Abstracts: February 2005
 

02-Feb-05
Vice girl who quit streets escapes jail term
The Scotsman
Alan McEwen
Edinburgh
According to this article:
Karen Weaver, 39,  was the first prostitute in Scotland to have an ASBO taken out against her.  She was given a six-month probation order after pleading guilty to violating order banning her from street walking in and around Leith Links.  She promised that she had stopped working the streets and the court heard that she had beaten her heroin addiction after undergoing a detox program.  Her defence solicitor praised Scotpep for the assistance given his client.

03-Feb-05
Teen prostitute released into care home
TCM
Dublin
According to this article:
After three weeks in custody, a 17-year-old prostitute was released into a care home where she can be monitored.  She is to be given counselling for drug abuse, educational assistance and a psychological assessment.  If she progresses positively the criminal charges may be struck from her record.

She had been arrested when found engaging in a sex act with a 50 year old man and at the time was accompanied by her mother and six year old sister.  She claimed that her mother was "protecting her" and making sure she didn't get pregnant. The girl's mother was also arrested and could be prosecuted.

February 8, 2005
Porn Stars
How the mob sent a scary, shocking message to a British press lord

This article provides information about a massive pornography racketeering case allegedly involving five men, including Richard Martino (allegedly part of the Gambino crime family) and British national, Philip Bailey.

Bailey alleged he was abducted and assaulted by the mob in 1992. Dial-a-porn and Internet schemes allegedly took place, involving Bailey's boss, Richard Desmond, (who owns  several sex magazines, including the British edition of Penthouse magazine, the Daily Express and the Sunday Express). Spokesmen for Desmond denied all allegations of involvement with organized crime.

Source: Robbins, Tom. "Porn Stars How the mob sent a scary, shocking message to a British press lord" Village Voice. Feb. 8, 2005.
URL: http://www.villagevoice.com/news/
0506,robbins,60918,5.html

09-Feb-05
Harman urges action over sex-slave trade
The Scotsman

Abstract to follow.

• http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=4108640

February 9, 2005
UK police help counter sex trade
According to this article:

Over 50 police officers from 11 countries went to Bangkok to receive training in methods of combating sex offences. Training included evidence-gathering and interviewing techniques and the investigation of sex tourists and pedophiles.

The UK government has already enabled travel bans on people convicted of sexual offences. Courts can prevent pedophiles from visiting specified countries.

In Nov. 2004, a conference examining the commercial sexual exploitation of children was held in Bangkok.  20 governments were represented and analysed ways to prevent new forms of abuse such as the exploitation of children on the internet.

The sex trafficking of women and children across Asia was described by a UN official as "the largest slave trade in history"  In Asia and the Pacific alone, more than 30 million children had been traded over the last three decades - caused by poverty, globalisation, organised crime and discrimination against women.

Source: "UK police help counter sex trade" BBC News. Feb.9, 2005
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/
uk_news/4248595.stm

February 9, 2005
UK demands crackdown on sex trafficking
According to this article:

At meeting of Eurojust in the Hague, Harriet Harman, UK solicitor general, launched drive for a European-wide crackdown on sex trafficking of young women and girls. She said that law enforcement must take a radical approach and prosecute men who have sex with underage or trafficked women.  The plan is composed of three parts:

• protection for victims

• more effective prosecution of traffickers

• seizing proceeds of the crime

Harman has been assigned a special anti-trafficking portfolio by the attorney general, Lord Goldsmith.

Quotes:

"Either more lives are going to be ruined, or we have to face this and crack down."... "I call it modern-day slavery: it is about the exploitation of women and children and the exploitation of people from developing countries, and anyone who is concerned about these things has got to be concerned about this agenda." ...  "European countries have to work together. We have to coordinate. Trafficking is by definition an international crime. We are talking about women of one nationality dragged across Europe by traffickers of another nationality. Cases might have jurisdiction in one country, evidence in another and witnesses in another." ... "We need to create a pan-European prosecution effort through Eurojust. Eurojust is there, now it is about focusing Eurojust on trafficking"

"Belmarsh [detention centre] is heaving with people who have been trafficked. The problem is one of resources, not one of law. What we don't want is a situation in which the victim is deported, no doubt only to be retrafficked. "When trafficking is seen as part of immigration you get this idea that we are somehow victims of trafficked people. But it is the trafficked people who are the victims; and we are part of the problem: the fact is that there are people in Britain who are using the trafficked women - we are part of the demand side."

