At a Stop the Traffik Event, police cited how they have dramatically changed how they tackle trafficking investigations in the last year.
 
“It is a hidden crime, which makes investigation difficult, ” Det. Insp Bodell said.
 
“Historically we looked at massage parlors and we went in with full uniform and enforcement.”

“Now we have a victim-centric approach.”  Bodell cites that such an approach is necessary because it takes time for victims to inform others as to what is happening, and when they are frightened it is more difficult to get the evidence.
 
Bodell also urged people to abstain from eating non-Fair Trade chocolate as children are exploited in cocoa plantations.
 
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The National Legislative Assembly (NLA) yesterday passed the Anti-Human Trafficking Act, which subjects violators to heavier penalties, especially government officials, politicians and office holders.  The Act, which will take effect within the next 120 days, also includes measures against media outlets that publish the identity or pictures of sex crime victims. Editors could face up to six months in jail and/or a fine up to Bt60,000 if convicted of identifying victims or using photos of them without permission.  

The Act also prohibits a practice known as “tok kheo”, in which young girls from upcountry areas are sold by their parents in advance to provide sex service in the future. Parents or any people soliciting for such purposes also face criminal prosecution.  For the full story, click here.

Seven women and two men have been arrested after a series of raids on ten suspected brothels in the UK.

The raids were part of Operation Pentameter, a national operation aimed at targeting human trafficking.

Twelve sex workers, all foreign nationals, were taken into protective custody but eleven told officers they had not been working against their will.  One woman from China remains in protective custody after telling officers she had been coerced into sex work.

The first Operation Pentameter in 2006 freed 84 women and teenage girls from brothels and massage parlors and led to 232 arrests.

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The Vietnam Women’s Union announced that national consulting agencies against human trafficking will be set up in Vietnam and Cambodia.

According to the Ministry of Public Security, of the 639 human trafficking cases in Vietnam since 2006, 1,287 human traffickers sold 2,137 women and children overseas.  Most of these cases took place in the nine provinces that share borders with Cambodia.

Most of the victims come from the remote areas of southern Vietnam and many are uneducated and poor.

The two governments in October 2005 signed a bilateral cooperation agreement against human trafficking and assisting victims. 

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