years.1132

The government of North Korea does not recognize that the problem of trafficking of persons exists in the country. In response to concerns voiced by the United Nations Human Rights Committee about “substantiated allegations” of trafficking in women in North Korea, the North Korean delegation assured the committee that there had not been a case of trafficking in the country for 50 years.1133 More recently, the government of North Korea reacted to the U.S. decision to impose sanctions against North Korea for its failure to comply with the minimum standards for elimination of trafficking in persons. The government released a statement on national television claiming that “human trafficking is not allowed on

1125 Human Rights Watch Report, “The Invisible Exodus: North Koreans in the People’s Republic of China,” November 2002, http://www.hrw.org. 1126 Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, Child Soldiers Global Report 2001 (London: Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, 2001). 1127 Article 140 (repealed 5 February 1987). 1128 Article 136(2). 1129 Article 136(1). 1130 Article 137. 1131 Article 138. 1132 Article 139. 1133 Erica Bulman, “U.N. Human Rights Body Warns North Korea Not Exempt from Observing Human Rights,” Associated Press Worldstream, 27 July 2001.



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any account institutionally and legally [in our country] and such a thing does not exist.”1134 Reports state that, because of the government’s unwillingness to acknowledge the existence of the problem, “those involved in trafficking [of North Korean women escapees to China] receive relatively light sentences such as paying a fine.”1135

The government does not provide assistance to North Korean victims of trafficking who are deported from other countries. In fact, such persons are treated as enemies of the state for having left the country illegally, and they are prosecuted under the Criminal Code as political criminals. Crossing the national border of North Korea without permission is punishable by imprisonment for up to 3 years.1136 In addition, if a person is treated as a defector, the punishment may increase to up to 7 years or even to the death penalty in cases that are considered particularly grave.1137 Sometimes entire families may be imprisoned. There have also been numerous unverified reports of extreme penalties imposed by local authorities on women who are forcibly returned to North Korea, including forced abortion and infanticide in cases where the women have become pregnant by Chinese men.1138 Women and girls who were engaged in prostitution are severely beaten and humiliated by the police.1139 Once the victims are released from prison, “they face ostracism from their community and increased surveillance from the authorities.”1140

1134 “North Korea Attacks ‘Preposterous’ U.S. Plan for Human Trafficking Sanctions,” Global News Wire—

Asia–Africa Intelligence Wire, 18 September 2003. 1135 Young-ja Kim, “Human Rights Status of North Korean Women in China and Policy Proposals,” paper presented at the Second International Conference on North Korean Human Rights and Refugees, Seoul, December 2000. 1136 Article 117. 1137 Article 47. 1138 Amnesty International, “Starved of Rights: Human Rights and Food Crisis in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea),” January 2004, p. 28. 1139 Citizens’ Alliance for North Korean Human Rights, “Women’s Human Rights in North Korea,” paper presented at the Third International Conference on North Korean Human Rights and Refugees, Tokyo, February 2002. 1140 Amnesty International, “Starved of Rights: Human Rights and Food Crisis in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea),” January 2004, p. 31.



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NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS

Trafficking Routes

The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. territory, is a destination

territory for women and children, mainly from China, the Philippines, and Russia.


Women and children are trafficked to the Northern Mariana Islands mainly to support

the growing sex tourism industry on the islands. Chinese, Japanese, Russian, and South Korean gangs are increasingly engaged in criminal activities in the Northern Mariana Islands, including prostitution and smuggling of persons, drug trafficking, money laundering, and gambling.1141


Many years ago, the Northern Mariana Islands sparked a controversy over sweatshop-

style garment factories, which were set up mainly by Asian businesses but used the “Made in USA” label.1142

In a well-known court case, United States v. Castaneda, Elizabeth Castaneda was indicted for transporting three Philippine women for criminal sexual activity. She co-owned the Mood and Music nightclub in Saipan and recruited waitresses and singers from the Philippines to work at her club. In 1997, Castaneda interviewed and hired the three Filipinas at her recruiting office in the Philippines for jobs that included waiting tables and singing. She told the women that the jobs would also include greeting customers at the door with a kiss, sitting with the customers, and perhaps holding their hands. The women signed a booklet that prohibited employees of the club from engaging in prostitution. On arriving at the nightclub, however, “the women employees were forced to line up for selection by male customers to accompany them to private ‘VIP rooms.’ There, the waitresses and singers employed at Mood and Music were made to provide sexual services.”1143

In April 2004, Filipino immigration agents arrested four Filipino Americans for illegally recruiting Filipino women for protitution in Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands.1144 Reportedly, Russian women are also trafficked to the Northern Mariana Islands.1145 Government Responses

The Criminal Code of the Northern Mariana Islands prohibits all forms of prostitution

and sexual exploitation.1146 Persons found guilty of permitting or engaging in prostitution can be imprisoned for 90 days, fined, or both. Anyone promoting a prostitute or profiting from the acts of a prostitute can be jailed for 5 to 10 years. A person promotes prostitution if he or she, acting other than as a prostitute or as a customer, causes or helps someone to engage in prostitution, solicits customers for prostitution, operates or helps to operate a house of

1141 “Gangs from China, Russia, Japan, Korea Flock to the Pacific,” Agence France Presse, 27 August 2003. 1142 “Gangs from China, Russia, Japan, Korea Flock to the Pacific,” Agence France Presse, 27 August 2003. 1143 United States v. Castaneda, 2001 U.S. App. Lexis 1422, 9th Circuit. 1144 “4 Americans Arrested for Illegal Recruitment,” Manila Standard, 2 April 2004. 1145 Gustavo Capdevila, “Rights: Russia Women Trafficked for Global Sex Trade,” Inter Press Service, 5 July 2002. 1146 Article 1342.



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prostitution or a prostitution enterprise, or otherwise institutes or aids an act or enterprise of prostitution. The Criminal Code states that a person profits from prostitution if he or she, acting other than as a prostitute, accepts or receives money or other property in an agreement or understanding that involves proceeds from prostitution activities.1147

Under the Criminal Code, a person who knows that his or her premises are being used for prostitution and makes no reasonable effort to report, halt, or abate those activities is guilty of permitting prostitution.1148 A person who promotes or profits from the prostitution of a person younger than 18 is considered guilty of promoting prostitution in the first degree and is subject to imprisonment of up to 10 years, a fine, or both.1149

The Northern Mariana Islands adopted the Immigration Enforcement Act in 1994 to improve the islands’ ability to detect and deport illegal aliens.1150 The act also prohibits bribery and extortion when related to immigration; these acts are punishable by a fine or 5 years’ imprisonment. The act criminalizes immigration fraud, including manufacturing, trafficking, importing, exporting, selling, receiving, processing without authorization, or using any false, forged, counterfeit, or altered official immigration or labor document.1151 Finally, the act prohibits helping illegal aliens enter the country or employing illegal aliens.1152

1147 Article 1344. 1148 Article 1345. 1149 Article 1344. 1150 Section 2. 1151 Section 7. 1152 Section 12.



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PAKISTAN

Trafficking Routes

Pakistan is a country of origin, destination, and transit for trafficking in persons.

Pakistani women and children are trafficked mainly to India and the Middle East. Boys are trafficked to the Gulf states, particularly the United Arab Emirates (UAE), as well as to Kuwait and Qatar. Women and children from Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Iran, Myanmar, Nepal, the Philippines, Russia, Tajikistan, Thailand, and other countries of Central Asia are trafficked to Pakistan. According to some surveys, Pakistan and oil-rich Arab states are the principal destinations of Bangladeshi children.1153

Pakistan is a country of transit for East Asians and Bangladeshis traveling westward to the Middle East. People are smuggled to Europe and the Middle East through Pakistan’s remote border regions with Afghanistan and Iran.


