Nun on mission to stop human trafficking

(Cincinnati, OH, USA) – Sister Joan Krimm is 83 years old and has not gone quietly into retirement. This Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur nun is leading the fight against human trafficking and sexual slavery from her convent in Reading. “"Sister Krimm is a force to be reckoned with. She is determined and hard-working. She is trusted because it is understood that her strong religious beliefs and moral principles are behind her actions," said FBI Special Agent Pam Matson. "Her motives for being involved in the anti-trafficking movement are rightfully perceived as pure and loving, with no hidden agenda."” Sister Joan helps the cause against human trafficking by educating, although she initially wanted to help the victims where she could find them: in hotel rooms and street corners. However, the FBI and leaders of a local anti-human trafficking coalition told her that working directly with the victims could put them in even greater danger. So, Sister Joan and a friend, Sister Karen Hartman decided to write a letter to every hotel and motel in the Cincinnati area. “"Then we followed up with them to try to meet with them," Sister Joan said. "Some were interested, some were not."” The idea is for the staff in these companies to know what to look for so they can identify possible trafficking and help victims. Sister Krimm has also been giving talks at schools where she used to teach, and people are willing to listen to her, with some parents even thanking her for talking about the issue.

Full account available at

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/07/28/nun-on-mission-to-stop-human-trafficking/2593017/

FBI arrests 150 in three days in sex-trafficking sweep

(Washington) – “The FBI arrested 150 people across the United States on charges of holding children against their will for prostitution, a three-day weekend sweep that officials on Monday called the largest-ever operation against child sex-trafficking.”

The suspects, whom the FBI refer to as “pimps”, were arrested in 76 cities across the country. They are expected to face state as well as federal charges related to sex crimes and human trafficking. FBI agents and local police were also able to recover 105 children during the operation from motels, casinos, truck stops and other places where they were forced to serve as prostitutes, officials said. The FBI believes that the suspects were not part of the same operation; some belonged to organized crime while others acted alone. The FBI has recently made investigating child prostitution a priority in a program it calls Operation Cross Country. At least 1,350 people have been convicted as part of the program and at least 10 of them have been convicted to life in prison. The latest sweep was the seventh and largest in the history of the program. 

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http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/29/us-usa-crime-prostitution-idUSBRE96S0NC20130729

49 Attorneys General Call for an Amendment to the Communications Decency Act

(Jefferson City, MO, USA) – A bi-partisan national coalition of 49 Attorneys General are calling on Congress to amend the law to help fight prostitution and child sex trafficking. In a letter to key members of Congress Missouri Attorney General Koster, Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt, 45 other Attorneys General as well as two from U.S territories stressed the need to amend the Communications Decency Act to provide criminal jurisdiction to state and local prosecutors. The Communications Decency Act of 1996 was drafted at a time when the Internet was at its infancy stage. Its purpose was to protect children from accessing indecent material online, however courts have interpreted certain provisions of the Act to provide immunity from state prosecution to online classified ad sites that may promote and profit from human trafficking. Prostitution is considered a local crime, and while the Communications Decency Act provides criminal authority to the federal government, the Attorneys General believe that criminal jurisdiction needs to be extended so as to help combat crimes like these. “"To keep up with changing technology, federal law needs to be modernized to provide local prosecutors the tools to strike back against those who promote sexual exploitation," Koster said. "As a former prosecutor, I am familiar with the sad fact that many of those engaged in prostitution are underage and abused."” Local prosecutors report that for the most part, prostitution solicitations have moved online, generating an estimated $3million to $4million per month in revenue for websites such as Backpage.com, an online classified ad site.

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http://www.infozine.com/news/stories/op/storiesView/sid/56581/

Police nab human trafficking ring head in Zamboanga

(Manila, Philippines) – Authorities in Zamboanga City arrested a suspected leader of human trafficking syndicate that recruits underage girls to work locally and abroad, the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) said. Leziel Padel was arrested on July 23, 2013 during an operation conducted by various agencies. Padel is a native of Tungawan, Zamboanga Sibugay was arrested based on a tip received by the Philippine Center on Transnational Crime (PCTC). PAOCC says Padel and her groups used various methods to lure minors to work as domestic helpers in Malaysia and some provinces in Mindanao.

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http://www.philstar.com/nation/2013/07/24/1007991/police-nab-human-trafficking-ring-head-zambo 

Malaysia still under observation for human trafficking – Filipinos found to be victims, smugglers

(Kota Kinabalu) – “Malaysia remains under observation by the U.S Department of State with regard to human trafficking activities, the Royal Commission on Inquiry (RCI) on illegal immigrants in Sabah was told today.” Malaysia had been put on the “Tier 2 (Watchlist)” - which is considered to be one of the lowest classifications granted by the U.S Trafficking in Persons Report – since 2008. According to an intelligence officer from the Bukit Aman Human Trafficking unit, ASP Jimrey Anak Hillary, the U.S views Malaysia as a transit country for sexual workers from Indonesia, China, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, India and Vietnam. According to Jimrey there have been 52 cases since 2008 in Sabah involving 198 trafficked persons. The victims are from Indonesia, the Philippines, Cambodia and a small number of locals. There have also been 65 arrests and these include Malaysians, Filipinos, Indonesians and Singapore nationals.

