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Cambodia: Exodus to the Sex Trade? (pdf)

added 08/15/2009

"This report suggests that the global financial crisis has led to an increase of women entering the sex trafficking industry in Cambodia. Women said they entered the sex trafficking industry mostly because of “difficult family circumstances,” and because they thought they could “easily earn a lot of money, in good working conditions." In order to combat this new trend, the report recommends strengthening social safety nets, linking women seeking jobs with alternative job placement assistance, targeted awareness raising and specific information outreach on accessing social services and how to utilize safer sources of loans and credit."

Guatemala’s Femicide Law: Progress Against Impunity? (pdf)

added 08/29/2009

This report places femicide within a particular historical, cultural and socio-political context describing the 36-year internal conflict that resulted in rape, torture and murder of tens of thousands of Guatemalan women and girls. Although the government has made some progress in implementing some aspects of the Law Against Femicide, the report also points out that the lack of understanding of the law, continued social unrest, poor media portrayal, and inadequate efforts to implement the law stand in the way of serious progress. The report concludes with recommendations for the government including improving investigation and prosecution of crimes of violence against women, and protection of the victims of violence and their children.

International Trafficking in Women to the United States: A Contemporary Manifestation of Slavery and Organized Crime (pdf)

added 05/20/2000
Center for the Study of Intelligence

A Nov. 1999 Intelligence Monograph. This article finds that the trafficking of women and children "for the sex industry and for labor" is prevalent in all regions in the U.S. Victims have traditionally come from Southeast Asia and Latin America, but now victims are coming from Central and Eastern Europe as well.

Male Ordered: The Mail-Order Bride Industry and Trafficking in Women for Sexual and Labour Exploitation (pdf)

added 05/15/2009

"This report provides extensive research of the mail-order bride industry in the United Kingdom. The industry is linked to the promotion of trafficking, prostitution, pornography and slavery. The report suggests that this industry not only exploits vulnerable groups of women but also reinforces racial and ethnic stereotypes. Recommendations are given on what the government can do to further protect women."

Migrant Thai Women Subjected to Slavery-Like Abuses in Japan

added 09/30/2008
Kinsey Alden Dinan

"This article explores the system of coercion employed by trafficking networks to exploit migrant Thai women's labor in the Japanese sex industry and identifies other factors that contribute to trafficked women's inability to protect themselves from further abuse."

Modern-Day Comfort Women: The U.S. Military, Transnational Crime, and the Trafficking of Women

added 10/23/2008
Donna M. Hughes, Katherine Y. Chon, and Derek P. Ellerman

"The U.S. military bases in South Korea were found to form a hub for the transnational trafficking of women from the Asia Pacific and Eurasia to South Korea and the United States. This study, conducted in 2002, examined three types of trafficking that were connected to U.S. military bases in South Korea: domestic trafficking of Korean women to clubs around the military bases in South Korea, transnational trafficking of women to clubs around military bases in South Korea, and transnational trafficking of women from South Korea to massage parlors in the United States."

Owed Justice: Thai Women Trafficked into Debt Bondage in Japan

added 03/05/2003

This report is based on interviews conducted in Thailand and Japan over a six year period from 1994 to 1999, during which the authors documented serious abuses in the course of trafficked women's recruitment, travel, job placement, and subsequent employment. The interviews in 1999 reveal a clear continuation of the abuses the authors first documented in 1994; indicating that, despite the increased awareness demonstrated by Japanese and Thai officials regarding the abuses trafficked women suffer, these governments have failed as yet to take adequate steps to respond effectively to the problem.

Progress of South Asian Women 2005 (pdf)

added 04/23/2009
Dr. Ratna Sudarshan

"The document presents a snapshot of women's situation in South Asia, an overview of the processes at work promoting the advancement of women, and identifies gaps during the period 2000–2005. Some of the challenges noted are disproportionate returns to contributions, the added "burden of care," a declining sex ratio, increased gender-based violence, trafficking of women and girls, and the spread of HIV/AIDS."

Shattered Hearts: The Commercial Sexual Exploitation of American Indian Women and Girls in Minnesota (pdf)

added 10/18/2009

A groundbreaking report released by the Minnesota Indian Women’s Resource Center (MIWRC) highlights the alarming and pervasive sex trafficking of American Indian women and girls in Minnesota. The first comprehensive report of its kind, it highlights risk factors for victims that include poverty, a disproportionate number of American Indian homeless, high incidences of overall sexual assault, Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) and pervasive multi-generational trauma.

The 2005 Reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act: Why Congress Acted to Expand Protections to Immigrant Victims

added 09/25/2008
John Conyers, Jr.

"The author provides an overview of the history of congressional involvement with the Violence Against Women Act's (VAWA) provisions to protect immigrant victims of domestic violence and other forms of violence against women. He also outlines the reasoning behind, and purpose of, the most recent enhancements in legal protections for immigrant victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, trafficking, and foreign fiancés and spouses that were included in the recently reauthorized VAWA 2005, also describing the bipartisan work that resulted in this newest piece of legislation."

The Race Dimensions of Trafficking in Persons – Especially Women and Children

added 11/07/2001
United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights

A brief paper that presents links between trafficking and racial bias.

Toolkit for Integrating Domestic Violence Activities into Programming in Europe and Asia (pdf)

added 10/28/2009

"A manual designed to address violence against women, and specifically domestic violence, as a global human rights violation. Additionally, it explores the connections between domestic violence and human trafficking and analyzes different programming models for addressing the needs of survivors in (United States Agency for International Development) USAID programs. The toolkit is intended for USAID workers, donor organizations, and local organizations working to combat violence against women in countries where USAID operates."

Trafficking in Women: Moldova and Ukraine (pdf)

added 03/05/2003

This document explores the trafficking of women for the commercial sex industry as a human rights violation in both Moldova and Ukraine. The report analyzes the mechanisms of trafficking in both countries and the NGO and governmental response to the problem, including information on Moldovan and Ukrainian law. The report also addresses the obligations of the Moldovan and Ukrainian government under international law. 2000