"We have got to ask whether there should be immunity for people who use a woman who has been tricked or abducted, dragged across Europe, beaten and often raped as a means of breaking her down. "An estimated 80% of prostitutes in London are foreign. The idea that these are women who have chosen to sell sex is clearly wrong. There is the issue of consent.     "The people who purchase their services would not regard themselves as criminals, but they are the demand side of terrible criminal exploitation." "when a place is raided, you don't necessarily just grab the pimp. You grab the user, if there is a girl crying who can't speak English. It's too easy to turn a blind eye to the demand side. I don't think we can, and we are not." - Harriet Harman

A binding convention on trafficking from the Council of Europe will be open for ratification in May.  It calls for the protection of victims and facilitating prosecution. Debate exists as to whether Britain will ratify the convention.

In the UK, Ms Harman is urging greater resources to combat trafficking and protection for victims from deportation.

Source: Vulliamy, Ed. "UK demands crackdown on sex trafficking" Guardian  09-Feb-05
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/eu/
story/0,9061,1408818,00.html

10-Feb-05
Lottery denies Samaritans 'for neglecting minorities'
Times
Andrew Norfolk
According to this article:
A grant of £300,000 has been made to UK Network of Sex Work Projects http://www.nswp.org/home.html

Abstract to follow.

February 11, 2005
Trafficking - A transnational organised crime
Mondaq
Sally Ramage
According to this article:

Ramage estimates that 2 million women and an additional 2 million children are trafficked for prostitution annually.  Not all women are trafficked against their will, some pay traffickers to get them to foreign countries where they are then forced into prostitution.  This remains unreported due to their status as illegal immigrants. The porn industry sees huge profits - margins are in the scale of 900% - 1500%.

Police in the United Kingdom deny women and children are being trafficked into the UK and that foreign prostitutes are in the country by choice.  In 2003, a raid in the North resulted in the deportation of prostitutes and the problem was seen as "illegal immigration" rather than trafficking.  The problem remains due to the demand side of prostitution remaining unaddressed.

Sex trafficking has increased due to the rapid improvement in technology and is part of organized crime.  Women are trafficked from: Africa, India, Pakistan, Russia, Kazakhstan, China, Middle East, Indonesia, Central America, Panama, Nicaragua, Honduras, Brazil, Thailand, Philippines, Japan, Ukraine, Eastern Europe and Dominican Republic.  They are trafficked into: Netherlands, Western Europe, United States, Greece, Spain, Switzerland, Australia, Germany, Austria.

United Kingdom:
There is no official acknowledgement of trafficking for prostitution and statistics on UK prostitution are flawed.  Victims are seen as illegal immigrants and deported. There are over 470 brothels in London.

The UK is not a party to the 1949 Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others.  The UK is a signatory to the 2000 UN Convention against Trans-national Organised Crime, the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children.

Relevant UK legislation:

• Criminal Justice Act 1987, section 2
• Proceeds of Crime Act 2002
  • defines brothel keeping as illegal and earnings to be confiscated through Assets Recovery Agency.  Confiscated funds subsidise ARA rather than funding anti-trafficking projects.
• 2003 Sexual Offences Act
  • Max. punishment - 14 yrs. for 'facilitating prostitution within the United Kingdom'
  • Includes measures against child exploitation
• Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002
  • Section 145 covers offences of arranging or facilitating the arrival, travel or departure of a person in the UK for the purpose of control over prostitution.  Max. penalty - 14 yrs.

International:

• US:
  • CIA: several thousand children trafficked into US in 2003
  • Pledge Protection Act 2004 (prosecute American citizens who travel abroad to procure sex with children)
  • Trafficking Victims Protection Act 2003 ( use new methods against countries who do not discourage trafficking by withdrawing aid and other sanctions).
    • $50 million to support.
  • Estimated 1.2 million children trafficked annually with additional 1 million sexually exploited by tourists.
• UNICEF: 300,000 child prostitutes trafficked in 1997.  Sex tourism increases the figure closer to 2 million victims.
• INTERPOL:
  • 'The incredible escalation of child prostitution over the last ten years is directly caused by the tourism trade. Child prostitution is the newest tourist attraction offered by developing countries. The parallel to this phenomenon in the Western countries is the explosion of a huge underground trade in child pornography in videos and magazines. Since laws against child prostitution are stringently enforced in most affluent countries, pornographic films and photographs often have their origin in countries where child prostitution has become a temporary escape from poverty for struggling rural people'.
• United Nations:
• Netherlands - prostitution legal.  Theory that trafficking will be reduced due to state benefits etc.
• Germany - colloquium Nov. 2002 studied Dutch model - legal prostitution
• European Union - proclamations made, no money to support.

