NCJ Number
229815
Date Published
2009
Length
102 pages
Annotation
This report on the Australian Institute of Criminology's (AIC's) research on trafficking in persons from July 2007-December 2008 addresses Australia's response to trafficking in persons; data on trafficking in persons in Australia; and trends and issues in human trafficking in the Southeast Asia and Pacific regions.
Abstract
The Australian Government ratified the United Nations Trafficking Protocol and made corresponding changes to national legislation, law enforcement, victim support, and prosecution activities. Still little has been done in Australia to improve data collection on this crime, so much remains to be learned about trends, traffickers, male and child victims, and labor trafficking. Activities in the first year of the AIC Trafficking in Persons Research program focused on identifying data sources and establishing an ongoing data monitoring program; consulting with key stakeholders in the ASIA-Pacific region to identify emerging issues; and conducting targeted projects on trafficking for adoption, responding to victims, and organ trafficking. Victims of trafficking in persons identified in Australia up to December 2008 have primarily been women from Thailand, although smaller numbers have also come from other Southeast-Asian countries. Most of the prosecutions in such trafficking have used s. 270 of the Criminal Code, which pertains to slavery, sexual servitude, and deceptive recruiting. Of the 34 people charged with trafficking and related offenses, 7 have been convicted. Australia's closest neighbors consist of the countries in the Pacific and Southeast-Asian regions. Southeast Asia has been the primary source of persons trafficked to Australia. The combination of irregular migration, trafficking, and sex work undermine the collection of reliable data in the region, which suffers from inconsistent and unclear definitions of criminal activities associated with immigration and trafficking. Discussions relating to trafficking within the Pacific region include transnational crime, labor mobility, the sex industry, and the vulnerability of children. Tables, figures, and references