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Sex TraffickingArchive 2008–2016

Sex Trafficking in Kuala Lumpur (2008)

A sex trafficking case from 2008 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 1 source on file.

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What happened

the victim came under Punitha's care after she was sweet-talked by agents in India that she could get a job as a maid in Malaysia. During her confinement, the victim was forced to provide sexual services to 20 to 25 men daily and her earnings were taken by Punitha. She was also threatened by Punitha that if she refused, her family in India would be killed by gangsters there. the victim managed to escape to the Indian High Commission before making a police report. Source: http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?sectionName=ViewsColumnsSectionPage&id=1f20bf9b-b476-4e7f-be7e-94714041a61e&Headline=Indian+woman+gets+8+yrs+for+forced+prostitution

Response and intervention

Punitha was convicted and sentenced for eight years for forcing a compatriot into prostitution after promising her a job as maid in Kuala Lumpur, victim escaped and reported the incident.

Sources

Nearby cases

All 8 in Malaysia →
Domestic Servitude2010

Kuala Lumpur, Northern Perlis, Malaysia, 2010

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Lee In Chiew Age: 49 Businessman and former teacher Was charged in a district court in northern Perlis state Monday with multiple counts of human trafficking. A Malaysian court charged a man with exploiting 63 Indonesian women who claimed they were lured to Malaysia and forced to work as house cleaners with little or no pay, a lawyer said on Tuesday. The women, promised work as maids for 500 ringgit ($160) a month, claimed they were forced to work long hours as cleaners at various houses, mostly without pay, for at least two years. The youngest rescued woman is 17 years old. Malaysia employs nearly 2 million foreigners, mostly from poorer regional countries, in its construction, plantation, manufacturing and service industries. Many complain of overwork, unpaid salaries and sometimes even physical abuse, but prosecutions have been rare.

2 sourcesArchive 2008–2016
Forced Labor2023

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 2023

Malaysia MY

Hundreds of migrant workers, mainly from Bangladesh and Nepal, arrived in Malaysia after paying high recruitment fees for promised jobs that did not materialize. Many incurred substantial debts, while recruitment agents confiscated passports, leaving workers vulnerable to forced labor and severe destitution.

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Forced Labor2024

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 2024

Malaysia MY

More than 108,000 Rohingya refugees in Malaysia cannot legally work, which leaves them vulnerable to exploitation, and refugees, asylum-seekers and stateless people are exploited in forced labor. Traffickers also recruit young women and girls, recently including from Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda, with offers of legal work in restaurants, hotels and salons, then exploit them in sex trafficking.

1 source