Sex Trafficking2010
Australia AU
The case was initially brought to the attention of the authorities by an informant in 1997 and it resulted in the arrest of Mr Glazner 14 months later in 1999. Glazner had bought Thai women from agents in Thailand for between $15,000 and $18,000, and they had knowingly come to Australia to work as prostitutes (McKinney 2001). Evidence was presented at an initial committal hearing showing that the women feared Glazner and that he withheld their passports, restricted their movements, and kept them in debt bondage (Police vs. Gary Galzner and Paul Donato Marino 1999). Detective Senior Sergeant Ivan McKinney outlined the evidence presented (at the committal hearing and trial) at a public forum in 2001. He said Glazner chose to enforce the “contract” under the first condition of 500 “free jobs”, each job being a half hour of sex. (McKinney 2001). At least 40 women were proven to be connected to Glazner through DIMIA records. Investigators suspected four to five times this many women were involved. The women were generally prostituted for 12-hour shifts, seven days a week. McKinney detailed the conditions of sexual servitude under which the women were kept upon arrival in Australia. Their living conditions at the Kew hotel where they were housed were extremely cramped and they were locked in. Glazner had installed a large locked iron gate and bars on the stairwells, and sealed the windows. Glazner or an associate drove them to and picked them up from the brothel where they were prostituted (McKinney 2001). Journalist Mark Forbes, reporting on the trial for the Age newspaper, wrote that Glazner had verbally abused and intimidated the women, and kept a loaded gun in clear view of the women at the hotel (Forbes 1999). The women feared for their lives and of reprisals against themselves or their families back in Thailand. As “Michelle’s” translator stated for her at the trial: “She said if she is here, maybe she will die. If she goes back to Thailand, she will die” (Police vs. Gary Galzner and Paul Donato Marino 1999.
Sex Trafficking2006
Australia AU
Thai women were trafficked into Australia by a Thai woman DS and sent to work in brothels in Melbourne and Sydney. Five of these Thai women were sent to Ms Wei Tang's licensed brothel Club 417 in Fitzroy, Melbourne. The women were told they would be able to work legally in the sex trade and send money home to their families, once they had paid off their “debt”. However, they did not know the precise terms of their debt or their living or working conditions until they arrived in Australia. They were "owned" by “syndicates” with Tang taking 70% of their earnings and DS and her associates taking 30%. Each woman was bought by the syndicate from the "boss" in Thailand who recruited them for $AUD20,000. However, they were told their total "debt" to the syndicate was $45,000. The women were forced to work six days a week without any pay because all of the $110 charged to each client was divided between their owners, with $50 going toward paying off their $45,000 debt. The women were only allowed to keep that $50 per client on their seventh "free" day each week. Between August 2002 and May 2003 each woman was forced to serve up to 900 customers over 4-6 months. The women's passports and return airfares were taken from them and they were effectively restricted to the brothel premises because of their hours, nature of work, lack of payment and the fear of detection by immigration authorities, instilled in them by Tang and DS. The women lived in premises arranged by Tang. Two of the women ultimately paid off their debts, were given back their passports and were free to choose their hours of work and accommodation.
Sex Trafficking2009
Australia AU
A Canberra woman will face the ACT Magistrates court on sex slavery charges. Australian Federal Police raided a house in the southern Canberra suburb of Kambah at the weekend. It is alleged the 42-year-old woman illegally brought in sex workers to Australia to work in exploitative conditions. The woman is charged with possessing a slave, debt bondage and operating an illegal brothel. A 55-year-old man will also face court.