International Conventions

• 1949 Convention on the Suppression of Traffic of Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others
• 1957 Abolition of Forced Labour Convention (ILO)
• 1959 United Nations (UN) Declaration of the Rights of the Child
• 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
• 1991 'End Child Prostitution in Asian Tourism (ECPAT)  (NGO)
• 1992 'Programme of Action for the Prevention of the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography' (UN)
• 1996 'First World Congress Against the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children'
• 2000 Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children (UN)
  • Defines trafficking in persons and "child" as "under 18 yrs. old"

Ramage's suggestions for combating in United Kingdom

• Monitor Pay-As-You-Earn taxation
  • accounts records showing large numbers of very low-paid workers
  • payments to lorry companies by non-transport companies
  • one-off payments to individuals out of country
  • purchases of cheap clothing and footwear
  • deposits into many different branches of the company's bank
  • sudden rises in income
  • different methods of personal drawings
• Types of accounts indicating organised crime:
  • newsagents
  • tobacconists
  • doctors' accounts (sudden increase in patients)
  • family firms with many low paid workers or many regular cash withdrawals
  • companies suddenly renting large cheap accommodation on the pretext of storage
  • sudden large purchases of cheap foodstuffs, clothing and footwear
  • sudden rises of income in any business from pornography retail outlets, massage parlours
• Cover-ups used by large companies
  • Petty cash account pay outs
  • Fictitious highly paid person on payroll
• Questions when monitoring businesses for irregularities
  • Actions consistent with type of business
  • Familiarity with nature of business to be able to spot fronting arrangements
• Tracking commercial developments of companies
  • change in activities
  • product history
  • history of ownership/control
  • acquisition and disposals
  • major disputes
  • location
  • description of properties

• International knowledge database
• Bank statements of criminal suspects examined to identify cash deposits, unusual transactions, gross income, nature of personal transactions, standard taste in entertainment, internet transactions, transfers of moneys to large corporations, etc.
• Person can be checked against Companies' House records for director disqualification.
• Internet search for past criminality - including blogs
• Credit reference checked

Ramage, Sally "Trafficking - A transnational organised crime" Mondaq. Feb 11, 2005. URL: http://www.mondaq.com/i_article.asp_Q_articleid_E_30923

February 11, 2005
Migrant women forced into cheap sex trade
Subject: the plight of Eastern European prostitutes in London.
According to this article:

• Numbers rising

  • Approx. 80% of 8,000 prostitutes in London foreign

  • Vast majority Eastern Europeans & S.E. Asians

• Many forced to sell unprotected sex for as little as £30

• Many forced to have sex with up to 40 men per day

• Pimps and traffickers take their earnings

• Many trafficked into the UK thinking they'll be working in other occupations

• They are raped, beaten and threatened

• Told must pay off debt of £20,000 to £40,000

  • Pimp adds cost of rent, food & condoms-debt never paid

  • Threaten to kill families

• Growing trend toward unprotected sex measure of desperation & exploitation. Horrendous implications for public health. (Det. Inspect. Dick Powell / Police Review Magazine interview)

  • Welcomed new anti-trafficking law but said unable to get as many convictions as hoped because trafficking activity outside the UK

  • EU expansion has made it cheap and easy to bring them to the UK because no longer need to smuggle/create false passports.

• Poppy Project / Anna Johansson

  • more women are from Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, and the Czech Republic

  • rising number forced to provide cheap, unprotected, rough sex, including anal sex (previously considered "special"-more $).

  • other prostitutes forced to do likewise to be able to "compete".

