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Introduction
Is it trafficking or smuggling?
How big is the problem?
Sex trafficking into Australia
Australia’s response to sex trafficking
Focus on victim support
Legislation
Parliamentary reports
The effectiveness of Australia’s response
Trafficking and forced labour
Conclusion
Appendix A—Australian statistics
Appendix B—Key sources of information
It is widely recognised that ‘people trafficking’ has become a well-established and enormously lucrative business throughout the Asia Pacific region. Issues arising from this trade vary between countries, but all are in agreement that serious human rights breaches (such as sexual coercion or forced labour) are often involved. Regional governments have only recently begun to tackle these issues in a concerted way.
This Research Paper reviews and updates the contents of People trafficking: Australia’s response.[1] It provides an overview of the people trafficking problem in Australia, Australia’s responses to date and the likely effectiveness of those measures. It also provides access to a range of relevant electronic resources on the issues.
The terms ‘people trafficking’ and ‘people smuggling’ are often used interchangeably. However there are important differences.
‘People trafficking’ is defined by the UN Protocol
to Prevent, Suppress and Punish
Trafficking in Persons especially Women and Children as:
The recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation.
‘People smuggling’, on the other hand, is the term generally used to describe the illegal movement of people on a fee-for-service basis. Such transactions are not usually conducted without the consent of those being smuggled.[2]
There is no reliable data available anywhere in the world on the true extent of people trafficking, but there is general agreement that the trade is extensive. The US Department of State’s Trafficking in Persons Report 2008 states that:
A wide range of estimates exists on the scope and magnitude of modern-day slavery. The International Labor Organization (ILO ) ... estimates there are 12.3 million people in forced labor, bonded labor, forced child labor, and sexual servitude at any given time; other estimates range from 4 million to 27 million ... [Each year] approximately 800 000 people are trafficked across national borders, which does not include millions trafficked within their own countries. Approximately 80 percent of transnational victims are women and girls and up to 50 percent are minors. The majority of transnational victims are females trafficked into commercial sexual exploitation. These numbers do not include millions of female and male victims around the world who are trafficked within their own national borders—the majority for forced or bonded labor.[3]
The majority of the world’s trafficking victims are women and children from Africa, Asia and parts of Eastern Europe. Trafficking can involve one or more associated crimes such as rape, murder, torture, debt bondage or slavery. There is also a growing trade in trafficking for body parts.[4]
Estimates suggest that the profits to be made from the people trafficking trade are huge. The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) has estimated the worldwide proceeds to be at least US$10 billion a year.[5] However, in 2005, the ILO estimated that global profits from forced labour trafficking victims alone were in the order of over US$31 billion at that time:
Global profits made from forced labourers exploited by private enterprises or agents reach US$ 44.3 billion every year, of which US$ 31.6 billion [is] from trafficked victims. The largest profits–more than US$ 15 billion—are made from people trafficked and forced to work in industrialized countries.[6]
In combination, the people trafficking and smuggling trade is believed to rival the world’s drugs and firearms trade in profitability:
Human trafficking and illegal migration/human smuggling represent a core business of international criminal organisations. They are now thought to be among the most lucrative of their world-wide activities. Together they are now believed to represent a global challenge of the same proportions as the illegal trafficking of drugs and firearms.[7]
The number of people trafficked into Australia is unknown. Estimates given to a 2004 parliamentary inquiry into sexual servitude in Australia ranged from 300 to 1000 trafficked women annually.[8]
The inquiry found that most of the women trafficked into Australia are recruited from South East Asia and China for the sex industry. According to the inquiry report, traffickers facilitate the women's entry to Australia by a range of fraudulent means, including providing visas (usually student or holiday visas), false passports and funds. The women are then sent to brothels around the country where their movements are usually restricted. It is not unknown for women to be forced to repay debts of over A$40 000.[9]
Australia’s responses to people trafficking in the Asia Pacific region have included developing anti-trafficking initiatives between governments and providing aid to the region aimed at alleviating the economic and social conditions that allow trafficking to flourish. In particular, Australia and Indonesia co-chaired two regional ministerial conferences on trafficking and smuggling in 2002 and 2003 known as the Bali Process. The Bali Counter-Terrorism Process evolved from this collaboration and on 29 June 2006, Australia and Indonesia issued a report on its achievements.[10]
In October 2003, the Australian government announced additional anti-trafficking measures with a $20 million package, targeting sex trafficking in particular.[11]
The package included:
In 2004, the Attorney–General’s Department produced an
Action
Plan to Eradicate
Trafficking in Persons in support of the 2003 announcement. In
this plan the Australian Government reinforced its commitment to recognising
that trafficking in persons is a global concern and that there is a need
to collaborate with regional partners in order to address the problems
regionally.