Throughout South Asia, poverty, as well as the breakdown of traditional livelihoods,

the lack of education and skills for women and children, natural disasters, the breakdown of families from war situations, the low social status of women, and gender-discriminating practices, contributes to the trafficking phenomenon.1154 Weak legislation and poor enforcement of trafficking laws are also cited as factors contributing to trafficking in the area.1155 Furthermore, there is a common superstition in the region that a sexual encounter with a virgin girl can rid a man of sexually transmitted disease; this belief fuels the demand for young girls.1156

More specifically in Pakistan, exploitative customary practices, economic instability, discriminatory laws, and a shortage of resources in the Interior Ministry for antitrafficking efforts are cited as factors that have induced traffickers to get involved in the trafficking business there.1157

Many wealthy Arabs own large farms in the desert area of the Punjab province, and from there boys are taken to work as camel jockeys in Arab countries.1158


Trafficking and smuggling are reportedly on the rise in Pakistan. Young women and girls are trafficked from Pakistan for purposes of prostitution. Organized criminal networks deceive, coerce, abduct, and sell these victims and then force them to work and live under conditions of slavery. Officials estimate that about 200,000 women between 12 and 30 years of age were trafficked for purposes of sexual exploitation from Bangladesh to Pakistan

1153 “Seven Foreigners Released after Being Detained on Suspicion of Child Trafficking,” Associated Press

Worldstream, 30 September 2002. 1154 “SAARC: CS Groups Demand Implementation of SAARC Convention on Human Trafficking,” Pakistan


Network, 15 November 2002 1157 “Economic Instability Main Cause of Human Trafficking: Study,” Dawn, 6 November 2002. See also “100 Human Trafficking Agents Arrested: FIA,” Pakistan Newswire, 17 November 2003. 1158 “Child Camel Jockeys Returned to Pakistan, Highlighting Illegal Trafficking,” Associated Press

Worldstream, 3 May 2003.



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between 1991 and 2001.1159 An estimated 40,000 female children are exploited in Pakistani brothels, and a significantly large number of them are smuggled from Bangladesh.1160

Marriage is often used as a method of recruitment for trafficking and to avoid arrest under Pakistan’s zina ordinance, which criminalizes sex outside marriage. Open selling of girls is reported, particularly in underdeveloped areas. In the Mohmand Agency, a federally administered tribal area, traditional fairs in which families offer their girls for sale were banned some years ago, but smaller fairs are reported to persist in more remote areas.1161

Incidents are increasingly reported of children trafficked for use as camel jockeys or for employment in other hazardous occupations.1162 Young boys are trafficked from Pakistan to be camel jockeys in the UAE. The children are sometimes taken on false pretenses or are sold by their parents or are kidnapped. In the UAE, they are often underfed so that they will be as light as possible.1163 Despite the UAE’s ban on camel jockeys younger than 14 years of age and lighter than 45 kilograms, strong evidence exists that children younger than 14 are still being used as camel jockeys.1164 Sexual and physical abuse of child camel jockeys is common. Most children used as camel jockeys are from Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, and Sudan.1165 As of 2002, an estimated minimum of 30 boys were kidnapped or sold monthly for camel racing in the Gulf states.1166

In March 2002, Pakistani police raided a house in a middle-class Karachi suburb after neighbors complained of incessant crying from the house.1167 Police discovered 11 infants in the process of being smuggled abroad for adoption.1168 The children, the oldest of whom was 18 months of age, were found dirty, hungry, and crying. Eight people were arrested in connection with the adoption network. Police reported that this arrest was not the first such bust, and that because of the lucrative nature of the business, organized gangs operated adoption rings. All 11 infants had forged passports.1169

Boys are reportedly smuggled from northern Afghanistan to religious schools in Iran and Pakistan. Pakistanis supposedly travel to Afghanistan, promising poor parents a good religious education for their children. Boys are taken across the border to religious schools in tribal regions of Pakistan, where they are subject to brainwashing and abuse, including sexual abuse.1170

Evidence exists that armed groups have forcibly recruited some poor or disadvantaged children to fight in Afghanistan and in Jammu and Kashmir. Some internal armed groups, such as the Mohajir Quami Movement, are believed to have children in their ranks as well.1171

1159 Naveed Anwar, “Pakistan Government Plans Steps for Prevention of Human Trafficking,” Business

Recorder, 10 April 2001. 1160 “Some 1,000 Children Trafficked from Bangladesh in 3 Years,” Xinhua News Agency, 26 January 2004. 1161 “Pakistan: Insufficient Protection of Women,” Amnesty International, April 2002. 1162 “Crackdown on Human Traffickers Launched,” Pakistan Newswire, 20 November 2003. 1163 Peter Beaumont, “Kidnapped Children Sold into Slavery as Camel Racers,” Guardian, 2 June 2001. 1164 “Six More Children Used as Camel Jockeys in UAE Arrive Karachi,” Pakistan Newswire, 6 May 2003. 1165 “LHRLA Expresses Concern over Child Trafficking,” Pakistan Newswire, 10 May 2003. 1166 “Pakistan: Focus on Human Trafficking,” United Nations Integrated Regional Information Network, 16 April 2002. 1167 “Pakistan: Focus on Human Trafficking,” United Nations Integrated Regional Information Network, 16 April 2002. 1168 Another report from March 2004, recalling the incident, claimed the babies were being smuggled to Malaysia for a price tag of US$20,000 each. See “Pakistan: IOM Launched Initiative to Combat Human Trafficking,” United Nations Integrated Regional Information Network, 16 March 2004. 1169 “Pakistan: Focus on Human Trafficking,” United Nations Integrated Regional Information Network, 16 April 2002. 1170 “Eight People Arrested in Afghanistan for Smuggling Children, Officials Say,” Associated Press, 25 September 2003. 1171 Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, Child Soldiers Global Report 2001 (London: Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, 2001).



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The constitution of Pakistan prohibits slavery, all forms of forced labor, and trafficking in human beings.1172

In August 2002, the federal cabinet passed the Prevention and Control of Human Trafficking Ordinance.1173 The ordinance defines human trafficking as “obtaining, securing, selling, purchasing, recruiting, detaining, harboring, or receiving a person, notwithstanding his implicit or explicit consent, by the use of coercion, kidnapping, abduction or by giving or receiving any payment or benefit, or sharing or receiving a share for such person’s subsequent transportation out of or into Pakistan by any means whatsoever.”1174

Planning or executing a plan of trafficking into or out of Pakistan for the purpose of “attaining any benefit or for the purpose of exploitative entertainment, slavery or forced labor, or adoption in or out of Pakistan” is punishable by imprisonment for up to 7 years and a fine.1175 The punishment increases to 10 years’ imprisonment and a fine if, in addition to committing an offense of trafficking a person, someone kidnaps, abducts, or attempts to kidnap or abduct in connection with the trafficking offense. If a person plans to commit an offense of trafficking but has not yet done so, the punishment is imprisonment for up to 5 years and a fine.1176

Anyone who knowingly provides, obtains, or employs the labor or services of another person by coercion is subject to punishment of imprisonment for up to 7 years and a fine. The punishment increases to 10 years’ imprisonment and a fine if an offender kidnaps, abducts, or attempts to kidnap or abduct a person in connection with an offense of forced labor.1177

The Prevention and Control of Human Trafficking Ordinance imposes a punishment of imprisonment for up to 10 years and a fine on anyone who “purchases, sells, harbors, transports, provides, detains, or obtains a child or a woman through coercion, kidnapping, or abduction or by giving or receiving any benefit” for trafficking the child or woman into or out of Pakistan for the purpose of “exploitative entertainment.”1178 The punishment increases to imprisonment for up to 14 years and a fine if the offense involved kidnapping or abduction.1179

Tampering with documents related to trafficking in furtherance of any offense under the Prevention and Control of Human Trafficking Ordinance, as well as preventing or restricting a person’s liberty to move or travel, is punishable by imprisonment for up to 7 years and a fine.1180

If an organized criminal group commits any of the offenses under the ordinance, each member of the group is subject to imprisonment for up to 10 years. Punishment is enhanced to imprisonment for up 14 years and a fine if the group’s purpose in committing the trafficking offense is exploitative entertainment.1181

1172 Article 11. 1173 Ordinance No. LIX of 2002, F. No. 2(1)/2002-Pub. 1174 Article 2(h). 1175 Article 3(i). Article 1(f) defines exploitative entertainment as “all activities in connection with human sports or sexual practices or sex and related abusive practices.” 1176 Article 3(i). 1177 Article 3(ii). 1178 Article 3(iii). 1179 Article 3(iii). 1180 Article 3(iv). 1181 Article 4.