Full account available at

http://www.thesundaily.my/news/779436

Cyber-Sex Trafficking: A 21st Century Scourge

Andrea (not her real name) was 14 years old the first time a voice over the Internet told her to take her clothes off. She was in a home in Negros Oriental, lured away from the home she knew in a rural, mountain village in the Philippines by a cousin who promised her a well-paid job as a babysitter in the city. She left her impoverished life with the hopes of an opportunity to earn money to finish high school. To her horror, she instead found herself another victim of the newest but no less sinister world of sexual exploitation – cyber-sex trafficking. After arriving at her new home in Negros Oriental, Andrea found that the new place would be both workplace and prison. “The windows were covered so it was dark. There was a computer and a camera where naked girls would say words to seduce their mainly foreign customers” she says. She also added that customers would ask girls to perform sexually with each other. These customers paid $56 a minute to watch girls satisfy their sexual fantasies. The men would type instructions onto a computer and watch the girls perform the instructed acts via a live camera. As much as Andrea wanted to return home, her chances of a successful escape were next-to-none as her employer, an uncle, slept downstairs and kept the front door locked. Convinced that earning enough money to finish her education was the only way to help her family out of poverty, Andrea forced herself to work. Andrea's story is not uncommon in a nation where the conditions -- widespread poverty, an established sex trade, a predominantly English-speaking, technically-literate population and widespread Internet access -- have made it easy for crimes like this to flourish.

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http://edition.cnn.com/2013/07/17/world/asia/philippines-cybersex-trafficking/index.html?sr=sharebar_facebook

Child sex abuse – Hilton Munro arrested in the Philippines

Hilton Munro, a former private school teacher in Melbourne and head of an international school in China has been charged with sexual abuse of young Filipino boys ages nine to fourteen. Mr. Munro allegedly used a fourteen-year-old boy to recruit other young boys and bring them to his hotel room at a beach resort in Cebu. A local taxi driver, Gilbert Andrada, who has also been charged with child sex offences, allegedly brought the boys to the hotel. Munro has denied the allegations and claims that the young boys were his friends. He was previously found not guilty of sexually assaulting a fourteen-year-old boy in the dorm of a Melbourne boarding school in 2003. Sheryl Bautista, deputy head of the Philippines’ anti-human trafficking task force, told the Cebu Daily News that Mr. Munro allegedly paid the boys between the equivalent of $12 and $25 in Philippine pesos. Munro has been charged with human trafficking and child abuse. He is currently being held in custody and prosecutors plan to commence proceedings within fifteen days.

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http://www.theage.com.au/national/child-sex-abuse-hilton-munro-arrested-in-philippines-20130716-2q1mo.html

Ex-Supreme Court Chief Justice calls for “radical action” vs. human trafficking

Former Supreme Court Chief Justice Reynato Puno urges Filipinos to “excise the evil of human trafficking” that has been victimizing millions of poor women and children for years. “Unless something radical is done now, the problem will be too overwhelming to solve,” he said at an orientation meeting on Friday, July 12. Puno said even the U.S Department of State admitted in its recent report that the Philippines is one of the worst hit countries by human trafficking. According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), there are nearly two million children in the commercial sex trade. In the Philippines at least 250,000 street children are constantly exposed to sexual exploitation and physical abuse, UNICEF added. Mary Girlie Glen Tupas, community mobilization manager for churches at the International Justice Mission (IJM) of the Puno United Methodist Church, said human trafficking is a difficult activity to break in the country because of the tendency of poverty-stricken victims and their families not to pursue a legal course against traffickers. Tupas said they believe nothing will come out of such an action because they lack the resources to pursue an expensive case. She added that the IJM is exerting its best effort to curb the problem in the country. Former CJ Puno says there is a “challenge to all of us to do something, anything and all things” in order to minimize, if not stop the problem of human trafficking in the Philippines.

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http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/317331/news/nation/ex-sc-chief-justice-calls-for-radical-action-vs-human-trafficking

Immigration officer probed for alleged human trafficking

(Manila) – A Bureau of Immigration (BI) official assigned at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) has been accused of conniving with a syndicate for departure of ten to twenty “tourist workers” daily. Rona May Villanueva is a member of the BI’s travel control enforcement unit. She was relieved of her post after her immediate supervisor discovered that four improperly documented passengers were allowed to slip through supposed strict monitoring of Filipinos posing as tourists but who had intentions to work abroad. “Villanueva was transferred to the BI main office in Manila pending the filing of administrative and criminal charges” the article reads.

Full account available at

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/global-filipino/07/08/13/immigration-officer-probed-alleged-human-trafficking