Developments since 2004 include:
Prior to the 2003 reforms, women who were found working as sex workers in Australia illegally, some of whom may have been trafficking victims, were usually detained in immigration detention centres and promptly deported.[19] In one case in 2003, a young trafficking victim, allegedly given no assistance for her heroin addiction, died in detention while waiting to be deported.[20] Their deportation meant that victims were unable to take part in any criminal justice proceedings and testify against traffickers. The visa arrangements and victim support measures announced in October 2003 aimed to move the focus from punishing to supporting trafficking victims. It was also hoped that the measures would enable victims to stay in the country long enough to testify, and thus lead to the successful prosecution of traffickers.
The visa available for anyone suspected of being a trafficked victim is Bridging Visa F, introduced on 1 January 2004. This visa lasts 30 days while trafficking claims are investigated. If the victim then agrees to assist the police with their inquiries, the victim is eligible for a Criminal Justice Stay (CJS) Visa allowing them to stay in the country and work for the duration of the criminal justice process. Once the CJS Visa expires, victims are eligible for the Witness Protection (Trafficking) Visa which allows trafficking victims to stay on a temporary or permanent basis depending on individual circumstances.[21]
The Support for Victims of Trafficking Program is coordinated by the Office for Women. Under this program, victims (as identified by the AFP) are offered secure accommodation, a living allowance and access to health care and legal support.[22]
Legislative measures date back to 1999 when the Criminal Code Amendment (Slavery and Sexual Servitude) Act 1999 amended the Criminal Code Act 1995 to insert offences relating to slavery, sexual servitude and deceptive recruiting for sexual services. It was acknowledged at the time that the problem was a significant one for Australia, with a growing and highly lucrative international trade in people into Australia for the purposes of sexual exploitation.[23]
Improvements to the existing legislation, proposed in
the government’s anti-trafficking package in October 2003, included introducing
additional offences to criminalise all aspects of people trafficking.
On 21 June 2005, the Minister for Justice and Customs, Chris Ellison,
announced the successful passage of the Criminal Code Amendment (Trafficking
in Persons) Act 2005 in the Senate. The Act creates new offences criminalising
the trafficking of persons into and out of Australia. These offences include
‘debt bondage’ and child trafficking offences with penalties of up to
25 years imprisonment. They strengthen the existing regime of offences
dealing with slavery, sexual servitude and people smuggling.[24] Australia ratified the UN
Protocol to prevent, suppress and punish trafficking in persons, especially
women and children in September 2005—a promise it had made on
passing the legislation.[25]
In June 2004 the Parliamentary Joint Committee on the Australian Crime Commission tabled the Inquiry into the trafficking of women for sexual servitude report, outlining the extent of the problem in Australia and Australia’s responses to date.[26]
On 11 August 2005, the Parliamentary Joint Committee on the Australian Crime Commission produced a Supplementary report to the Inquiry into the trafficking of women for sexual servitude. This supplementary report aimed to assess some of the changes introduced through the government’s national Action Plan to Eradicate Trafficking in Persons, 2004. The supplementary report included findings that debt bondage arrangements are increasing and that Sydney remains the most significant entry point for trafficked women. In addition the inquiry found that women who have been trafficked may not see themselves as victims; they see their situation as one in which they can improve their families' lives and may even be hostile to Australian law enforcement's attempts to extricate them from their position.[27]
The Committee recommended that the government ensure that no women accepted into the victim support program be forced to return to their country and that arrangements be made to enable witnesses on CJS visas to return to their country of origin for short periods.[28]
The Government response to the report of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on the Australian Crime Commission ‘Inquiry into the trafficking of women for sexual servitude’ was released in 2007.[29] The Government accepted some of the Committee’s recommendations, but rejected the recommendation that trafficked women accepted into the victim support program or granted a CJS visa be exempt from compulsory return to their country of origin.