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Repeated commission of any of the offenses under the Prevention and Control of Human Trafficking Ordinance is punishable by 14 years’ imprisonment and a fine.1182

The Prevention and Control of Human Trafficking Ordinance provides for certain benefits for victims. These benefits include allowing the victim to stay in Pakistan, extending the victim’s stay in Pakistan;1183 paying compensation and expenses to the victim;1184 or making arrangements for shelter, food, and medical care of a victim who is an unaccompanied child or a destitute woman.1185

The Offense of Zina (Enforcement of Hudood) Ordinance of 19791186 prohibits sexual intercourse outside the institution of marriage.1187 Punishment for the offense is a whipping of 100 lashes if the perpetrator of the crime is not married and death by stoning if he or she is married.1188

The ordinance penalizes whoever sells, buys, lets to hire, or obtains possession of any person with the intent that the person be employed or used for the purpose of prostitution or illicit intercourse or for any unlawful and immoral purpose. Punishment for the offense is imprisonment for life, a whipping not exceeding 30 lashes, and a fine.1189 The ordinance also prohibits kidnapping or abducting any woman with the intent of compelling her to marry someone against her will or forcing or seducing her into illicit intercourse. Punishment for the offense is imprisonment for life, a whipping up to 30 lashes, and a fine. The same punishment applies to cases involving inducing a woman by means of criminal intimidation, abuse of authority, or any other means of coercion to go from any place with the intent of forcing or seducing her into conducting illicit intercourse with another person.1190 The Offense of Zina (Enforcement of Hudood) Ordinance requires for proof of zina that “at least four Muslim adult male witnesses about whom the Court is satisfied, having regard to the requirements of tazkiyah al-shuhood, that they are truthful persons and abstain from major sins (Kabair), give evidence as eyewitnesses of the act of penetration necessary to the offense, provided that, if the accused is a non-Muslim, the eyewitnesses may be non-Muslim.”1191

Enticing, taking away, or detaining a woman with intent of having unlawful intercourse with another man is punishable by 7 years’ imprisonment, a whipping up to 30 lashes, and a fine.1192 Causing, encouraging, or abetting prostitution of a girl less than 16 years of age is punishable by 3 years’ imprisonment and a fine. If an offender is a male, he is also subject to a whipping.1193

Procuring a woman or a girl for the purpose of prostitution—or with intent that she becomes an inmate of or frequent a brothel—and persuading a woman to leave her usual place

1182 Article 5. 1183 Article 6(i). 1184 Article 6(ii). 1185 Article 6(iii). 1186 The ordinance prohibits zina, which is defined in section 4 as follows: “A man and a woman are said to have committed ‘Zina’ if they willfully have sexual intercourse without being validly married to each other.” Zina includes fornication and adultery. See Julie Dror Chadbourne, “Never Wear Your Shoes after Midnight: Legal Trends under the Pakistan Zina Ordinance,” Wisconsin International Law Journal 17, no.2 (1999): 179. 1187 Section 4. 1188 Section 5. 1189 Sections 13–14. 1190 Section 11. 1191 Section 8. In this section, tazkiyah al-shuhood means “the mode of inquiry adopted by a Court to satisfy itself as to the credibility of a witness.” 1192 Section 16. 1193 Section 7.



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of abode are punishable by imprisonment for up to 3 years. If an offender is a male, he is subject to a whipping.1194

Importing a woman or a girl for prostitution is an offense under the Pakistan Suppression of Prostitution Ordinance. Punishment is 3 years’ imprisonment and a fine. If an offender is a man, he is subject to a whipping.1195

The Registration of Foreigners Act1196 requires any foreigners entering or already in Pakistan to report their presence to the prescribed authorities.1197 The act also requires such reporting in the event that the foreigner moves from one place to another in Pakistan.1198 Similarly, any foreigner who is about to leave Pakistan must report the date of his or her intended departure to the appropriate authorities.1199

The Passport Act1200 regulates the requirements pertaining to travel documents. The Emigration Act1201 covers the requirements that must be satisfied in cases involving immigration for the purpose of unskilled work1202 and skilled work.1203

In August 2002, President Pervez Musharraf approved a new law to curb trafficking in persons, including the smuggling of women abroad for prostitution and of children for camel racing and sexual abuse. According to officials, the law was designed “to effectively control human trafficking from and through Pakistan.”1204 Smuggling of children abroad for use as camel jockeys was made punishable by up to 10 years in prison.1205

Special squads of the Federal Investigation Agency have conducted raids against traffickers.1206 In 2002, the interior minister announced that this agency would be strengthened on par with international standards. Computer-literate women officers were being recruited to work for the Federal Investigation Agency.1207 Pakistani immigration officials busted several trafficking rings in 2002. Pakistani diplomats working in the UAE will sometimes rescue child camel jockeys when their owners come to renew their passports at the Pakistani Embassy.1208 Between May 2002 and May 2003, 86 Pakistani children were recovered and repatriated to Pakistan from the UAE, thanks to joint efforts between Pakistan and the UAE.1209

In November 2003, the Interior Ministry announced a major crackdown against trafficking and smuggling in persons.1210 As of November 2003, 100 human-trafficking agents had been arrested, initially in Gujarat, Gujranwala, Karachi, Lahore, and Sialkot, pursuant to a nationwide campaign following the directives of the interior minister.1211 The government

1194 Section 8. 1195 Section 9. 1196 Law No. 26 of 1939. 1197 Section 3(a). 1198 Section 3(b). 1199 Section 3(c). 1200 Law No. 34 of 1920. 1201 Law No. 7 of 1922. 1202 Sections 9–14. 1203 Sections 15–22. 1204 Sami Zubeiri, “Pakistan Moves to Curb Trafficking of Women and Children,” Agence France Presse, 29 August 2002. 1205 “Child Camel Jockeys Returned to Pakistan, Highlighting Illegal Trafficking,” Associated Press

Worldstream, 3 May 2003. 1206 “Crackdown on Human Traffickers Launched,” Pakistan Newswire, 20 November 2003. 1207 “Economic Instability Main Cause of Human Trafficking: Study,” Dawn, 6 November 2002. 1208 “Child Camel Jockeys Returned to Pakistan, Highlighting Illegal Trafficking,” Associated Press

Worldstream, 3 May 2003. 1209 “Pakistani Child Camel Jockeys Repatriated from UAE,” Xinhua General News Service, 13 May 2003. 1210 “Crackdown on Human Traffickers Launched,” Pakistan Newswire, 20 November 2003. 1211 “100 Human Trafficking Agents Arrested: FIA,” Pakistan Newswire, 17 November 2003.



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also announced that it was stepping up the patrolling of Pakistan’s borders, especially the border with Afghanistan.1212

According to an April 2004 report, machine-readable “smart passports” were to be issued to all Pakistanis by the National Database and Registration Authority in September 2004. The passports were to have unique physical and security features that could not be forged or tampered with. Pakistani authorities hope the passports will reduce incidences of trafficking and illegal migration.1213 Nongovernmental and International Organization Responses

Since 1991, more than 20 nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have been

established with a strong focus on trafficking.1214 Lawyers for Human Rights and Legal Aid (LHRLA) was the first organization to take up the issue of trafficking in women in Pakistan in 1991. Its 1-year project, Trafficking of Women in Pakistan, supported by the Canadian International Development Agency, aimed at raising awareness about trafficking, conducting research to gauge the severity of the problem, developing a plan of action for its elimination, and providing legal aid to victims and their families. LHRLA has worked for the release of all women detained illegally and subjected to trafficking.1215 LHRLA held a National Court of Women on the Violence of Trafficking and HIV/AIDS from 1 to 3 August 2003. The meeting, held to formulate campaigns to combat trafficking, was attended by survivors of trafficking and AIDS, United Nations (UN) representatives, and government officials.1216 The LHRLA sent an investigative team to interview children returned from the UAE at the Overseas Pakistan Foundation in Karachi and Edhi Center in May 2003.1217

In March 2004, IOM announced the launch of a thematic group on trafficking. Funded by the Canadian International Development Agency, the group will bring together representatives from the Interior Ministry; the Ministry of Labor, Manpower, and Overseas Pakistanis; and the Ministry of Women’s Development with civil society organizations, donors, and international NGOs active in the field of trafficking. The group will meet on a regular basis to develop a comprehensive plan of action to combat trafficking.1218

In September 2004, the United Nations Children’s Fund sponsored a 3-day meeting of South Asian governments, United Nations agencies, and NGOs in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Government officials signed a five-point joint statement, agreeing that children in South Asia deserve better protection from traffickers and sexual abusers. Participating countries were Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.1219


The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) forum, founded in

1985, aims at promoting cultural ties and economic and social development among member states (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka). In January 2002, the Pakistani government signed the SAARC Convention on Prevention and Combating Trafficking in Women and Children for Prostitution. Conventions were adopted to step up

1212 “Crackdown on Human Traffickers Launched,” Pakistan Newswire, 20 November 2003. 1213 “‘Smart Passports’ for all from Sept.,” Times of Oman, 1 April 2004. 1214 See the Web page of Lawyers for Human Rights and Legal Aid, http://www.lhrla.sdnpk.org/. 1215 Lawyers for Human Rights and Legal Aid, “Current Projects: Project on Trafficking of Women in Pakistan,” 13 April 2004, http://www.lhrla.sdnpk.org/traff_women.html. 1216 “South Asian Women Hold Court on Violence,” Off Our Backs, September–October 2003, p. 4 1217 “LHRLA Expresses Concern over Child Trafficking,” Pakistan Newswire, 10 May 2003. 1218 “IOM Launches Thematic Group on Human Trafficking,” IOM Press Briefing Notes, 19 March 2004. 1219 “Child Sex-Declaration,” United News of Bangladesh, 1 October 2004.