• Poppy Project has

  • 25 houses - always full

  • 250 referrals since March 2003

  • Almost all women have sexually transmitted disease

• Praed Street Project - Helen Ward, consultant

  • specialise in sex worker health

  • unaware of any upsurge in sexual disease among prostitutes

  • feels unfair prejudice toward migrant sex workers

  • called for authorities to adopt more tolerant attitude

Quote:
"There is a huge demand for unprotected and anal sex. Nowadays, it's the norm, not the exception. "At most of the brothels we visit, at least some of the women will offer these, for the same price as protected sex. "Prices have remained fairly static for 10 years. You can go into Soho and get sex for £30. The whole set-up is appalling. Most of these places are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week and women are expected to be 'on call' day and night. "Some will have sex with as many as 40 men a day. It's very rare the prostitute will get to keep any of the money she earns. We've seen places where £300 a day goes to the brothel pimp or 'madam', and that's even before the woman begins to try and pay off the 'debt bondage' of thousands of pounds charged to bring her here." -Det. Inspect. Dick Powell to Guardian

Case studies

Romanian "Jenna", age 20. Trafficked through France, smuggled into UK, raped, threatened.  Eventually "bought" by man and contacted police and Poppy Project.  Gave evidence to police but trafficking case was not prosecuted.  She cannot return to Romania and is currently studying and doing voluntary work.

Ukrainian "Vera", age 23. Abused as child, ran away to Yugoslavia to work in restaurant, sold to gang, forced into prostitution in Macedonia, threatened, beaten. Worked as prostitute with other Eastern European women in Greece, family threatened.  Sold to Albanian, taken to Italy and then UK on false Greek passport.  Taken to Midlands, forced into prostitution, beaten, raped, forced to work without condoms, contracted syphilis.  Eventually escaped and helped by Poppy Project.

Source: Cowan, Rosie "Migrant women forced into cheap sex trade" Guardian. Feb. 11, 2005. Feb 11, 2005. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/
0,,1410360,00.html

13-Feb-05
Sex sauna sheriff in line for £122K job

Hugh Neilson was interviewed for Presidency of Mental Health Tribunal. The job has a salary of £122,000.  Neilson was found in Sept 2004 during a raid by police investigating the trafficking of foreign women for the sex trade He was in the waiting room of a Glasgow sauna, wearing only a towel. (Note: Mrs. Eileen Davie appointed president Feb 22, 2005)

• http://www.sundaymail.co.uk/news/tm_objectid
  =15183626&method=full&siteid=86024&headline=
  sex-sauna-sheriff-in-line-for--pound-122k-job-name_page.html

13-Feb-05
London officials fight prostitution phone-booth cards
Wall Street Journal
David Pringle
London
According to this article:
Westminster City Council asking phone companies to disallow incoming calls to phone booths.

Abstract to follow.

• http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/world/3036057

15-Feb-05
The secret life of the sex trade
Yorkshire Post
Sheena Hastings

Interview with Teela Sanders (Leeds University) who spent 10 months studying the indoor sex trade for a PhD thesis - book "Sex Work - A Risky Business".  Estimated 80,000 women working in the £770m-a-year sex trade in Britain, the majority work indoors –  licensed saunas, massage parlours, brothels,  their own homes, or as escorts. Sanders believes Americans have a much better understanding of how the indoor sex trade works.  In the UK, legislation is generally targeting at street prostitutes although they are in the minority. Sander's research deals with the women's motivation, how they protect themselves from harm and the emotional compartmentalizing of their work. 60 % of the 55 women she interviewed were single mothers.
Sanders's concludes that sex workers are not all as deviant as people think and supports decriminalisation of prostitution.  She believes the commercial sex industry should be regulated by the state and that tolerance zones are a step forward.

http://www.yorkshiretoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID
=105&ArticleID=946086

February 16, 2005
City to host meeting on sex trade
According to this article:
Announcement of the upcoming "Unfair Trade: Prostitution and the Sex Industry in Scotland" conference to be held in Edinburgh on March 10 (International Women’s Day). 

The conference will look into issues regarding prostitution.  It was organised by the Edinburgh City Council and Zero Tolerance. Speakers will have a "diverse range of opinions".

Topics:

• tolerance zones

• international trafficking

• public policy

Speakers:

• Ruth Morgan-Thomas (Scotpep)

• Margo MacDonald MSP (introduced legislation re: tolerance zones)

• Evelyn Gillian (Edinburgh University’s centre for research for families and relationships)

Source: "City to host meeting on sex trade" Edinburgh Evening News. Feb. 16, 2005.
http://news.scotsman.com/
edinburgh.cfm?id=177562005

20-Feb-05
Confessions of the world's most successful madam
Telegraph
Andrew Alderson
Interview with Margaret McDonald after her release from prison. Former escort turned "madam".