The US Department of State has commended the Australian Government for its assistance to trafficking victims in the Australian country narrative section of its Trafficking in Persons Report 2008. However, it has criticised the direct links that are made between victim assistance and their role in a ‘viable prosecution’:
The Government of Australia continued to provide comprehensive assistance for victims of trafficking and their family members, if they were willing to aid in criminal prosecutions. The government encourages victims and witnesses to participate in the investigation of trafficking, but directly links continued assistance to victims’ role in a viable prosecution.[30]
Australia’s policy of making visas available only to trafficking victims who cooperate with the criminal justice system is based on concerns that without these links to the justice system, people might fraudulently claim to be victims of trafficking in a bid to remain in the country.[31] Under these arrangements the prosecution rates in Australia so far are very small, despite the significant allocation of resources to the Government’s anti-trafficking measures. As at 23 May 2007, of the 125 cases of human trafficking investigated by the AFP since 2004, 111 investigations had been completed. Of those investigations completed, 101 were ceased without any further action and only 10 had been referred to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP). Most of those finalised without further action included those where insufficient evidence existed to support a prosecution or where victims elected not to assist an investigation or provide a statement.[32] It has been argued that the ties the Australian system currently makes between protection and cooperation with the criminal justice system contribute to the reluctance on the part of trafficking victims to cooperate.[33] In Italy, on the other hand, where a residency permit for trafficking victims is not contingent on the victim collaborating in a prosecution, the prosecution rates are reportedly growing, with very few reported problems.[34]
Other problems have been identified with the current Australian system which may discourage many potential participants:
Fiona David, a researcher from the Australian Institute of Criminology, has noted that the crime of trafficking is complex and not easily eradicated:
Experience in Australia and overseas confirms that enacting appropriate criminal laws is just the first step. Greater challenges lie in giving full effect to these laws, while recognising the special rights and needs of victims of trafficking ... Unlike many crimes, trafficking is not a single, static ‘event’. It is a process that can involve multiple offenders and crime sites across several jurisdictions, ultimately leading to exploitation of the victim (ICMPD 2003: 87). Many investigations will be conducted in the country of destination where the exploitation is perpetrated. However, important evidence such as information about deceptive recruitment practices may be located in the country of origin or transit. Investigators in one country need to work closely with law enforcement officials in other countries to exchange information, and possibly also to secure evidence and extradite offenders.[38]
Therefore, while the Government has been commended for the anti-trafficking initiatives taken so far, some query why there are so few victims being supported and so few successful prosecutions.[39] The literature suggests that the debate on the most effective way to support victims, while increasing the number of successful prosecutions, continues around the world. It remains to be seen how successful the new Australian arrangements will be in both protecting victims and prosecuting traffickers in the future.[40]
Very little is known about the extent of forced labour and servitude trafficking victims in Australia, but the numbers are estimated to be small. Although there were about 47 800 unlawful non-citizens in the country as at 30 June 2005, most of these would be people who have overstayed their visas and are not necessarily working here illegally, or if they are, are unlikely to be victims of forced labour. In 2004–05, the number of illegal workers located was 3870, but once again information on how many, if any, of these may have been trafficked and exploited is not available.[41]
Most of the current anti-trafficking measures that have been introduced by regional governments focus on sex trafficking with little reference to forced labour.[42] For a variety of reasons people from developing countries are often forced to seek employment in developed countries where there is a demand for unskilled labour. With very few legal migration avenues available, many become vulnerable to the trafficking industry for both the sex trade and forced labour.
The Australian section of the Trafficking in Persons Report 2008 notes:
There were reports of several men and women from India, the P.R.C., South Korea, the Philippines, and Ireland migrating to Australia temporarily for work, but subsequently subjected to conditions of forced labor, including fraudulent recruitment, confiscation of travel documents, confinement, and debt bondage ... While some companies and persons were fined by Australian courts for violations that may have constituted forced labor offenses, there were no criminal penalties handed down to employers involved in forced labor. During 2007, 123 employers have been temporarily barred from employing migrant laborers under the 457 visa scheme and an additional 273 received warnings for failing to pay laborers a minimum salary. DIAC, Unions, and the Workplace Ombudsman continue to discover instances in which migrant workers are in situations of debt bondage, and other conditions leading to labor trafficking. [43]
Several recent media reports and journal articles have made allegations of servitude and exploitation:
Australia’s responses to combating people trafficking have been commended, particularly with regard to the Government’s victim assistance programs and funding support for anti-trafficking efforts throughout the Southeast Asia region.[44]
However, it is widely acknowledged that the problem of people trafficking is complex and that tackling this issue through the criminal justice system poses problems around the world. Successful prosecutions often rely on the cooperation of victims who may be traumatised and fearful. Some suggest that more could be done to further improve prosecution practices and the protection of witnesses both in Australia and internationally.[45]
In addition, criticisms of strategies to combat trafficking suggest that governments have adopted a very narrow approach to the problem. The argument is made that unless the systemic issues that perpetuate the cycle of both sex trafficking and forced labour are addressed, including entrenched poverty in developing countries and a lack of legal migration options, very little will be achieved in combating people trafficking.[46]
Key websites
[1]. J. Phillips, ‘People trafficking: Australia’s response’, Research Note, no. 20, Parliamentary Library, Canberra, 2005, http://www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/rn/2004-05/05rn20.pdf , accessed on 12 August 2008.
