-Caveat Lector-
Begin forwarded message:
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: August 27, 2007 10:53:40 PM PDT
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: The Slaves Next Door
Trafficked women
auctioned off in pubs,
locked up in brothels
Jo Revill, Whitehall editor
The Observer (UK), August 26, 2007
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,2156499,00.html
A major police operation to crack down on the trafficking of women
has discovered that some victims are being 'sold' at auctions in
pubs before they are forced to work in brothels.
In the largest operation of its kind, police in Cambridgeshire have
raided 73 suspected brothels in the past few months. They have
already rescued seven women, some with serious injuries sustained
as they tried to escape.
The scale of the abuse has horrified the officers and other
agencies working with them, who have found women being forced to
work in the sex trade in houses in villages as well as city
centres, being unable to go out and having sex with up to 60 men a
day, earning thousands of pounds for the gangs.
Detective Chief Inspector Paul Fullwood, leading the investigation,
said: 'We have seen organised crime moving away from firearms and
drugs into sex trafficking. It's a lucrative area for these gangs,
and the women they get hold of can find it very, very hard to escape.'
Police say that in the auctions a woman is brought into the pub
with a minder. She is seen by members of different gangs who are
then invited to bid for her. The amount they pay in some cases is
as little as £1,000.
So far, 24 people have been arrested during Operation Radium, most
on suspicion of immigration offences, and all have been bailed. No
charges have yet been brought as a result of the operation, which
is still gathering intelligence.
Many of the women who are trafficked into Britain each year come
from eastern Europe, Africa and the Far East, tempted by the
prospect of a better life and well-paid jobs. But on arrival their
identity documents are taken, and they are often kept captive in
appalling conditions.
So far, seven women have been rescued. Others have fled, fearing
arrest even though they are innocent.
Fullwood, head of Cambridgeshire's serious and organised crime
unit, said: 'Many brothels operate under the guise of other
businesses. They may be just ordinary-looking homes in quiet
neighbourhoods.' He has appealed for men who have used brothels to
report places where they think women are prisoners.
Last week police opened their files to reveal detailed personal
accounts from some of the victims. Three of them, two back in their
home countries and a third being cared for in a hostel, spoke about
their beatings, having their identities stolen and being kept in
brothels with locked doors and windows.
One described being beaten so hard that she had a broken arm for
which she was not allowed medical attention. Another told of being
forced to have unprotected sex with up to 25 clients a day. She was
refused a testing kit when she thought she might be pregnant, and
threatened by security guards with a samurai sword and a baseball bat.
Tory MP Shailesh Vara, joint vice-chair of the Commons all-party
group on trafficking women and children, said: 'It is fantastic
that the police have mounted such an operation to try to uncover
what's happening. What they have found so far is really alarming.
It's becoming clear now that many women are kidnapped and held
against their will in houses right across Britain, and yet are
almost invisible to the rest of us.
Vara, MP for North West Cambridgeshire, added: 'The idea that some
women are auctioned off in pubs like animals is disgusting. Far
more must be done to stop this trade. Britain must ratify the
United Nations convention on human trafficking, so international
measures can be taken to stop these gangs.'
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