Abstract to follow.

20-Feb-05
'Pay £1 Million' Madam is ordered
Sunday Mirror

Abstract to follow.

• http://www.sundaymirror.co.uk/news/tm_objectid
  =15209595&method=full&siteid=106694&headline=-pay--1million--madam-is-ordered-name_page.html

22-Feb-05
Red-Light trade threatens to get green light
Boscombe
Salvation Army plans for prostitute Drop-in Centre.  Protestors want more suitable location.

• Walls, Henry "Red-Light trade threatens to get green light" Bournefree News. Feb 22, 2005.
  http://snap.bournemouth.ac.uk/?docId=9431/
   

22-Feb-05
Prostitute centre proposal causes outrage
Boscombe
Salvation Army plans for prostitute Drop-in Centre.  Protestors want more suitable location.

• Funston, Amy Louise. "Prostitute centre proposal causes outrage"  Bournefree News. Feb 22, 2005.
  http://snap.bournemouth.ac.uk/?docId=9405/

22-Feb-05
Foreign girl escaped after sex trade ordeal, jury told
Yorkshire Post
Maggie Stratton
According to this article:

Albanian Vullnet Ismailaj (aka Grigorijus)was given an 11 year sentence for trafficking a 15 year old Lithuanian victim.

Abstract to follow.

• http://www.yorkshiretoday.co.uk?SectionID=
  55&ArticleID=952315

23-Feb-05
Foreign girl tried to end life, she tells sex-trade trial jury
Yorkshire Post
Maggie Stratton

Abstract to follow.

• http://www.yorkshiretoday.co.uk?SectionID=
  55&ArticleID=953155

23-Feb-05
'Nightclub girls helped me escape captivity'
Sheffield Today

Abstract to follow.

• http://www.sheffieldtoday.net?
  SectionID=58&ArticleID=953265

23-Feb-05
Sex slaves vice baron sentenced
BBC

Abstract to follow.

February 23, 2005
Illegal migrant jailed for sex-slave ring
According to this article:

On Feb 22, an Albanian sex trafficker, Vullnet Ismailaj, 27, (aka Grigorijus) admitted to conspiring to traffic women into Britain for sexual exploitation and was sentenced at Southwark Crown Court to 11 years in jail. Ismailaj, and illegal immigrant to the UK smuggled Lithuanian women into Britain with false promises of earnings and then forced them to surrender their passports and work as prostitutes from Birmingham to London. 

The women were informed that they had to repay their "debt" to him by servicing dozens of men daily, and would only be entitled to 25 per cent of their earnings after that debt was paid.  Ismailaj often sold them for up to £4,000 each.  By the time of his arrest, Ismailaj's enterprise had earned him nearly £300,000.

A 25 year old victim alerted police to the trafficking ring.  Scotland Yard's vice squad held a two week undercover operation and discovered a network of prostitutes working for Ismailaj.

Court testimony included details about one Lithuanian victim who was forced to service 34 men on her first day in a Soho brothel and made to hand over the £805 earnings.  She was too ill to work the next day.  A week later she contacted police when Ismailaj threatened to kill her for complaining.

Ismailaj was arrested on Oct. 11, 2004.  One of his victims, Neringa Samaviciute, 21, was due to marry him that day.  Excerpts of her diary were read, indicating she was "sacrificing" her body for the man she worshipped.

Two other Albanian illegal immigrants were arrested shortly after Ismailaj and Samaviciute.  After initially denying the prostitution charges, all three men changed their pleas. Lorenc Roci, 22, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to control prostitution for gain and was sentenced to four years in jail. Sokol Qata, 20, was sentenced to 18 months in a young offender institution. Charges against Samaviciute were dropped.  The judge recommended deportation for all three men.

Quote:
“It is clear from the way the women were treated by Ismailaj and the others that he, in particular, did not regard these women as anything other than chattels. “They were his to do with as he pleased, putting them to work, taking their money and offering them for sale.” -Brian O’Neill, for the prosecution

Source: Nugent, Helen. "Illegal migrant jailed for sex-slave ring" Times. Feb 23, 2005.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,4484-1496658,00.html

February 23, 2005
Suspected sex-slave trafficker arrested
According to this article:

A 45 year old Polish national, considered to be a "kingpin" in the London vice trade was arrested by police investigating the trafficking of eastern European women into the UK.  Two other Polish nationals (a married couple aged 26 & 27) were also arrested. The arrests were made during a police raid of 19 saunas and sex shops across London.   The saunas were located in Camden, Southgate, Hornsey and Haringey and staffed up to seven women at a time who brought in up to ?6,000 a week.