[2].
See K. Carrington and J. Hearn, ‘Trafficking and the Sex industry:
from Impunity to Protection’, Current Issues Brief, no. 28,
Parliamentary Library, Canberra, 2003, http://www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/
CIB/2002-03/03cib28.htm, accessed on 12 August 2008.
[3]. US Department of State, Introduction, Trafficking in Persons Report, 2008, http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2008/, accessed on 12 August 2008.
[4]. World Health Organization (WHO), Organ trafficking and transplantation poses new challenges, media release, 2004,
http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/82/9/feature0904/en/index.html, accessed on 12 August 2008; and B. Damman, Trafficking Unit, UN Office on Drugs and Crime, presentation at the People Trafficking, Human Security and Development Symposium, Canberra, 2004.
[5]. Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC), ‘People smuggling’, fact sheet, no. 73, revised 30 January 2007, http://www.immi.gov.au/media/fact-sheets/73smuggling.htm, accessed on 12 August 2008.
[6].
P. Belser, Forced labour and human trafficking: estimating the
profits, ILO, 2005, p. iii, http://www.ilo.org/dyn/declaris/DECLARATIONWEB.DOWNLOAD_BLOB?
Var_DocumentID=5081, accessed on 12 August 2008.
[7]. US Financial Action Taskforce,
Chapter III, ‘Proceeds from trafficking’, Money laundering and terrorist
financing typologies 2004–05, June 2005, p.65, http://www.fatf-gafi.org/dataoecd/
16/8/35003256.pdf, accessed 12 August 2008; and Co-chair statement,
‘Bali Ministerial Conference on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons
and related Transnational Crime’, (known as the Bali
Process), February 2002,
http://www.dfat.gov.au/illegal_immigration/cochair.html, accessed on 12 August 2008.
[8].
Australian Parliament, Joint Committee on the Australian Crime Commission,
Inquiry into the trafficking of women for sexual servitude, Canberra,
June 2004, p. viii, http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/committee/acc_ctte/completed_inquiries/
2002-04/sexual_servitude/report/report.pdf, accessed on 12 August
2008. For further discussion on the difficulties of accurately measuring
the extent of trafficking see J. Putt, Human trafficking to Australia:
a research challenge, Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC), 2007,
http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/tandi2/tandi338.pdf,
accessed 12 August 2008. Note: Australia is one of 21 trafficking destination
countries listed in the high destination category; see United Nations
Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Trafficking in persons: global patterns,
2006, p. 64, http://www.unodc.org/documents/human-trafficking/HT-globalpatterns-en.pdf,
accessed on 12 August 2008.
[9]. ibid., p. viii.
[10]. Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), Bali counter-terrorism process: report of the Australian and Indonesian co-chairs report, 2006,
http://www.dfat.gov.au/icat/2004_conference/cochair_report.html,
accessed on 12 August 2008. Note: On 7 February 2008 the Australia–Indonesia
Framework for Security Cooperation or the Lombok Treaty
was ratified by both nations’ parliaments, and came into force, http://www.dfat.gov.au/geo/indonesia/
ind-aus-sec06.html, accessed on 12 August 2008. This treaty covers,
among other issues, trafficking in human beings (Article 3: 7a). Australia
was also represented at the Vienna Forum to Fight Human Trafficking held
in February 2008, https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/press/releases/2008-02-15.html,
accessed on 12 August 2008.
[11].
