Three young women aged between 18 and 20 from the Indian city of Vijayawada were rescued from being trafficked into forced prostitution, after being promised jobs in Hyderabad. Four people were arrested in connection with the case. Vijayawada Police Commissioner CV Anand said that human trafficking was assuming serious proportions in the region and a special police unit was being set up to deal with the problem. In the last six weeks, nine people have been arrested and thirteen girls rescued. To read more about this and related subjects, please visit DNA India by clicking here.

A woman from Nashville, Tennessee, USA, pleaded guilty yesterday to trafficking two Mexican girls aged 13 and 17 into the country and forcing them into prostitution. Cristina Andres Perfecto admitted to promising the girls a job in a restaurant in Nashville, whilst knowing that they would be sexually exploited by a trafficking ring in Nashville and Memphis.
Wan J. Kim, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division said
“The victims in this case were thrust into the brutal and demeaning world of human trafficking, fed lies, and treated as modern-day slaves. The Justice Department is committed to the vigorous enforcement and prosecution of human trafficking offenses.”
Nine other defendants have pleaded guilty to offences related to this human trafficking ring. Perfecto could face up to life in prison when sentenced.To read more about this and related subjects, please visit prnewswire by clicking here

Police in Italy have made more than 2000 arrests after investigations revealed that hundreds of gangs had trafficked women, children and men into forced prostitution, forced begging and forced labour. Chief Superintendent Chiara Giacomantonio said;
“There were no surprises. Unfortunately, it’s all well known — it’s Albanians exploiting Romanian women, Chinese exploiting Chinese, Africa on Africa.”
Many of the accused and also the victims came from Moldova, Albania and Romania, as well as African countries and from Asia. It was also reported that some of the victims of sexual exploitation were from Iraq.
Of the accused, 784 have been detained, and 1,311 were released pending legal proceedings. Police claim to have closed 15 houses of prostitution, four nightclubs and three sweatshops. To read more on this and related subjects, please visit The New York Times, by clicking here.

The government of Gambia has made progress in its fight against human trafficking, with the positive enforcement of new anti child trafficking legislation which was passed in 2005, and the drafting of a comprehensive law against human trafficking. Since that law passed, nine cases of human trafficking have been prosecuted. A victims’ centre has been opened in the capital Banjul, and a sensitisation program has been carried out in co-operation with national NGOs. 

A Thai woman has been arrested on suspicion of trafficking women into forced prostitution in an unnamed Middle Eastern country. La-iad Kaewdee, 32, was arrested today in Muang Samut Prakan. The Police division deputy commander Colonel Jaruwat Vaisaya said that a victim had escaped from a brothel in a Middle Eastern country and had named La-iad as one of her traffickers, after the Thai foreign ministry had helped the woman return home. The victim had allegedly been offered a well paid job at a restaurant, but when she arrived, she was told she owed her traffickers money, her passport was taken and she was forced into prostitution. To read more about this and other related stories, please visit The Nation, by clicking here.