The 45 year old was allegedly a well-known figure in the Soho vice trade, which is dominated by eastern European gangs. 

The operation was code named Operation Parque, and followed a 3 month undercover operation by Scotland Yard.  The operation was continuing.

Source: Davenport, Justin "Suspected sex-slave trafficker arrested" Evening Standard. Feb. 23, 2005.  http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/
londonnews/articles/16806973?version=1

23-Feb-05
The Worst Form of Slavery
The Harvard Crimson
Loui Itoh
Trafficking into the United States.

Abstract to follow.

• http://www.thecrimson.com/today/article505910.html

24-Feb-05
Sex slave gang caged
The Independent
According to this article:
Vullnet Ismailaj convicted.

Abstract to follow.

24-Feb-05
Teen charged with prostitution remanded into custody
Ireland Online
Dublin
According to this article:
A 17 yr. old prostitute was remanded back into custody until next week after testing positive for heroin three times and absconding from the care home where she had been ordered by the court to live.  It was believed that she had gone missing with her mother.  The mother is being investigated over her involvement in the original arrest of the daughter.  (See article).  Defence solicitor Ms Catherine Ghent said that it had been difficult for the girl as the care home is located near a drug rehab and an area frequented by drug addicts.  The girl requested a different care home, however there were no others available.  The judge directed the health service to hold a case conference for the girl to examine possible alternative placements. The girl's mother was not present in court and has been arrested as part of the investigation.
 

• http://212.2.162.45/news/story.asp?j=
  134797992&p=y34798698&n=134798752

25-Feb-05
Red-light shame of deputy head
Yorkshire Post
Emma Dunlop
Owston Ferry
According to this article:

John Hurst, deputy head of St Martin's CoE Primary School was convicted of kerb-crawling.

Abstract to follow.

• http://www.yorkshiretoday.co.uk?SectionID=
  55&ArticleID=954030

25-Feb-05
Far more Lithuanians sold into prostitution in Britain since EU membership
EUbusiness
According to this article:

Britain's ambassador Colin Roberts confirmed that human trafficking from Lithuania to Britain has increased since Lithuania joined the EU on May 1.

Abstract to follow.

• http://www.eubusiness.com/afp/050225155534.zjw0vfe3

February 26, 2005
East European vice gangs cover whole of UK
According to this article:

Superintendent Chris Bradford, the operational head of the Metropolitan Police's clubs and vice squad told the Independent that:

• East European prostitutes and pimps are operating in every town and city in Britain

• 80% of prostitutes & pimps in central London are from Lithuania, Estonia, Kosovo, Albania, Moldova, and Romania

• The huge growth in foreign prostitutes has resulted in an increase in unprotected sex

  • competition for cut-price sex or more extreme services has intensified

  • in London, the typical fee for full sex with a condom is £30 - without condom: £45 to £50

  • anal sex is offered with or without condoms

  • Risk of disease is considerable, due to the fact that the women are often required to have sex with 30 clients per day

• All British provincial towns and cities have a problem with east European prostitutes and pimps

• East European prostitutes are also working in Wales and Scotland - Glasgow and Edinburgh have serious problems

• Most of the women come to the UK seeking work in clubs, bars, restaurants, and domestic jobs, although some are prostitutes hoping to make better money

  • After arrival they are coerced into prostitution and told their family will suffer if they do not perform.

  • They are terrified and find themselves trapped

  • Pimps

    • confiscate their documents

    • tell the women the police are corrupt - no point in contacting them

    • move the women from town to town particularly if police start investigating

    • use extreme violence to control women - girls beaten unconscious/ gang-raped

    • usually operate in groups of about five men controlling 15 women

This week, in London (where 8,000 east European prostitutes operate) an Albanian pimp was jailed for 11 years for trafficking 40 Lithuanian women and selling them to other pimps for £4,000 each, or making them sell sex for up to 13 hours a day.

Source:  Bennetto, Jason. "East European vice gangs cover whole of UK"
Independent. Feb. 26, 2005. http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/crime/
story.jsp?story=614925

26-Feb-05
Runaways 'vanish off the radar'
ic Scotland
According to this article:
Children's Society request national network of safe emergency accommodation for runaways.
 