A. Downer (Minister for Foreign Affairs), Australian Government announces
major package to combat people trafficking, media release, Parliament
House, Canberra, 13 October 2003, http://parlinfoweb.aph.gov.au/piweb/TranslateWIPILink.aspx?Folder=pressrel&
Criteria=CITATION_ID:18MA6; accessed on 12 August 2008; and Attorney–General’s
Department, Australian Government's action plan to eradicate trafficking
in persons, 2004, http://www.ag.gov.au/www/agd/rwpattach.nsf/VAP/
(CFD7369FCAE9B8F32F341DBE097801FF)~99Traffickingplan.pdf/$file/99
Traffickingplan.pdf, accessed on 12 August 2008.
[12]. For details of these victim support measures see, Office for Women (OFW), ‘Support for victims of people trafficking’, fact sheet,
http://www.ofw.facsia.gov.au/downloads/pdfs/people_trafficking_factsheet.pdf, accessed on 12 August 2008.
[13].
D. Johnston (Minister for Justice and Customs), Budget 2007: More
resources to combat people trafficking, media release, Parliament
House, Canberra, 8 May 2007, http://parlinfoweb.aph.gov.au/piweb/TranslateWIPILink.aspx?
Folder=pressrel&Criteria=CITATION_ID:8J0N6; accessed on 12 August
2008.
[14].
See the AusAID People trafficking website for more detail,
http://www.ausaid.gov.au/country/peopletraffick.cfm, accessed on 12
August 2008.
[15].
A. Downer (Minister for Foreign Affairs), Australia combats human
trafficking through Indonesian partnership, media release, Parliament
House, Canberra, 27 August 2007, http://parlinfoweb.aph.gov.au/piweb/TranslateWIPILink.aspx?
Folder=pressrel&Criteria=CITATION_ID:KK3O6; accessed on 12 August
2008.
[16]. See UN, Report of the Vienna Forum to Fight Human Trafficking, 30 March 2008, http://www.un.org/ga/president/62/ThematicDebates/humantrafficking/ECN152008CRP02.pdf, accessed on 12 August 2008.
[17]. B. Debus (Minister for Home Affairs), Government consults on people trafficking, media release, Parliament House, Canberra, 24 June 2008,
https://www.ag.gov.au/www/ministers/ministerdebus.nsf/Page/MediaReleases_2008
_Secondquarter_24June2008-GovernmentConsultsonPeopleTrafficking, accessed
on 12 August 2008.
[18].
K. Rudd (Prime Minister), Address to International Women’s Day
Morning Tea, Old Parliament House, media release, Parliament House,
Canberra, 11 March 2008, http://parlinfoweb.aph.gov.au/piweb/TranslateWIPILink.
aspx?Folder=pressrel&Criteria=CITATION_ID:L4WP6; accessed on 12
August 2008.
[19]. See Carrington, op. cit., p. 13.
[20]. L. Younes, ‘Trafficking in sex slaves is rife in Australia’, The Canberra Times, 6 March 2004, http://parlinfoweb.aph.gov.au/piweb/TranslateWIPILink.aspx?Folder=pressclp&Criteria=CITATION_ID:AHUB6; accessed on 12 August 2008.
[21].
Between 1 January 2004 and 30 June 2005, 42 suspected victims of trafficking
were granted BVFs, and 26 people were granted Criminal Justice Stay visas.
During that time no Witness Protection (Trafficking) Visas had been issued.
Source: Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC), Managing
the Border: immigration compliance 2004–05, p. 97, http://www.immi.gov.au/media/publications/
compliance/managing-the-border/index.htm, accessed on 12 August 2008.
[22].
See the OFW guidelines, Support for victims of trafficking program
guidelines 2007–2011, outlining the future requirements for all program
support applicants, http://ofw.facs.gov.au/downloads/pdfs/Trafficking_%20App_Guidelines.pdf,
accessed on 12 August 2008. See also the Office for Women, ‘Support
for victims of people trafficking’, fact sheet, http://facs.gov.au/ofw/downloads
/pdfs/people_trafficking_factsheet.pdf, accessed on 12 August 2008.
[23]. See the 1999 Second Reading speech,
http://parlinfoweb.aph.gov.au/piweb/TranslateWIPILink.aspx?Folder=hansards
&Criteria=DOC_DATE:1999-03-24;SEQ_NUM:10; accessed on 12 August
2008; and Criminal Code Amendment (Slavery and Sexual Servitude) Bill
1999, Bills Digest, no. 167, Parliamentary Library, 1998–99,
http://parlinfoweb.aph.gov.au/piweb/TranslateWIPILink.aspx?Folder=billsdgs
&Criteria=CITATION_ID:FZ706; accessed on 12 August 2008.