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cooperation among law enforcement authorities to fight trafficking in women and children, terrorism, and the drug trade. In January 2004, leaders from SAARC member states met in Islamabad for the first summit in 2 years.1220

Pakistani and Iranian officials held talks in Islamabad in May 2003 on tightening their common border.1221 Immigration, intelligence, and border security officials met again in early December 2003 in Chah Bahar, Iran, to discuss curbing human and drug trafficking across Pakistani–Iranian land and maritime borders.1222

1220 “Background and Facts on the SAARC Forum,” Associated Press Worldstream, 6 January 2004. 1221 “Nearly 50 Pakistanis Arrested in Iran for Illegal Entry Deported: Pakistani Official,” Associated Press, 26 May 2003. 1222 “Pakistan, Iran to Discuss Border Security,” Associated Press Worldstream, 20 November 2003.



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PALAU Trafficking Routes

Reports indicate that Filipino migrant workers may be being trafficked to the Republic

of Palau. In addition, internal trafficking in women and children may exist in Palau. Factors That Contribute to the Trafficking Infrastructure

One of the major factors that contribute to trafficking into Palau is the country’s no-

visa policy for foreign visitors. This policy attracts recruiters, who commonly use it to lure victims to Palau.1223

In 2000, the Committee on the Rights of the Child expressed concern over several issues related to the status and rights of children in Palau. Among the committee’s concerns were the increasing occurrence of sexual abuse of children, a lack of awareness with regard to domestic violence, and the inadequate financial and human resources that are needed to prevent all types of abuse against children. The committee also pointed to the lack of adequate legal protection against commercial sexual exploitation of boys in particular.1224 Forms of Trafficking

There are reports that migrants from the Philippines may be trafficked to Palau for the

purpose of forced labor. After being recruited at home, these typically unskilled Filipino workers usually arrive to Palau as tourists and end up being exploited and abused. The practice continues despite a ban on employment of Filipinos in Palau that was issued by the Philippines Overseas Employment Administration. According to the victims, the average “recruitment” fee amounts to US$1,500, which is deducted from the worker’s monthly salary of approximately US$200. An average victim repays the fee in 10 months and is required to set aside the salary of the final 2 months of a typical 1-year contract for the purchase of a return ticket. Consequently, the victims are rarely able to bring any money back to the Philippines.1225

Child labor is not considered to be an issue in Palau, and no evidence exists that children are forced to work under unsafe or unhealthy conditions.1226

In April 2003, a Chinese government delegation was sent to Palau to repatriate 200 Chinese garment factory workers. The workers had been arrested for rioting after the factory’s Taiwanese management fled the island in January 2003 without giving the workers their contract-guaranteed tickets home and thousands of dollars in unpaid wages.1227 Government Responses

The Criminal Code prohibits sexual abuse of children. Sexual abuse is defined as any

sexually related activity that is committed for sexual gratification, pleasure, or profit and that

1223 “DFA Issues Warning to OFWs Looking for Work in Palau,” Manila Times, 8 December 2003. 1224 United Nations, “Palau,” in Committee on the Rights of the Child Consideration of Reports Submitted by

State Parties under Article 44 of the Convention, (Geneva: United Nations, 23 March 2000), http://www.hri.ca/fortherecord2001/documentation/tbodies/crc-c-51-add3.htm. 1225 “DFA Issues Warning to OFWs Looking for Work in Palau,” Manila Times, 8 December 2003. 1226 United Nations, “Palau,” in Committee on the Rights of the Child Consideration of Reports Submitted by

State Parties under Article 44 of the Convention, (Geneva: United Nations, 23 March 2000), http://www.hri.ca/fortherecord2001/documentation/tbodies/crc-c-51-add3.htm. 1227 “Chinese Team Due in Palau to Retrieve Arrested Garment Workers,” Agence France Presse, 16 April 2003.



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involves a child younger than 16 who is not the spouse of the perpetrator. A sexually related activity includes but is not limited to sexual intercourse.1228 The code also penalizes carnal knowledge as a sex crime if it involves a female younger than 15 who is not the perpetrator’s wife.1229 Punishment for the offense is imprisonment for up to 10 years.

Palau has no specific law against prostitution. A person convicted of kidnapping is subject to 10 years in prison. Kidnapping is defined as forcible, fraudulent, or deceitful imprisonment, seizure, or detention of any person other than one’s own minor child.1230

Children younger than 16 are prohibited from employment on foreign trading vessels, except vessels that are operated by a single family. Persons younger than 21 are prohibited from employment at premises used for serving or consuming alcohol, and they are not eligible to receive a foreign permit for employment.1231

The constitution prohibits trafficking in persons. The law prohibits procurement within and across borders for purposes of prostitution.1232 Multilateral Initiatives

Palau participated in the Ministerial Regional Conference on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons, and Related Transnational Crime, which was held in Bali, Indonesia, in February 2002. The director general of the International Organization for Migration and the assistant United Nations high commissioner for refugees also attended. The ministers agreed to take concrete steps to implement the recommendations of the conference and to coordinate regional action in combating smuggling, trafficking, and related transnational crime.1233

1228 Section 602(e). 1229 Chapter 28 lists as sex crimes incest, rape, sodomy, carnal knowledge, adultery, and indecent assault. 1230 United Nations, “Palau,” in Committee on the Rights of the Child Consideration of Reports Submitted by

State Parties under Article 44 of the Convention, (Geneva: United Nations, 23 March 2000), http://www.hri.ca/fortherecord2001/documentation/tbodies/crc-c-51-add3.htm. 1231 United Nations, “Palau,” in Committee on the Rights of the Child Consideration of Reports Submitted by

State Parties under Article 44 of the Convention, (Geneva: United Nations, 23 March 2000), http://www.hri.ca/fortherecord2001/documentation/tbodies/crc-c-51-add3.htm. 1232 End Child Prostitution, Pornography, and Trafficking (ECPAT) International Online Database, 11 March 2004, http://www.ecpat.net. 1233 Bali Ministerial Conference on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons, and Related Transnational Crime, “Co-Chairs’ Statement,” February 2002, http://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/i_crime/people/conf0202.html.



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PAPUA NEW GUINEA

Trafficking Routes

Tourists reportedly travel to the South Pacific to engage in the commercial sexual

exploitation of children, and there have been reports of child trafficking from the poor logging and fishing areas of the country.1234

Factors That Contribute to the Trafficking Infrastructure Pacific Island children may be particularly easy targets for child sex tourists. The South Pacific is emerging as a huge tourist destination. As police crack down on sex offenders in the home countries of child sex tourists (e.g., Australia), as well as in the more popular sex tourist destinations in Asia, there is growing concern that child sex tourism and associated activities are on the increase in the South Pacific.1235 In fact, sex tourists have been blamed for the latest eruption of HIV infections in the region. Fear of infection and stricter laws have prompted many sex tourists to skip traditional Southeast Asian destinations in favor of the South Pacific. Officially, however, the prevalence of HIV/AIDS is still lower in the South Pacific than in any other region in the world.1236

In addition, increasing poverty in Papua New Guinea is forcing more women and children to seek their livelihoods through prostitution.1237 Forms of Trafficking

Child sex tourism and prostitution appear to be increasing in the Pacific region in general.1238 Prostitution is reportedly on the rise in Papua New Guinea.1239


The Summary Offences Act prohibits living on the earnings of prostitution.1240 The Sexual Offences and Crime against Children Act declares that no person younger than 18 years can be charged with prostitution.1241

The Criminal Code outlaws indecent treatment of a boy younger than 14 years,1242 indecent treatment1243 and defilement1244 of a girl younger than 16 years, any attempt to abuse a girl younger than 10 years,1245 and abduction of a girl younger than 18 years with the intent to carnally know her.1246 The Criminal Code prohibits procuring or enticing a woman with the intent of having

1234 End Child Prostitution, Pornography, and Trafficking (ECPAT) International Online Database, 16 April 2004, http://www.ecpat.net. 1235 ECPAT International Online Database, 16 April 2004, http://www.ecpat.net. 1236 Ed Susman, “AIDS: Is ‘Paradise’ Next?,” 10 December 2003. 1237 “Kidu: Establish Human Rights Body,” PNG Post-Courier, 19 March 2004. 1238 ECPAT International Online Database, 16 April 2004, http://www.ecpat.net. 1239 “Kidu: Establish Human Rights Body,” PNG Post-Courier, 19 March 2004. 1240 Article 55. 1241 Article 229(Q). 1242 Article 211. 1243 Article 217. 1244 Article 216. In addition, article 211 specifically criminalizes defilement of a girl younger than 12 years. 1245 Article 215. 1246 Article 220.