Abstract to follow.

27-Feb-05
Drinking to the future
Scotsman
Douglas Friedli
According to this article:
Scottish Executive: new licensing bill to be published March 1

Abstract to follow.

28-Feb-05
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: United Kingdom
Excerpt:
Trafficking in Persons
"The law prohibits trafficking in persons; however, trafficking in persons, particularly for sexual exploitation, remained a problem. The law prohibits trafficking in persons for the purposes of prostitution, sexual exploitation, organ harvesting, or forced labor.

The Sexual Offenses Act of 2003, which came into force on May 1, criminalizes trafficking offenses by citizens and residents, whether committed in the country or abroad, and carries a maximum sentence of 14 years' imprisonment. The Sexual Offenses Act of 2003 focused on issues of exploitation by coercers, pimps, and traffickers.

The penalties for keeping a brothel were increased, and a new range of offenses for causing, inciting, and controlling prostitution for gain were introduced. Separate offenses were also introduced to combat the exploitation of children through prostitution, with severe penalties for causing, inciting, controlling, arranging, or facilitating the prostitution of a child. For the purposes of the Act, the offense can take place anywhere in the world. The Act also criminalizes the buyer, with the new offense of paying for sexual services of a child.

The "Reflex" Task Force, which brings together agencies that combat trafficking and migrant smuggling in persons, reported that the authorities have been responsible for 38 disruptions of criminal gangs and 38 convictions for organized immigration crime between April 2003 and March. In the first 6 months of the year, there were 18 disruptions and more than $1,800,000 (1,000,000 pounds) of assets seized.

In April, the Court of Appeals, at the Government's request, increased convicted trafficker Luan Plakici's sentence to 23 years' imprisonment for seven counts of kidnapping, procuring, living on immoral earnings, and facilitating the entry of illegal immigrants.

In July, Kinsley Ojo, arrested as a result of an investigation into the discovery in September 2001 of the torso of a Nigerian boy in the River Thames, was convicted of trafficking-related offenses and sentenced to 4 years in prison. Police believed the boy was trafficked into the country and then murdered in a ritual killing.

On December 22, a court convicted two Albanian men of trafficking two people into and within the country for sexual exploitation. One man was sentenced to 18 years in prison and the other to 9 years' imprisonment.

Between March 2003 and February, MAXIM, a government partnership targeting organized immigration crime, staged 60 proactive operations and made 151 arrests. Authorities charged 30 persons as a result of these arrests.

The Home Office, which includes the Immigration and Nationality Directorate, had the lead in efforts to combat trafficking. Other Cabinet-level departments include the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Department of Trade and Industry, Department for Education and Skills, the Crown Prosecution Service, and the Department for International Finance and Development.

The country is primarily a destination country for trafficking in persons and occasionally a country of transit. There is no comprehensive official estimate of the number of victims of trafficking or the annual number of persons trafficked into the country. The Government received 169 referrals at its specialized shelter project for women trafficked for sexual exploitation between March 2003 and September. Women were trafficked for sexual exploitation from Central and Eastern Europe (primarily Albania, Kosovo, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Romania, Bulgaria, Russia, and Moldova). Some also came from Thailand and China through "snakehead" gangs criminal groups that operated trafficking rings. West Africa (primarily Nigeria, Liberia, and Sierra Leone) was a source of women and children trafficked to the country. According to police sources, West African children appeared to be brought in primarily to work as domestics. NGO evidence indicated that some West African children might be trafficked through the country to Italy and other European Union countries for sexual exploitation. In one case, the U.S. was a destination county.

Many trafficked women worked in the sex industry. However, women, men, and children were also trafficked for labor exploitation in domestic service, agricultural and rural labor, construction, and catering. Trafficking victims were most often subject to debt bondage, the withholding of travel documents, false information about law enforcement and immigration penalties, or threats of violence against them or their families. Physical and sexual violence were employed as well, although less frequently.

Organized international gangs were alleged to be responsible for most trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation. The Government reviewed and assessed the victim protection program it initiated in 2003 with the NGO Eaves Housing. As a result of the review, the Government made adjustments in program eligibility criteria and increased funding for the program. Local Social Services authorities and various charities provided services to trafficking victims. Because care and protection were not confined to program facilities, overall efforts in victim protection were difficult to assess.