[24]. C. Ellison (Minister for Justice and Customs), Government gets tougher on people trafficking, media release, Parliament House, Canberra, 21 June 2005,
http://parlinfoweb.aph.gov.au/piweb/TranslateWIPILink.aspx?Folder=
pressrel&Criteria=CITATION_ID:ZWEG6; accessed on 12 August 2008.
[25]. DFAT, Treaty Database,
http://www.info.dfat.gov.au/Info/Treaties/treaties.nsf/AllDocIDs/
E5DFF3770864AB2CCA256B3E00104E80, accessed on 30 October 2007. Note:
Australia signed the protocol on 11 December 2002.
[26].
Australian Parliament, Parliamentary Joint Committee on the Australian
Crime Commission, Inquiry into the trafficking of women for sexual
servitude report, Canberra, 2004, http://www.aph.gov.au/
Senate/committee/acc_ctte/completed_inquiries/2002-04/sexual_servitude/index.htm,
accessed on 12 August 2008.
[27]. Australian Parliament, Parliamentary Joint Committee on the Australian Crime Commission, Supplementary report to the Inquiry into the trafficking of women for sexual servitude, Canberra, 2005, p. 3,
http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/committee/acc_ctte/completed_
inquiries/2002-04/sexual_servitude/round_table/update.htm, accessed
on 12 August 2008.
[28]. ibid., p. 8.
[29]. Australian Government, Government response to the report of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on the Australian Crime Commission ‘Inquiry into the trafficking of women for sexual servitude’, 2007,
http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/committee/acc_ctte/completed_inquiries/2002-04/sexual_servitude/Gov_response/trafficking_of_women_for_sex_servitude.pdf, accessed on 12 August 2008.
[30]. Trafficking in Persons Report, 2008, op. cit.
[31].
J. Burn and F. Simmons, ‘Trafficking and slavery in Australia: an
evaluation of victim support strategies’, Asian and Pacific Migration
Journal, vol. 15, no. 4, 2006, p. 565, http://parlinfoweb.aph.gov.au/piweb/Translate
WIPILink.aspx?Folder=jrnart&Criteria=CITATION_ID:709N6; accessed
on 12 August 2008.
[32]. Answer to Estimates QON no. 81, Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs, Australian Federal Police, 23 May 2007.
[33].
Global Alliance against Traffic in Women, Australia chapter in; Collateral
Damage: the Impact of Anti-Trafficking Measures on Human Rights around
the World, 2007, p. 37, http://www.gaatw.net/index.php?
option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=0&Itemid=179,
accessed on 12 August 2008.
[34]. In 2002, there were approximately 1600 prosecutions and investigations underway. See End Child Prostitution Pornography Trafficking (ECPAT), Briefing on a proposal for European Union Council Directive (COM (2002) 71 final) on the Short-Term Residence Permit issued to victims of action to facilitate illegal immigration or trafficking in human beings who co-operate with the competent authorities, 2002,
http://www.antislavery.org/archive/other/antislaveryecpatukresponse.pdf,
accessed on 12 August 2008. For more information on international
trafficking prosecutions and systems see United Nations Office on Drugs
and Crime (UNODC), Trafficking in persons: global patterns, 2006,
http://www.unodc.org/documents/human-trafficking/HT-globalpatterns-en.pdf,
accessed on 12 August 2008; and M. Ventrella, ‘Protecting victims of trafficking
in human beings in the UK: the Italian 'Rimini Method' that could influence
the British approach’, Journal of Migration and Refugee Issues,
vol. 3, no. 2, 2007, http://parlinfoweb.aph.gov.au/piweb/TranslateWIPILink.
aspx?Folder=jrnart&Criteria=CITATION_ID:2S9P6; accessed on 12
August 2008.
[35]. Answer to QON no. 81, op. cit.
[36]. For an in-depth evaluation of the trafficking visa framework see J. Burn and F. Simmons, op. cit.
[37]. See for example, G. Jacobsen, ‘Client sparked brothel raid’, Sydney Morning Herald, 24 September 2004,
http://parlinfoweb.aph.gov.au/piweb/TranslateWIPILink.aspx?Folder
=pressclp&Criteria=CITATION_ID:VPVD6; accessed on 12 August 2008;
and N. Robinson, ‘Australia 'abandons' sex slaves who can't help police’,
The Australian, 16 January 2006, http://parlinfoweb.aph.gov.au/piweb/
TranslateWIPILink.aspx?Folder=pressclp&Criteria=CITATION_ID:XMHI6;
accessed on 12 August 2008.