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her engage in sexual acts with another person, regardless of her consent or whether the offense is committed inside or outside Papua New Guinea. Punishment for this offense may not exceed 3 years’ imprisonment, and a person cannot be convicted on the uncorroborated testimony of only one witness. Penalties may be increased to 7 years’ imprisonment if the perpetrator uses fraud, violence, threat, abuse of authority, or drugs to procure the victim.1247 Finally, detaining a woman in a brothel against her will is classified as a misdemeanor and is punishable by up to 2 years’ imprisonment.1248

The constitution of Papua New Guinea states that “slavery and the slave trade in all their forms, and all similar institutions and practices, are strictly prohibited.”1249 In March 2004, the Three-Mile brothel in Port Moresby was raided by police. Seventy-six people were arrested, including men, women, and children. Both male and female suspects were made to parade through the streets, chewing and blowing condoms. Some female defendants alleged that police officers abused them.1250 The incident drew criticism from women and children’s groups and human rights groups.1251 In reaction to the incident, Community Development Minister Lady Carol Kidu declared the urgent need for a human rights commission to be established in Papua New Guinea to examine equal opportunities for all citizens regardless of gender.1252 In early April, prosecutors were forced to withdraw prostitution-related charges against 40 women from Three-Mile brothel because of the manner in which police conducted the raid.1253 A 66-year-old Australian-born man was arrested in Papua New Guinea in March 2004 for child sex offenses. He was charged with five counts relating to the possession of pornographic material and the sexual assault of young boys.1254 Nongovernmental and International Organization Responses

The Individual and Community Rights Advocacy Forum organized an event in

December 2003 in Port Moresby to debate the legalization of prostitution as part of the International Human Rights Day celebration. Panel members included the archbishop of Port Moresby, the deputy police commissioner, the chairman of the Family and Sexual Violence Committee, and a representative from the Attorney General’s Office.1255

The Port Moresby City Mission runs a home for about 110 child victims of commercial sexual exploitation.1256 Multilateral Initiatives

In February 2002, Papua New Guinea participated in the Ministerial Regional Conference on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons, and Related Transnational Crime in Bali, Indonesia. Ministers at the conference acknowledged that illegal migrants potentially were both lawbreakers and victims. They agreed to take concrete steps toward implementing the recommendations of the regional conference and coordinating action to combat people

1247 Article 218. 1248 Article 221. 1249 Article 253. 1250 “Kidu: Probe Raid on City Brothel,” PNG Post-Courier, 18 March 2004. 1251 “Papua New Guinea Police Drop Prostitution Prosecution,” BBC Worldwide Monitoring, 8 April 2004. 1252 “Kidu: Establish Human Rights Body,” PNG Post-Courier, 19 March 2004. 1253 “Papua New Guinea Police Drop Prostitution Prosecution,” BBC Worldwide Monitoring, 8 April 2004. 1254 “Child Wise, Australia,” ECPAT News, 11 March 2004, http://www.ecpat.net/eng/child_wise.asp. 1255 “Public Debate on Prostitution Today,” PNG Post-Courier, 10 December 2003. 1256 ECPAT International Online Database, 16 April 2004, http://www.ecpat.net.



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smuggling, trafficking in persons, other forms of illegal migration, and related transnational crimes.1257

Australian Deputy High Commissioner Crispin Conroy spoke at the People against Child Exploitation committee meeting in Port Moresby in early March 2004 as part of Australia’s “Don’t Let Child Abuse Travel!” campaign. The campaign is part of Australia’s efforts to build institutional and legal capacity in the region to fight child sex crimes; it encourages travelers to report any such concerns about Australians abroad to the Australian Federal Police.1258

In May 2003, the representatives of the government of Papua New Guinea attended the East Asian and Pacific ministerial meeting on children in Bali, Indonesia. Ministers, senior officials, nongovernmental organizations, and other representatives from 23 countries participated. The participants unanimously adopted the Bali Consensus, which underlines the need for governments in the region to fulfill children’s rights and protect them.1259

1257 Bali Ministerial Conference on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons and Related Transnational Crime, “Co-Chairs’ Statement,” February 2002, http://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/i_crime/people/conf0202.html. 1258 “Australia against Child Sex Tourism,” PNG Post-Courier, 3 March 2004. 1259 “Twenty-Three Countries to Attend Meeting on Children in Bali,” Antara, 3 May 2003. See also UNICEF, “East Asian and Pacific Nations Act for Children,” News Note, 7 May 2003, http://www.unicef.org/media/media_7135.html.



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PHILIPPINES

Trafficking Routes

The Philippines is a country of origin, transit, and destination for trafficking in women

and children. Filipino women and children are trafficked to Asian countries such as Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Pakistan, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan; Middle Eastern countries such as Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, and Saudi Arabia; African countries such as Cote d’Ivoire and Nigeria; European countries; and other countries including Australia, Canada, Costa Rica, the North Mariana Islands, and Palau. In one sample survey outlined in a recent report, South Korea was the top destination for trafficking from the Philippines, followed by Malaysia, Japan, Nigeria, and Cote d’Ivoire.1260

The Philippines and Thailand top the list of countries of origin for trafficked women and girls to Japan.1261 Similarly, the Philippines and Russia are the top countries of origin for trafficking to South Korea. In fact, the women working in bars and those forced into prostitution in the camp towns surrounding U.S. military bases are overwhelmingly Russian or Filipino.1262

Approximately 71 percent of trafficked and smuggled persons from the Philippines leave the country by air; 29 percent leave by sea. Victims traveling to Japan and other destinations leave the country from the international airport in Manila. Those destined for Malaysia often leave through the Zamboanga ports in the southern Philippines.1263 Sabah, a state in the south of Malaysia, is the main entrance point to Malaysia from the Philippines, particularly for Filipinas trafficked for the sex industry.1264 Although many victims travel directly to their destination country, sometimes Bangkok, Hong Kong, and Kuala Lumpur are used as transit points.1265

The Philippines has been a destination for women trafficked from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Russia, and Ukraine, and is a transit country for trafficking between China and other countries. Within the Philippines, there is trafficking from the poorer south to Manila and the north. Factors That Contribute to the Trafficking Infrastructure

Migration from the Philippines has been a phenomenon since 1975. There are an estimated 7.5 million overseas Filipino workers around the world, the majority of them

1260 Anti–Human Trafficking Unit, Global Program against Trafficking in Human Beings, “Coalitions against Trafficking in Human Beings in the Philippines—Research and Action: Final Report Executive Summary,” United Nations, Vienna, 2003. 1261 Suvendrini Kakuchi, “Men’s Attitudes Blamed for Sex Industry Boom,” Inter Press Service, 17 December 2003. 1262 Mary Jacoby, “Does U.S. Abet Korean Sex Trade?” St. Petersburg Times, 9 December 2002. 1263 Anti–Human Trafficking Unit, Global Program against Trafficking in Human Beings, “Coalitions against Trafficking in Human Beings in the Philippines—Research and Action: Final Report Executive Summary,” United Nations, Vienna, 2003. 1264 Diana Wong and Gusni Saat, “Trafficking of Filipino Women to Malaysia: Examining the Experiences and Perspectives of Victims, Government and NGO Experts: Executive Summary,” United Nations Global Program against Trafficking in Human Beings, Vienna. 1265 Anti–Human Trafficking Unit, Global Program against Trafficking in Human Beings, “Coalitions against Trafficking in Human Beings in the Philippines—Research and Action: Final Report Executive Summary,” United Nations, Vienna, 2003.



