Global human trafficking roundup (September 1, 2010)

NORTH AMERICA

Tennessee: A 36 year old man was charged with sex trafficking 17 years old and marijuana possession. According to the report, two teenagers from Macon Georgia and Norfolk Virginia were working for the 36 year old man who was giving them a hope that the life could get better. According to the report, their parents were not aware of whereabout of their daughters. 

California:  ACLU is filing a lawsuit against a company for labor exploitation on behalf of immigrant workers. The workers are required to work overtime hours and faced discrimination based on their legal status by the company according to the allegation. 

Indiana: Grand jury indicted three people for forcing a woman into prostitution and holding her against her will. According to the victim's testimony, the three individuals gave her parents drug 

LATIN AMERICA

San Salvador: UN says that the country needs to do more to fight against child sexual exploitation and pornography. Children and families are afraid of police and judiciary because they are afraid of being stigmatized. 

EUROPE

Spain: Police broke human trafficking ring for male prostitution and arrested 14 people who were involved in human trafficking ring in Madrid. The victims, mostly from Brazil, were brought to Spain as models and night club dancers. They were offered viagra, cocaine, and others to be available 24 hours for sex. And most of the clients were male. The network brought between 60 and 80 people from Brazil through a third country. 

ASIA

Thailand: The officials are accused of selling young Burmese women and men to prostitution and fishery industry. According to the two Burmese migrants, immigration officers and police officers extort money or sex from the victims and detained them for a long period to sell the victims to the labor brokers. In particular, one 17 year old Burmese migrant said that she has been working at karaoke bar since she was 13. And she was paying the fees to the immigration officer as well as her owner. She also said that the local police officer owns the karaoke bar. 

Nepal: A Harvard human trafficking fellow reports on sex industry in Nepal. He reports his extensive research on massage parlors and night clubs in Nepal, where young girls sell sex to the tourists from abroad. The traffickers use physical assault and threats to their family members as a means to force the victims into prostitution. 

China: The authority says that the number of criminals who were convicted of human trafficking rose sharply in the first seven months this year. According to the report, total 2137 criminals were convicted of human trafficking between January and July this year, which is 45.23 percent increase over the same period over the previous year. 

AFRICA

Ghana: Thirteen individuals who were allegedly involved in child trafficking appeared before the court on Tuesday. They were arrested when the police stopped their buses carrying more than 300 children from one providence to another.