[38]. F. David, Law enforcement responses to trafficking in persons: challenges and emerging good practice, AIC, 2007, http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/tandi2/tandi347.pdf, accessed on 12 August 2008. A new report by Ms David, Trafficking of women for sexual purposes, AIC, 2008, deals in more depth on these issues,
http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/rpp/95/http:/
www.aic.gov.au/publications/rpp/95/, accessed on 12 August 2008.
[39]. ibid., 2007, p. 55.
[40]. For more discussion of the effectiveness of victim support measures see J. Burn and F. Simmons, op. cit.
[41]. Managing the Border: immigration compliance 2004–05, op. cit., pp. 47 and 50.
[42]. For an example of forced labour in Australia see L. Lamont, ‘Silent shame of our new slaves’, Sydney Morning Herald, 10 June 2004,
http://parlinfoweb.aph.gov.au/piweb/TranslateWIPILink.aspx?
Folder=pressclp&Criteria=CITATION_ID:NXRC6; accessed on 12 August
2008 and S. Markson, ‘Trade in slave labour’, Sunday Telegraph, 22
July 2007,
http://parlinfoweb.aph.gov.au/piweb/TranslateWIPILink.aspx?
Folder=pressclp&Criteria=CITATION_ID:GCQN6; accessed on 12 August
2008.
[43]. Trafficking in Persons Report, 2008, op. cit.
[44]. See the Australian section of the Trafficking in Persons Report, 2008, op. cit.
[45]. See F. David, Prosecuting trafficking in persons: known issues, emerging responses, AIC, 2008, http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/tandi2/tandi358.html, accessed on 12 August 2008.
[46]. See for example; M. Seagrave, ‘Surely something is better than nothing? The Australian response to the trafficking of women into sexual servitude in Australia’, Current Issues in Criminal Justice, July 2004,
http://parlinfoweb.aph.gov.au/piweb/TranslateWIPILink.aspx?
Folder=jrnart&Criteria=CITATION_ID:RK7D6; accessed on 12 August
2008; and The Global Alliance against Traffic in Women, op. cit.,
http://www.gaatw.net/index.php?option=com_content&
task=blogcategory&id=0&Itemid=179, accessed on 12 August 2008.
[47]. DIAC advice, 30 October 2007.
[48]. Answer to QON no. 107, Senate Legal and Constitutional Committee Estimates, Immigration Portfolio, 15 February 2005.
[49]. Australian Federal Police, Annual Report 2006–07, Canberra, p. 25.
[50]. F. David, 2008, pp. iii, 6 and 27.
[51]. Answer to QON no. 106, Senate Legal and Constitutional Committee Estimates, Immigration Portfolio, 15 February 2005.
[52]. F. David, 2008, p.17.
[53]. ibid.
[54]. Answer to Estimates QON no. 112, Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs, Australian Federal Police, 31 October 2006 and C. Ellison (Minister for Justice and Customs), First person jailed under new federal sex slave laws, media release, 9 June 2006.
[55].
Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Annual Report
2006–07, p. 45; and DPP advice. The case of The Queen v. Tang was
heard on 13–14 May 2008 in the High Court and judgment is reserved. According
to an article in The Australian, ‘Sex Slavery on High’, by N. O’Brien
and E. Wynhausen, 17 May 2008, the decision is due to be handed down in
August, http://parlinfoweb.aph.gov.au/piweb/TranslateWIPILink.aspx?
Folder=pressclp&Criteria=CITATION_ID:1TGQ6; accessed on 12 August
2008. See A. Gallagher, ‘Calling a slave a slave’, The Canberra Times,
14 May 2008, for details of the Wei Tang High Court case, http://parlinfoweb.aph.gov.au/piweb/TranslateWIPILink.aspx?
Folder=pressclp&Criteria=CITATION_ID:LFFQ6; accessed on 12 August
2008.
[56]. US Department of State, Australia section, Trafficking in Persons Report 2007, and advice from the DPP. For more detail on some of these cases see F. David, op. cit., 2008.
[57]. Answer to Estimates QON no. 81, op. cit.
[58].
F. David, Trafficking of women for sexual purposes, AIC, 2008,
pp. 6–7,
http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/rpp/95/, accessed on 12 August
2008.
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