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women.1266 Filipino migrant workers remit billions of dollars to the Philippines annually. Through the Department of Foreign Affairs and other government agencies, the government encourages its citizens to consider working overseas and has substantial infrastructure to promote that cause. Additionally, hundreds of independent recruitment agencies, both legal and illegal, arrange work abroad for Filipinos. The government has acknowledged that Filipino women are being trafficked abroad for prostitution, for domestic servitude, and as mail-order brides. In an early 2003 daily newspaper, a government official acknowledged a link between the government’s encouragement of migrant labor and trafficking in that such encouragement gives a cover of legitimacy to trafficking.1267

Criminal networks throughout the entire Southeast Asia region traffic young girls and women for sexual exploitation.1268 Nationals in destination countries work with Filipino traffickers during the recruitment process. These groups appear either to be highly organized or to have extended networks.1269 For example, one syndicate believed to have a network of recruiters and runners in the Philippines and Singapore recruits young Filipinas with false promises of jobs as actresses, singers, and shop assistants. Instead, they are forced into prostitution in Singapore for a 2-week stint.1270 The Japanese yakuza’s ties to criminal groups in countries of origin for migrants and trafficking victims, including the Philippines, are well documented.1271 In fact, most Filipinas trafficked to Japan are sent by organized criminal groups.1272

The Philippines is a major source country for mail-order brides as a result of social pressure to marry young, the stigma attached to spinsterhood, and the belief that marrying a foreign man will ensure material comfort for the bride and her family. Hundreds of marriage agencies advertise Filipinas through pen pal columns, newspaper ads, and the Internet.1273

Corruption in the Philippines and destination countries plays a role as well. Some victims have reported having contact with corrupt officials in the Philippines.1274 Immigration officials at the Ninoy Aquino Philippines International Airport are suspected of colluding with

1266 Jose Brillantes, “Notes of Migration Research in the Philippines,” paper presented at the International Organization for Migration Meeting on Enhancing the Contribution of Migration Research to Policymaking, Geneva, 5–6 February 2004. 1267 Sally Cameron and Edward Newman, “Trafficking of Filipino Women to Japan: Examining the Experience and Perspectives of Victims and Government Experts—Executive Summary.” United Nations Global Program against Trafficking in Human Beings, Vienna. 1268 Deborah Haynes, “International Community Must Fight Child Sex Networks in SE Asia: UN,” Agence France Presse, 19 April 2004. See also Brian Calvert, “In Trafficking Case, Court Balks Again,” Cambodia

Daily, 27 February 2002. 1269 Anti–Human Trafficking Unit, Global Program against Trafficking in Human Beings, “Coalitions against Trafficking in Human Beings in the Philippines—Research and Action: Final Report Executive Summary,” United Nations, Vienna, 2003. 1270 “Filipinas Being Lured into Singapore Vice Trade” Deutsche Presse-Agentur, 19 June 2000. 1271 Owed Justice: Thai Women Trafficked into Debt Bondage in Japan (New York: Human Rights Watch, September 2000). 1272 Sally Cameron and Edward Newman, “Trafficking of Filipino Women to Japan: Examining the Experience and Perspectives of Victims and Government Experts—Executive Summary,” in Coalitions against Trafficking

in Human Beings in the Philippines—Phase 1, 21 March 2000, http://www.unodc.org/pdf/crime/human_trafficking/Exec_summary_UNU.pdf. 1273 Aida Santos, “The Philippines: Migration and Trafficking in Women,” in Janice G. Raymond, Jean D’Cunha, Siti Ruhaini Dzuhayatin, H. Patricia Hynes, Zoraida Ramirez Rodriguez, and Aida Santos, eds., A

Comparative Study of Women Trafficked in the Migration Process: Patterns, Profiles and Health Consequences

of Sexual Exploitation in Five Countries (Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, Venezuela, and the United States) (Coalition against Trafficking in Women–International, 2002). 1274 Anti–Human Trafficking Unit, Global Program against Trafficking in Human Beings, “Coalitions against Trafficking in Human Beings in the Philippines—Research and Action: Final Report Executive Summary,” United Nations, Vienna, 2003.



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sex rings in South Korea.1275 The Philippine Embassy in Seoul has received information that Filipinas have been able to bribe workers at the South Korean Embassy in Manila to obtain forged documents.1276 Some Filipino women reported that they had contact with corrupt Japanese officials.1277 Since the 1960s, three major insurgent groups have been battling the Philippine military: the communist-oriented New People’s Army (NPA), the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), and its breakaway faction, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).1278 Some of these groups have been accused of recruiting child soldiers. Forms of Trafficking

It has been estimated that at least 200,000 to 225,000 women and children are trafficked from Southeast Asia annually. Most of the trafficking occurs within the region (60 percent to major regional cities of the region, 40 percent outside the region).1279 Filipino women and children are trafficked abroad for sexual exploitation, marriage, domestic servitude, and other forms of forced labor. A report by the Coalitions against Trafficking in Human Beings in the Philippines indicates that trafficking from the Philippines is characterized by use of forged or tampered documents, massive debts to trafficking agents ranging from hundreds to thousands of dollars, deception as to the nature of the work abroad, and coercion and threats against the victim and her family.1280

About 80 percent of Filipino women sent to Japan by trafficking rings are forced into prostitution, according to a sample survey of 100 women in Manila who had been trafficked to Japan. Only a small percentage were aware beforehand that they would be sent there to work in prostitution, and nearly half were between the ages of 15 and 18 at the time they were sent to Japan.1281 Trafficking in women into the Japanese sex industry first received attention in the late 1970s and early 1980s, when Filipino women began to migrate to Japan in large numbers, often falling victim to exploitation in the process.1282 In 2002, 123,322 people came to Japan on entertainer visas, 60 percent of them Filipino women. The majority of these women work in pubs as hostesses, sometimes prostituting themselves.1283 Recruitment in the Philippines is usually through informal networks—many trafficked women come into contact with their recruiter through relatives or acquaintances. Most are told that they will work as singers, cashiers, chambermaids, or hostesses, but in reality they are forced to sell or

1275 “SOS for Distressed Damsels in Sokor,” Manila Standard, 28 August 2002. 1276 “Philippines Asks Seoul to Clamp down on ‘Entertainer’ Visas,” Deutsche Presse-Agentur, 12 July 2004. 1277 Sally Cameron and Edward Newman, “Trafficking of Filipino Women to Japan: Examining the Experience and Perspectives of Victims and Government Experts—Executive Summary,” in Coalitions against Trafficking

in Human Beings in the Philippines—Phase 1, 21 March 2000, http://www.unodc.org/pdf/crime/human_trafficking/Exec_summary_UNU.pdf. 1278 Rufa Cagoco-Guiam, “Philippines: Child Soldiers in Central and Western Mindanao: A Rapid Assessment,” International Labor Organization–International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor, Geneva, February 2002. 1279 Annuska Derk, Combating Trafficking in South-East Asia: A Review of Policy and Programme Responses, IOM Migration Research Series 2 (Geneva: International Organization for Migration, 2000). 1280 Anti–Human Trafficking Unit, Global Program against Trafficking in Human Beings, “Coalitions against Trafficking in Human Beings in the Philippines—Research and Action: Final Report Executive Summary,” United Nations, Vienna, 2003. 1281 “Filipinas Sent to Japan Forced into Prostitution: Survey,” Mainichi Daily News, 14 December 2003. 1282 Owed Justice: Thai Women Trafficked into Debt Bondage in Japan (New York: Human Rights Watch, September 2000). 1283 Harumi Ozawa, “Human Trafficking Becoming a Hot Topic,” Daily Yomiuri (Tokyo), 5 October 2003.



