On December the 7th 2004 the Cambodian government acting together with the NGO Afesip (Agir pour les femmes en situation precaire) raided the Chai Hour II hotel in Phnom Penh which was reputed to be acting as a brothel. In the raid 83 girls were rescued, some of whom were underage. The following day, however, an astonishing event allegedly took place. More than 30 men and women stormed the safe house where these women were being held and abducted them. It has been alleged that at least one of the crowd was wearing a police uniform.
Due to international pressure since then, the Cambodian government set up an enquiry into the events of last December. An inter-ministerial report issued this month, however, stated that there were no under-aged prostitutes and that there had also been no raid on the Afesip safe house; the women had left of their own accord!
The US state department this week released the following statement;
The United States is deeply disappointed by the Cambodian Government’s Inter-ministerial Committee’s report on the events surrounding the December 8, 2004 attack on an Non-Governmental Organization shelter for victims of trafficking in persons. The findings lack credibility. The Cambodian government has not taken any action to ensure that those responsible for the shelter raid are held accountable and brought to justice. Cambodian authorities should do so without further delay. Their failure to act calls into question Cambodia’s willingness to address seriously the crime of human trafficking
In the mean time the Cambodian government is putting pressure on the President of Afesip in Cambodia, Somaly Mam, to resign. They also suggested an audit of Afesip’s accounts. This does not seem to be the action of a government which is keen to tackle the problem of human trafficking and to break the link between hotels and forced prostitution.

The US state department issues a report each year on how well countries are doing in the fight against trafficking. Tier one countries are deemed to have adequate legislation and are doing well in the battle against trafficking. Tier two countries have a significant problem and their systems are inadequate, but they are trying to come to terms with the situation. Tier three countries have a huge problem and are not doing enough to fight it. India is in the tier two “watch list” - they are being monitored and if they don’t make progress they could drop to the bottom of the pile. This is very concerning in a country of over a billion people. Officials from the US State Department’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons were in India this month to try to assess what progress if any is being made in the fight against trafficking.
Mumbai is a city of over 18 million inhabitants. It is estimated that their are about 100,000 prostitutes. With at least 12,000 women being trafficked each year into India from Nepal alone it is surprising to find that in Mumbai in 2004 there were only 11 prosecutions for trafficking. This total is up from 3 in 2003, but still represents a fraction of the involvement of organised crime. The number of women and children being trafficked from Bangladesh was increasing recently until the instability in Nepal meant it became easier to deceive and abduct women from the kingdom. The women and children being trafficked to Mumbai are being preyed upon because of their poverty and the vulnerability of their situation. Obviously this is not true of all prostitutes in Mumbai, but there is a significant minority who have been brought there against their will or under false pretences.
Underage prostitutes try to find customers around the area of the major hotels in the city, particularly in Colabar. It is certain that some of the clients using the top hotels abuse young women and children. If you travel to Mumbai enjoy the city - it is a wonderful place -but question whether it is right to use a prostitute who may have been trafficked. As in most countries it is illegal in India to have sex with a minor. Most business travellers would never even consider doing this - but hotels should inform their guests of the problem and also of the laws which make such acts illegal. Hotels should also help to fund initiatives to protect, educate and rehabilitate children and women whose lives are destroyed by trafficking and slavery. Why not ask your hotel about it when you are in the city?
You can read the full US state department report at http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2004/

As well as pointing out the problems with trafficking around the world, Business Travellers against Human Trafficking will be highlighting the efforts of hotel chains which are trying to combat trafficking. Obviously this will often reflect corporate policy and the truth on the ground might be different – but such hotel groups need to be recognised as having made policy to help change the situation. The Carlson hotel group was the first hotel chain in north America to sign to the ECPAT code of conduct to Protect Children against Sexual Exploitation in Travel and Tourism. It supports the code by training its staff and also by establishing policies and legal norms which help to prevent the link between their hotels and the sex trade.
Carlson also financially supports the World Childhood Foundation as its charity of choice. This is a global foundation which particularly aims to help children who have been sexually abused or who have been forced into prostitution or trafficked.
The Carlson hotel group operates the Park Inn chain of hotels. You can look at their complete statement of corporate responsibility on their web site (http://www.parkinn.com/aboutus/home.jsp)

The sex industry remains linked to business culture in Japan, as was shown in 2003 when an Osaka based company organised a three day sex party for its staff in Zhuhai City in southern China. Many of the women and children who are forced into prostitution in Japan are trafficked from abroad. At last, however, the Japanese government is starting to act against this trade. A bill is passing through the Japanese parliament which will make it a specific crime to traffic people for the purpose of sexual exploitation.
Women are brought from all over the world to work in the Japanese sex industry. A 28 year old Columbian woman who had worked in Japan as a prostitute for four years, mainly to repay the $28,000 debt her traffickers were demanding from her, finally managed to flee to her embassy last year. She is waiting for permission to go home.
One of the main source countries for women being sold into prostitution in Japan is the Philippines. Last year over 80,000 entertainment visas were issued to Filipino women, many of whom had no qualification as entertainers. In response to pressure from the United States the quota this year is likely to be reduced to only 8,000. The women will now be required to show some qualification or previous experience in the entertainment industry. This has to be welcomed, although the fact that money is sent home by some of these women, boosting the Filipino economy, means that the government of the Philippines is protesting against the new stricter quotas.
How should a foreign business traveller react in a country where there is still a strong link between business and the sex industry? He or she should still report any activity which may be linked to trafficking. It is also very important that hotels in Japan are made aware that business people want to see and end to the link between them and the sex industry. Such a stance by the business community can only help the Japanese government in its attempts to end the trade in human beings.

What is human trafficking? It’s a strange term and sometimes newspapers use it to mean different things at different times. Human trafficking occurs when a person is deceived, coerced or forced into unwilling prostitution or forced labour in another place either in their home country or abroad. They have all rights taken from them and live in servitude or slavery.
Human trafficking is not the same as people smuggling. People smuggling means that someone is attempting, for a fee, to bring people illegally into another country. Although this is dangerous, it does not necessarily lead to slavery. Human trafficking always leads to conditions of slavery.
Where does human trafficking occur? It happens to a greater or lesser extent in every country in the world. Some countries are source countries; usually these are less developed countries. In Europe the main source countries are Moldova, Ukraine, Russia and Romania. Around the world women and children are vulnerable to being trafficked to richer nations. Sometimes a woman is given the offer of a good job abroad, sometimes a child’s parents are offered education for their child. When the woman or child arrives in the destination country they suddenly find that their passports are taken from them and they are told they have a large debt to repay. They are made to work in prostitution or forced labour. If they try to leave, their families are threatened. Sometimes a family is so poor they sell their children knowing that they will be used in prostitution or forced labour.
How many people does this happen to every year? It is estimated that more than 700,000 women, children and men are trafficked across borders every year. If the number of people trafficked inside their own country is added then the number rises to between 2 and 4 million each year.