Sex Trafficking Rife Says Not for Profit
11 October 2011 at 11:30 am
Sex trafficking is a major problem in some of Australia’s legal brothels according to reports in the Age and on the ABC’s 4 Corners program which aired last night.
Not for profit group Project Respect – which assists women working in the sex industry – said despite 25 years of legalisation, the sex industry can still be a dangerous place for women to work.
Kelly Hinton – executive director of Project Respect wrote in today’s Age newspaper: “We continue to meet women who have been trafficked into the sex industry in Australia, and forced to perform sexual services against their will, for little or no money, and for hours every day. Traffickers continue to profit from those purchasing sexual services from exploited women – who are here on legal visas, often in legal brothels.”
Anti-human trafficking campaigners say that the illegal trade of workers is thriving in Australia – with many women being trafficked from Asia and Eastern Europe.
Many women who are trafficked do not report abuse because they do not have the right visas to work in Australia and fear they may be deported.
The Age reports that around 1000 people are brought illegally into Australia each year to work in the sex industry and agriculture.
Project Respect called on the government to ensure that funding for anti-trafficking Not for Profits is secured.
Right now – according to Hinton – funding from the government is project-based “but (we have) no ongoing or secure funding at all.”