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administer drugs, appear in pornographic videos, prostitute themselves, or recruit other Filipino women.1284

Thousands of Filipinas have reportedly been forced into prostitution in South Korea since the 1990s.1285 The Filipinas working in the sex industry in South Korea are in their 20s or younger. Filipino women mostly come from central Luzon in the Pinatubo area. They are specifically targeted for sexual exploitation near military bases because of their English-language skills. The government of the Philippines, in an effort to curb trafficking abroad, somewhat restricted the flow of women who traveled directly from the Philippines to South Korea to work as entertainers. Agencies have skirted those regulations by arranging for women to travel to a third country first, such as Thailand or Hong Kong.1286 Recently, South Korea stopped issuing visas to female dancers, including those from the Philippines, Russia, and several other former Soviet republics, because of concern over possible human rights violations as well as prostitution.1287

Filipinas are also trafficked to west Malaysia, where they are forced to work in brothels, bars, discos, karaoke lounges, hair salons, and massage parlors. Most trafficking victims to Malaysia enter with valid passports on 1-month “social visit entry passes,” after which they become illegal.1288

There are reports that migrants from the Philippines may be trafficked to Palau for the purpose of forced labor. After being recruited at home, these typically unskilled Filipino workers usually arrive to Palau as tourists and end up being exploited and abused. The practice continues despite a ban on employment of Filipinos in Palau that was issued by the Philippines Overseas Employment Administration.1289

Trafficking to the Middle East is mainly for the purposes of prostitution and domestic service. The Philippine Embassy in Bahrain receives several calls a day for help, and at least three housemaids walk into the embassy every day complaining about abuse. In a formal complaint, a Filipina who was repatriated from Kuwait to the Philippines implicated a Bahraini recruiter who was running a trafficking operation. She said that women were sent to Bahrain, where their passports were confiscated, after which they were smuggled into Kuwait and forced into prostitution.1290 In July 2004, two female traffickers were arrested in Abu Dhabi for operating a Filipino prostitution ring in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The victims had been recruited in Manila for work as waitresses.1291 At least 1 million women from Indonesia, the Philippines, and Sri Lanka work legally in Saudi Arabia. The overwhelming majority work as domestic help in private households, but others work as hairdressers, beauticians, and seamstresses and in other positions. Many of these female migrants suffer from long working hours, unpaid salaries, and threats of intimidation and confinement. Many have their passports confiscated and are not provided with an official residence permit, the only valid document in

1284 Sally Cameron and Edward Newman, “Trafficking of Filipino Women to Japan: Examining the Experience and Perspectives of Victims and Government Experts—Executive Summary.” United Nations Global Program against Trafficking in Human Beings, Vienna. 1285 “SOS for Distressed Damsels in Sokor,” Manila Standard, 28 August 2002. 1286 June J. H. Lee, “A Review of Data on Trafficking in the Republic of Korea,” IOM Migration Research

Series, August 2002. 1287 “South Korea Bans Philippine Dancers over Prostitution Fears: Manila,” Agence France Presse, 6 June 2003. 1288 Diana Wong and Gusni Saat, “Trafficking of Filipino Women to Malaysia: Examining the Experiences and Perspectives of Victims, Government and NGO Experts: Executive Summary,” United Nations Global Program against Trafficking in Human Beings, Vienna. 1289 “DFA Issues Warning to OFWs Looking for Work in Palau,” Manila Times, 8 December 2003. 1290 “Call to Review Housemaids’ Conditions,” Bahrain Tribune, 26 December 2002. 1291 Jay B. Hilotin, “Police Arrest Two Filipinas Linked to Alleged Prostitution Ring,” Gulf News, 27 July 2004.



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Saudi Arabia for identification purposes. Without a permit, the women are unable to move freely without fear of arrest.1292

The Philippines serves as an international sex tourism destination. Sex tourists traveling to the Philippines come from Australia,1293 Europe, Japan,1294 New Zealand,1295 and the United States.1296 Tourists are concentrated in large urban areas, although 9 of 10 customers of children in commercial sex are Filipinos.1297 In May 2003, a 57-year-old Australian church missionary was sentenced to 8 years in prison for acts he committed in the Philippines. He pleaded guilty to seven counts of committing an act of indecency on a child younger than 16 and to five counts of submitting to an act of indecency.1298 Recently, two operators of a New York travel agency were indicted for organizing sex tours to the Philippines and Thailand. A brochure promised “unforgettable adventure vacations for single men to paradise.” It was the first such case involving a company based in the United States.1299 Fields Avenue in Angeles, a seedy city north of Manila, is the center of the sex industry in the Philippines. Many bars and clubs employ underage girls. The city grew up around the huge U.S. Clark Air Base, and although the base closed in 1992, prostitution is still the only industry in town.1300

In many mail-order bride arrangements, Filipinas are forced to assume roles in domestic servitude or prostitution. They are denied contact with family back home1301 and are subject to physical, sexual, and emotional abuse.1302 Internet sites connect Canadian men with Filipino women. Men can scan photos and descriptions of Filipino women at no cost, but they must pay a fee for the address of the girl and the right to correspond with her. Other men travel to the Philippines without an agency but with the purpose of finding a wife. Other Filipinas already working in Canada as domestic servants or live-in caregivers become involved with dating services or agencies in search of Canadian husbands who will secure their futures. A desire to escape poverty in the Philippines pushes women there to accept mail-order marriage. Most of the women interviewed for a study on the subject were highly educated and had left the Philippines as young women, and almost all continued to support family members in the Philippines. A number of them were from Cebu and Mindanao, two popular sex tourism destinations. Once in Canada, many are trapped in traditional and

1292 “Bad Dreams: Exploitation and Abuse of Migrant Workers in Saudi Arabia,” Human Rights Watch 16, no. 5 (E) (July 2004). 1293 “Media Releases,” Child Wise, 16 April 2004, http://www.ecpat.org/media-releases.html. 1294 End Child Prostitution, Pornography, and Trafficking (ECPAT) International Online Database, 22 March 2004, http://www.ecpat.net. 1295 New Zealand Ministry of Justice, “Protecting Our Innocence: New Zealand’s National Plan of Action against the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children,” New Zealand Ministry of Justice, Wellington, February 2002, http://www.justice.govt.nz/pubs/reports/2002/protect-innocence/. 1296 “New York Firm Offers ‘Sex Tours,’” Taiwan News, 24 March 2004. 1297 International Labor Organization–International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor, Action against

Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation of Children: An Evaluation of ILO-IPEC Programmes—Thailand,

Philippines, Costa Rica, Colombia, and Nicaragua (Geneva: International Labor Organization, June 2001). 1298 “Media Releases,” Child Wise, 16 April 2004, http://www.ecpat.org/media-releases.html. 1299 “New York Firm Offers ‘Sex Tours,’” Taiwan News, 24 March 2004. 1300 Kathy Marks, “In the Clubs of the Filipino Sex Trade, a Former RUC Officer Is Back in Business,” Independent, 28 June 2004. 1301 Aida Santos, “The Philippines: Migration and Trafficking in Women,” in Janice G. Raymond, Jean D’Cunha, Siti Ruhaini Dzuhayatin, H. Patricia Hynes, Zoraida Ramirez Rodriguez, and Aida Santos, eds., A

Comparative Study of Women Trafficked in the Migration Process: Patterns, Profiles and Health Consequences

of Sexual Exploitation in Five Countries (Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, Venezuela, and the United States) (Coalition against Trafficking in Women–International, 2002). 1302 Philippine Women Centre of British Columbia, “Canada: The New Frontier for Filipino Mail-Order Brides,” Philippine Women Centre of British Columbia, Vancouver, November 2000.



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patriarchal roles within the family, and many experience some form of economic, emotional, or physical abuse.1303

A matchmaking service in Ireland connects Filipinas with Irish farmers. Men are asked to pay a registration fee, after which they can go on trips to the Philippines to meet suitable women.1304

Filipino children are in prostitution, domestic work, and agriculture.1305 The sexual exploitation of children in the Philippines has been estimated to include as many as 100,000 children.1306 In many Filipino seaports, children arrive in ships coming from other Filipino ports, such as Mindanao and Visayas. Many end up working in brothels or sweatshops in Manila or other parts of the country.1307 The United Nations Children’s Fund claimed recently that child pornography is becoming widespread in the Philippines.1308 The National Survey on Children indicated that about 4 million children age 5 to 17 were economically active in 2001. Of these, 2.4 million (60 percent) are exposed to hazardous working environments.1309 The International Labor Organization (ILO) subregional office in the Philippines has identified eight areas in the country where the worst forms of child labor occur: Metro Manila, Bulacan, Camarines Norte, Iloilo, Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental, Cebu, and Davao.1310

There are no indications that government armed forces forcibly recruit child soldiers; it has been reported, however, that government-backed paramilitary groups have recruited children for military training. According to government forces, testimonies of former NPA members have revealed massive recruitment of minors age 13 to 17. NPA spokespersons have refuted those accusations, adding that in cases where children do wish to join the NPA, they are given noncombat tasks.1311 However, in March 2004, the Armed Forces of the Philippines captured two child combatants from the NPA, one armed with an M-16, the other with a carbine rifle.1312 Military records show that from January 1997 to June 2003, 122 boys and 50 girls were captured while working with the NPA as combatants, guides, medics, or spies. Captured child soldiers are turned over to the Social Welfare Department.1313 The Moro Islamic Liberation Front has also reportedly recruited child soldiers for combat.1314 A 2002 report by the ILO and the International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor (IPEC) estimates that anywhere from 10 to 30 percent of children in a given community under the

