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01-Jan-06 Trafficking suspect Douglas Rankin was seized with boys at Indian airport on Christmas day. He held three fake Mexican passports. 16 yr. old boys - one Afghani, one Iranian. Rankin arrested and accused of masterminding a world-wide child sex trafficking ring. Also alleged to have smuggled Indian boys from Mumbai and Delhi to Europe and the US.
01-Jan-06 The majority of missing people are foreign nationals aged 18 or under. Children's rights groups are concerned that some could be victims of child traffickers. Other possibilities included sex trafficking.
01-Jan-06 "The Government will this week announce a crackdown on the sex trafficking gangs which bring thousands of young women to Britain and force them into prostitution." Article provides details of Sunday Telegraph's investigation into sex trafficking and further information about Government's plans.
05-Jan-06 Announcement: 'Tackling Human Trafficking'- Consultation on Proposals for a UK Action Plan' Consultation will close on 5 April 2006. See: Tackling Human Trafficking (PDF)
05-Jan-06
05-Jan-06 "Victims of human trafficking could get automatic permission to stay in Britain rather than being deported, under proposals unveiled by ministers. The Home Office said that when people smuggling scams were uncovered, the illegal immigrants could be handed special residence permits."
05-Jan-06 Home Office minister Paul Goggins launched a new drive to tackle the growing international sex trade and said that men who use prostitutes forced into sex by people traffickers are rapists.
05-Jan-06 Some victims of human traffickers could be given an automatic right to stay in the UK under plans to tackle the sex trade. A consultation document suggesting a range of ways in which to tackle the problem published on Thursday, Jan 5.
10-Jan-06 Genesis is an organisation for women who are involved with prostitution, or at risk of becoming involved, or who want to escape it. It is based in Leeds and has been operating for 15 years, providing information, advice, health services and exit route support. This article provides details about the organisation and a profile of one of their clients.
A woman who may have been working as prostitute was murdered and found in a car park. She was stabbed through the heart. Police are issuing warnings to prostitutes to protect themselves.
SDLP councillor Pat McCarthy said that street prostitution in Belfast is out of control and he would not be surprised if there wasn't paramilitary involvement. Residents are claiming they are being "pestered."
"Women caught in sex slavery rackets who are unable to co-operate with police to prosecute human traffickers are abandoned by the Australian Government and forced to rely on the support of nuns, according to a report to be presented to the UN today."
Opinion re: overhaul of vice laws in UK. "Priceless" by Charlie Daniels, a book about her experience in the vice trade, is due for publication in summer 2006.
Writing in the British Medical Journal, healthcare researcher Petra Boynton (University College, London) and substance use expert Linda Cusick (University of Paisley) claim that sex worker's health will be endangered by the UK government's plans to cut street prostitution. They say kerb crawling will be policed in red light areas despite evidence that this can lead to "increased violence, pressure to abandon safer sex practices and increased public disorder." They also complain that provision of condoms, needle exchange schemes and collaborative work by healthcare professionals, social services and sex workers will be disrupted. They complain that the gov. strategy looks to the Swedish model that criminalises men who pay for sex.
Dr. Fiona Godlee, editor of the British Medical Journal said that prostitution should be legalised in order to protect sex workers from assault, exploitation and drug dependency as well as help prevent child prostitution, people trafficking and slavery. She expressed her support for the UK government plan for "mini-brothels", allowing three prostitutes to work legally in one premises but said it didn't go far enough to make sex work safe. She said it was time to make bold steps toward legalisation to improve public health and human rights. The article also quotes recent researchers, also in support of legalisation.
Mr McKeganey spoke after carrying out a report into prostitution tolerance areas (funded by the Executive) that questioned whether more zones should be created in Scotland to make the sex industry safer for prostitutes. The research team interviewed dozens of street prostitutes in Glasgow, Dundee, Edinburgh, and Aberdeen and found women were still working at enormous risk to themselves. The report found that women wanted more tolerance zones with high-profile policing. Mr McKeganey said that clamping down on clients and assisting women out of prostitution are important elements of the response to prostitution in Scotland but that those options do not meet the needs of women who continue to work in the sex industry.
A young woman presented herself alone to the gardai in a seriously distressed state and said she was held as a prostitute against her will in Co Meath. She had flown to Dublin with a promise of proper work, met by two eastern European men, had her passport and identity papers taken by them, held against her will and forced to have sex with hundreds of men. Gardai searched house of man she named and found her papers. He claimed she was working willingly as a prostitute. He was not arrested but told not to leave the country while the investigation continues. The enslavement of young women for the sex trade is one of the major forms of organised crime in eastern European countries, including those who gained accession to the European Union two years ago. The EU Parliament is demanding that the slave trade of young women in these countries is ended before other countries gain membership of the EU.
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