-Caveat Lector- Our secret slave trade By MARK FORBES Hundreds of foreign prostitutes are trapped in Australia as sex slaves, being bought and sold while illegally working in local brothels, an Insight investigation has found. The industry generates more than $50 million a year, with up to 500 foreign prostitutes estimated to be in Australia at any one time. Posing as an interested buyer, Insight was offered women on bonded contracts for between $8000 and $15,000 for three months. The investigation also identified the man believed to be the largest people trader in Australia, Sunny Liu, who has imported an estimated 1000 prostitutes. The Australian Federal Police has requested details of the individuals identified by Insight. Estimates by the Australian Institute of Criminology put the annual earnings from illegal foreign prostitutes at more than $50 million, although some police believe it is worth far more. The federal Justice Minister, Senator Amanda Vanstone, said the material uncovered justified her support of anti-sex slavery legislation just passed through Parliament. Intelligence had indicated an increase in the trade, she said. ``This is targeted at the dealers, the ones who enslave,'' Senator Vanstone said. Under the new laws, conducting ``sexual slavery'' will be punishable by 25 years' imprisonment. A second offence of sexual servitude, when an individual is effectively denied their freedom, has a 15-year maximum penalty. Senator Vanstone said she would urge law enforcement agencies to pursue those behind the trade ``to the full''. The director of End Child Prostitution Pornography and Trafficking, Ms Bernadette McMenamin called on the federal police to establish a national unit to tackle the trafficking and trading of women and children. ``This is a huge problem and unless there are resources dedicated to it the new legislation will have limited value,'' Ms McMenamin said. Many of the women are sold into virtual slavery, always imprisoned in a brothel or overcrowded safe house. They cannot earn any money until they have repaid a ``contract'' of $40,000 or more. One Sydney brothel-keeper, Ms Gael MacPherson, told Insight that she was approached weekly by people offering illegal workers. An unknown Asian man knocked on her brothel's door with a mini-van with eight women inside. ``He said, `you open, you need girls','' Ms MacPherson said. Another operator, in discussions witnessed by Insight, was offered Malaysian prostitutes for $8000 each for three months. The trader, a supposedly reputable businessman also said he had a shipment of ``very young, very fresh'' girls coming from Vietnam. Chinese ``beauty queens'' were also offered by another dealer for $15,000 each. A federal police spokeswoman, Ms Tracey Dickerson, said police would be interested in pursuing Insight's research. ``We would want to assess the material for investigation,'' she said. Mr Robert Gilder, a federal agent and a former member of a federal police taskforce on sex slavery, said the trade was well-entrenched in most capital cities. He estimated that between 250 and 500 women were involved at any time. ``It's very lucrative. Women earn $100 an hour, but they get nothing until they pay off their debt to their organisers.'' Most of the women came to Australia on tourist or student visas and normally worked a six-month ``tour of duty''. ``They live in appalling conditions,'' Mr Gilder said. ``They are forced to work 12 hours a day or more, seven days a week.'' DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance�not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
