Modern Slavery News Round-up

Teen killed in Yorba Linda was a human trafficking victim, police say
A 17-year-old girl found stabbed to death in an upscale Yorba Linda neighborhood Tuesday was a victim of human trafficking in Santa Ana about two weeks before she was killed, authorities said. Officers identified Aubreyanna Sade Parks as a victim of human trafficking during a crackdown on prostitution in Santa Ana. Marsalis Joseph Smith, 26, was arrested on Jan. 21 and is charged with multiple counts of human trafficking, pimping and pandering. Smith was in jail when Parks was killed. According to prosecutors, Larry Soo Shin, 35, of Yorba Linda began communicating with Parks early Tuesday morning and asked her to meet him in Yorba Linda. When she arrived, he allegedly stabbed her and left her body on a grassy area in the neighborhood, prosecutors said.

Middlesex pimp, girlfriend admit roles in NJ human trafficking prostitution ring 
A pimp who with his prostitute girlfriend swiped $500,000 worth of diamonds from a john at Manhattan’s Cosmopolitan Hotel pleaded guilty to human trafficking today — one of the first in New Jersey under the statute. Percival R. Williams — also known as Tayvann Dunston — admitted using violence and threats of violence to enslave women in a high-priced prostitution ring, after pretending to be a music producer while tooling around in high-performance Maseratis and a Porsche, state authorities charged.

Man headed to prison for human trafficking
A former fugitive who was featured on “America’s Most Wanted” is going to prison for human trafficking and other charges. Rufus Byers was arrested in 2011 for not only forcing a California woman to prostitute herself in Albuquerque, but for holding her 3-year-old daughter hostage in California. Byers bonded out of jail, then fled to Dallas. He was re-captured there in 2012 and returned to Albuquerque to face charges.

Dutch experts to visit PHL for anti-human trafficking programs
A team of anti-human trafficking experts from the Netherlands will visit the Philippines next week and meet with officials to strengthen both countries' effort to fight human trafficking. The Dutch delegation, led by Herman Bolhaar, will meet with members of the Philippine government's Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking in Persons (IACAT). According to the DOJ, which supervises the IACAT, the Dutch team's visit will "enhance cooperative efforts and mutual assistance with foreign countries through bilateral and/or multi-lateral arrangement to prevent and suppress international trafficking in person."

FBI rescues 16 juveniles in Super Bowl human trafficking operation
The FBI rescued 16 juveniles and arrested more than 45 pimps in conjunction with a child sex trafficking operation that revolved around the Super Bowl. The sex workers ranged from 13-to-17 years old, and some of them had been reported missing by their families. The Bureau is now working to provide food, shelter, counseling and medical care to the workers while also trying to contact the workers' families.

Modern Slavery News Round-Up

Canadians fight global sex trafficking on their soil
Human rights advocates are enraged after an announcement made by the Adult Entertainment Association of Canada (AEAC) declared they will be recruiting high school and college students to fill the demand for sex workers after the government banned visas allowing foreign workers to work in the industry.  The AEAC insists the industry is safe to work in, yet Joy Smith, a member of Parliament, argues "many Canadians do no realize that prostitution, strip clubs...are were the majority of victims of human trafficking are found." Canada is a gateway for many Asian and Eastern European victims.

Appeals court reinstates Vermont prison forced labor case
After an appeal made Friday, a three-judge panel decided that Finbar McGarry, a man who claims he was forced to do manual labor while pending trial, has the right to argue that he was under threat to work in a prison laundry.  He was waiting trial for domestic disturbance when he says he was forced to work up to 14 hours three days a week washing laundry for 25 cents/hour.  He will be arguing for $11 million in damages.

Torture and denial of rights for drug addicts locked in Asian camps
Hundreds of thousands of drug users in China and across Southeast Asia are held in camps where they are subject to physical and sexual violence in order to be "cured".  These centers have received financial support from donor countries and UN agencies yet they deny people their rights.  The lack of liberty can last up to 5 years and involve the homeless, mentally ill and street children.  Joe Amon, a director at Human Rights Watch, insists that "beatings, forced labor and humiliation" are not part of the prescribed therapy.

Tanzania: Dar es Salaam Leads in Human Trafficking

The Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC) reported that Tanzania has a higher rate of internal trafficking than transnational trafficking. Internal trafficking often occurs among the family and friends of victims who, as with other forms of trafficking, are given empty promises of employment, education, and otherwise. Many victims are subjected to being domestic workers, barmaids or prostitutes. The case study was done on the city of Dar es Salaam; the top five cities where human trafficking is found are Iringa, Kilimanjaro, Morogoro, Singida, and Dodoma, respectively.

Food cart gives human-trafficking survivors a new life on the street

Non-profit organization doma is helping human trafficking victims in Franklin County Ohio by allowing women to run their food cart, Freedom a la Cart. Stationed Downtown, the women, who learn skills such as kitchen prep and business management, also provide catering services and every “meal served comes with a pamphlet on human trafficking. All proceeds go to helping victims.”

DOJ suspiciously dismissed human trafficking case, says watchdog group

Watchdog group Judicial Watch claimed that the Department of Justice suspiciously dismissed a case in which three defendants “who worked for the Los Angeles-based labor recruiting company in question -- Global Horizons Manpower, Inc. -- pled guilty to [human trafficking-related] charges…” Bruce Schwartz pled guilty to conspiring to commit forced labor, while Sam Wongsesanit and Shane Germann pled guilty to conspiring to commit document servitude. However, other watchdogs argue that the prosecutors were unable to prove the admitted guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Compiled By: Elyse Elder and Whitney Joseph