Sex Trafficking2006
Canada CA
In June 2006 the RCMP and US Border Patrol intercepted 8 female and 2 male Korean nationals attempting to walk across the border into the US. Several of the women indicated during preliminary questioning that they had to pay a debt for their crossing once they reached their destination. Some also mentioned that they were going to work in the US in jobs such as waitressing; however, there was evidence that they were destined to be forced to provide sexual services at massage parlours.
Sex Trafficking2005
Canada CA
"In 2005 Michael Ng was the first person to be arrested and charged under Canada’s human trafficking laws after two Chinese women escaped from his massage parlour in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside and called the police claiming they had been brought from China and forced into prostitution. One of the women testified that she worked from 11:00am to 2:00am in order to meet her financial obligations to Ng. “In one year and five months I [made] him well over $100,000 plus the $50-an-hour he charged customers for a massage”. Ng was cleared of human trafficking, but found guilty of a number of related offences instead, including operating a common bawdy house, helping create false travel documents and procuring a person to have illicit sexual intercourse with another. In April 2008 he was sentenced to 15 months in jail. The Chinese women returned to China at their request, but came back briefly to Canada to assist in Ng’s prosecution." http://www.pssg.gov.bc.ca/octip/identifying.htm
Sex Trafficking2004
Canada CA
On Tuesday, March 2, 2004, York Regional Police responded to a break and enter in progress at a residence on Weldrick Road West, in the Town of Richmond Hill. What they found upon their arrival, however, had little to do with a break-in. At approximately 12:30 p.m., investigating officers found a woman inside the home, who revealed she and two other females were being held against their will. The three had arrived separately from Russia in the fall of 2003 and began working for Toronto escort services. They would meet numerous clients in various hotels throughout the GTA and provide sexual services. During the month of February, two of the victims, aged 19 and 23, attended a hotel on separate occasions, for what they assumed was a regular meeting with a client. However, upon their arrival, the victims were forcibly removed from the hotel and taken to a residence in Richmond Hill. The third 20-year-old victim was removed from the home she shared with the 19-year-old victim. Their documents and cell phones were taken from them and although they were allowed a certain level of freedom, they were threatened and told their families in Russia were at risk. The victims were driven to and from the Arther’s Spa on Finch Avenue on a daily basis, forced to provide sexual services and turn over their earnings to the owners.
Sex Trafficking2003
Canada CA
a 59 yrs old man from Burnaby, BC, Canada, The charges stem from acts between December 1998 and March 2002. Mr. Klassen initially faced trial on 35 counts but pleaded guilty in May to 15 counts involving girls in Cambodia and Colombia, as well as the child pornography charge. Klassen, the father of three lived in Colombia for 20 years before returning to Canada. His lawyers argued he didn't travel there for sex, but became complacent to the age of girls in a place that doesn't have the same stringent laws. Mr. Klassen's lawyers had argued the Burnaby man was merely a “customer” of willing participants after he pleaded guilty to 14 offences of sexual interference and one count of importing child pornography
Sex Trafficking2003
Canada CA
The facts in this case arose before November 2005 when human trafficking became a Criminal Code offence. The alleged female trafficker was sentenced to two years imprisonment for three prostitution-related charges and deported to Thailand. The alleged male trafficker had all charges withdrawn against him due to an "equipment malfunction" on key wire tap evidence. He pled guilty in March 2006 to keeping a common bawdy house and sentenced to pay a $10,000 fine.
Sex Trafficking1998
Canada CA
Isra, originally from Thailand, was a victim of sex trafficking and debt peonage, having been sold to a Toronto massage parlor owner for between $16,000 and $25,000 Canadian. Before any of the girls could start making a wage, they had to repay what amounted to nearly double their purchase fee - the reality of which is that most victims would have to service more than 500 men to just pay off their debts to the slave owners. Isra had a considerable debt to repay and was sold and bought multiple times by brothel owners in Toronto proper, Sheppard and Mississauga. She was forced to work a great deal but did not feel she had a way out because she owed her owners so much money. She was forced to take on many customers each day. Note: All of the above information is a synopsis of the passages related to this slave in the book "To Plead Our Own Cause" by Kevin Bales and Zoe Trodd. Book published 2008 by Cornell University Press.