NGOs criticized the Government for not "opting in" on the European Council directive on providing short-term residence permits for victims of trafficking who cooperate with the authorities. The Government did not prosecute victims of trafficking who were violating prostitution or immigration laws; however, they could face repatriation to their country of origin.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Department for International Development distribute anti-trafficking material in countries of origin. Immigration intelligence assets were deployed across Europe on the main routes for illegal migration and trafficking under the Immigration Liaison Officer (ILO) program. The National Criminal Intelligence Service engaged in exchange programs in which its officers aided in preventive anti-trafficking efforts in Central and Eastern Europe. In addition to bilateral international efforts, the Government continued to support regional multilateral efforts in the Balkans through the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe under the OSCE. The Government also funded a communication campaign, in partnership with an NGO, which was intended to increase general public awareness, potential victim awareness, and to give trafficked women access to the resources available to them."
 

28-Feb-05
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Ireland
U.S. State Department
EXCERPT:
Trafficking in Persons
"The law prohibits trafficking in persons, and there were no confirmed reports that persons were trafficked to, from, or within the country; however, NGOs and others offered anecdotal evidence of trafficking.

The Child Trafficking and Pornography Act criminalizes trafficking in children for the purpose of sexual exploitation, with penalties of up to life imprisonment. The Illegal Immigrants (Trafficking) Act criminalizes trafficking in illegal immigrants and asylum seekers. No specific legislation addresses trafficking in women for sexual activities; however, laws prohibit the exploitation of prostitutes by means of coercion or fraud. Traffickers who facilitate for gain the entry of illegal immigrants or asylum seekers are liable for fines or 1 to 10 years' imprisonment. The Police National Immigration Bureau (GNIB) and the Department of Justice are the governmental organizations responsible for combating trafficking.

In 2003, Dublin police raided several lap-dance clubs that were employing illegal female workers, and the Limerick police raided a brothel that was bringing prostitutes into the city from Eastern Europe, although the women stated that they had entered the country voluntarily. A man and a woman were convicted for running the brothel: Both were sentenced to 4 months' imprisonment, but the woman's sentence was suspended.

The press reported that three English language schools were being used as fronts to smuggle Eastern European women into the country to have them work as lap dancers and prostitutes. In December, the Justice Minister ordered tighter restrictions on access to foreign language schools. To cut down on scams and foreign students in forced labor situations, the students are now required to register with the Police National Immigration Bureau and will not be allowed to join the labor market unless they are attending a full-time course of at least 1 year in length.

The country might be a destination country on a limited scale for trafficking in women and children. The country may also be a transit point for persons trafficked to or from Northern Ireland. There is anecdotal information that some women were trafficked within the country. Socially disadvantaged women and children were most likely to be trafficking victims. NGOs reported that women were trafficked to the country primarily for prostitution or exploitation in the sex industry, and that men may be trafficked into the country for work in the construction industry. However, NGOs were only able to provide anecdotal information; they did not have statistics or other hard evidence. NGOs reported that traffickers now targeted younger women who were more vulnerable, having little language skill, and no legal status or recourse. Another tactic that changed was that prostitution moved away from the streets and brothels to apartments, where activities were easier to hide.

NGOs reported that traffickers used information technology more effectively as well. There were no reliable statistics on the number of possible victims of trafficking in the country, due mainly to lack of data collection. During the year, GNIB and local detective units in the Dublin metropolitan region continued to investigate suspected instances of trafficking but did not find sufficient evidence to open a formal investigation or to bring charges.

Since 2000, there have been nine investigations into alleged trafficking/smuggling, resulting in the conviction of one Ukrainian for smuggling two Ukrainian males through the Dublin airport. In December, a Portuguese man was jailed for 9 months and fined $1,350 (1,000 euros) for bringing two Brazilian women into the country. An NGO investigating trafficking estimated that as many as 40 children a year were being trafficked into the country for either economic or sexual exploitation.

An anti-prostitution and trafficking NGO reported more than 600 prostitutes, mostly drug users and younger women, in its database. The Ministries of Justice and Foreign Affairs and the GNIB were involved in anti-trafficking efforts, and there was coordination between government officials, NGOs, and other elements of civil society on trafficking issues. A coalition of NGOs that deal in part with trafficking issues met periodically during the year. In December, the Department of Foreign Affairs held an international seminar on human rights, keynoting the issues of women and trafficking."