1303 Philippine Women Centre of B.C., Canada: The New Frontier for Filipino Mail-Order Brides (Ottawa: Status of Women Canada, 2000). 1304 “Lovelorn Farmers Find Their Match with Filipino Brides,” Irish Independent, 14 May 2004. 1305 Anita Amorim, Una Murray, and John Bland, eds., Girl Child Labour in Agriculture, Domestic Work, and

Sexual Exploitation: Rapid Assessments on the Cases of the Philippines, Ghana, and Ecuador, vol. 1 (Geneva: International Labor Organization, 2004). 1306 Edith M. Lederer, “UN: World Sex Trade in Children Growing,” Associated Press, 12 December 2001. 1307 “U.S. Ambassador to Philippines Visits Trafficking Halfway House,” Humantrafficking.org, November 2004, http://www.humantrafficking.org/countries/eap/philippines/news/2003_12/ambassador_visit.html. 1308 Christine F. Herrera, “Child Porno More Widespread,” Manila Standard, 4 August 2004. 1309 Concepción Sardana, “Combating Child Labor in the Philippines,” paper prepared for the Asian Development Bank Institute’s Seminar on Social Protection for the Poor in Asia and Latin America, Manila, 25 October 2002. 1310 Larissa Josephine C. Vila, “Economic Indicators,” BusinessWorld (Philippines), 10 August 2004. 1311 Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, “Philippines,” in Child Soldier Use 2003: A Briefing for the 4th

UN Security Council Open Debate on Children and Armed Conflict (London: Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, 2004), http://hrw.org/reports/2004/childsoldiers0104/. 1312 Rizal Raoul Reyes, “Reds, Moros Accused of Recruiting Child Soldiers,” Gulf News, 30 March 2004. 1313 “AFP: Philippines Military Captures 172 Children with Communist Rebels,” World News Connection, 8 October 2003. 1314 Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, “Philippines,” in Child Soldier Use 2003: A Briefing for the 4th

UN Security Council Open Debate on Children and Armed Conflict (London: Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, 2004), http://hrw.org/reports/2004/childsoldiers0104/.



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influence of either the NPA or MILF were recruited as soldiers. Often this recruitment stems from the fact that their parents are combatants as well.1315


In 2003, the Philippines adopted the Antitrafficking in Persons Act.1316 The act

introduces policies to eliminate trafficking in persons,1317 establishes the necessary institutional mechanisms to protect and support trafficked persons,1318 and provides penalties for the offenders.1319

The act provides thorough definitions of trafficking in persons and trafficking-related acts.1320 Under the act, trafficking in persons is “recruitment, transportation, transfer or harboring, or receipt of persons with or without the victim’s consent or knowledge.”1321 The act criminalizes both domestic and international trafficking in persons by stating that it refers to trafficking “within or across national borders.”1322 It adopts an extensive view of what it considers “illegal means” of trafficking, including “threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, abuse of power or of position, taking advantage of the vulnerability of the person, or the giving or receiving of payment or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person for the purpose of exploitation.”1323

Under the act, exploitation “includes at a minimum the exploitation or the prostitution of others or the other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labor or services, slavery, servitude, or the removal or sale of organs.”1324 The act further provides thorough definitions of some of the acts constituting exploitation. For example, sexual exploitation refers to “participation by a person in prostitution1325 or the production of pornographic1326 materials as a result of being subjected to a threat, deception, coercion, abduction, force, abuse of authority, debt-bondage, fraud, or through abuse of a victim’s vulnerability.”1327 Also, forced labor and slavery refers to “the extraction of work or services from any person by means of enticement, violence, intimidation or threat, use of force, or coercion, including deprivation of freedom, abuse of authority or moral ascendancy, debt-bondage,1328 or deception.”1329 In addition, sex tourism refers to “a program organized by travel and tourism-related establishments and individuals

1315 Rufa Cagoco-Guiam, “Philippines: Child Soldiers in Central and Western Mindanao: A Rapid Assessment,” International Labor Organization–International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor, Geneva, February 2002. 1316 Republic Act 9208, 2003. 1317 Section 2. 1318 Section 16 on “Programs That Address Trafficking in Persons.” 1319 Section 10 on “Penalties and Sanctions.” 1320 Section 3 on “Definition of Terms.” 1321 Section 3(a). 1322 Section 3(a). 1323 Section 3(a). 1324 Section 3(a). 1325 Section 3(c) defines prostitution as “any act, transaction, scheme, or design involving the use of a person by another for sexual intercourse or lascivious conduct in exchange for money, profit, or any other consideration.” 1326 Section 3(h) provides a thorough definition of pornography as “any representation, through publication, exhibition, cinematography, indecent show, information technology, or by whatever means, of a person engaged in real or simulated explicit sexual activities or any representation of the sexual parts of a person for primarily sexual purposes.” 1327 Section 3(f). 1328 Section 3(g) defines debt-bondage as “the pledging by the debtor of his/her personal services or labor or those of a person under his/her control as security or payment for a debt, when the length and nature of services is not clearly defined or when the values of the services as reasonably assessed is not applied toward the liquidation of the debt.” 1329 Section 3(d).



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which consists of tourism packages or activities utilizing and offering escort and sexual services as enticement for tourists.”1330 The act emphasizes that sex tourism includes “sexual services and practices offered during rest and recreation periods for members of the military.”1331

The act punishes three categories of trafficking acts: acts of trafficking in persons,1332 acts that promote trafficking in persons,1333 and qualified trafficking in persons.1334

Acts of trafficking in persons are classified as recruiting, transporting, transferring, harboring, providing, or receiving a person by any means for the purpose of prostitution, pornography, sexual exploitation, forced labor, slavery, involuntary servitude, or debt-bondage.1335 Punishment is imprisonment for 20 years and a fine.1336 Also, any person who introduces or matches for money or other consideration any person or any Filipino woman to a foreign national for marriage1337 or who offers or contracts marriage, real or simulated,1338 for the purpose of acquiring, buying, offering, selling, or trading him or her to engage in prostitution, pornography, sexual exploitation, forced labor, slavery, involuntary servitude, or debt-bondage1339 can be punished by imprisonment for 20 years and a fine.1340 The act further criminalizes undertaking or organizing sex tours;1341 maintaining or hiring a person to engage in prostitution or pornography;1342 adopting or facilitating an adoption for the purpose of prostitution, pornography, sexual exploitation, forced labor, slavery, involuntary servitude, or debt-bondage;1343 trafficking in persons for the purpose of removal or sale of organs;1344 and recruiting, transporting, or adopting a child to engage in armed activities in the Philippines or abroad.1345 Punishment is imprisonment for 20 years and a fine.1346

Acts that constitute the promotion of trafficking are knowingly leasing or subleasing property for the purpose of promoting trafficking in persons;1347 producing, printing, issuing, or distributing unissued, altered, or fake counseling certificates, registration stickers, and other certificates of government used for regulatory and predeparture requirements for the purpose of promoting trafficking in persons;1348 advertising, publishing, printing, broadcasting, or distributing by any means any brochure, flyer, or other propaganda material that promotes trafficking in persons;1349 assisting in the conduct of misrepresentation or fraud for purposes of facilitating the acquisition of clearances and exit documents for the purpose of promoting trafficking in persons;1350 facilitating, assisting, or helping in the exit and entry of persons

1330 Section 3(e). 1331 Section 3(e). 1332 Section 4. 1333 Section 5. 1334 Section 6. 1335 Section 4(a). 1336 Section 10(a). 1337 Section 4(b). 1338 Section 4(c). 1339 Section 4(b) and (c). 1340 Section 10(a). 1341 Section 4(d). The act reads as follows: “It shall be unlawful for any person … to undertake or organize tours and travel plans consisting of tourism packages or activities for the purpose of utilizing and offering persons for prostitution, pornography, or sexual exploitation.” 1342 Section 4(e). 1343 Section 4(f). 1344 Section 4(g). 1345 Section 4(h). 1346 Section 10(a). 1347 Section 5(a). 1348 Section 5(b). 1349 Section 5(c). 1350 Section 5(d).

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