Australia plans to introduce new human trafficking laws that set penalties of up to 20 years in jail for smuggling a child, the government said on Thursday, days after being named in a US trafficking report.
The US State Department's annual Trafficking in Persons Report for the first time cited Australia as a destination for Chinese and Southeast Asian women trafficked into the sex trade, putting it on the same level as France, Germany, Morocco and Colombia.
"It's a vile trade and must be stamped out," Australian Minister for Family and Community Services Kay Patterson said.
The sex slavery trade in Australia hit the spotlight last year with an inquest into the death of a 27-year-old Thai woman, Puongtong Simaplee, who choked to death on her vomit in a Sydney detention center after 15 years as a prostitute in Australia.
Project Respect, a group that represents women brought to Australia as sex slaves, believes there could be up to 1,000 such women in the country at any one time.
US Secretary of State Colin Powell estimated this week that up to 800,000 people, mostly women and children, are trafficked internationally each year.
Australia, which says police are investigating 20 cases of human trafficking, plans to introduce new legislation in parliament within the next few weeks that will include penalties of up to 20 years for trafficking a child or 12 years for trafficking an adult using threat, force and deception.
The legislation is also designed to protect women recruited to work in the sex industry who find themselves subjected to exploitation when they arrive.
The US trafficking report said many of the women who agree to work in both legal and illegal Australian brothels were coerced into debt bondage and sexual servitude.
Seven people sustained mostly minor injuries in an airplane fire in South Korea, authorities said yesterday, with local media suggesting the blaze might have been caused by a portable battery stored in the overhead bin. The Air Busan plane, an Airbus A321, was set to fly to Hong Kong from Gimhae International Airport in southeastern Busan, but caught fire in the rear section on Tuesday night, the South Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said. A total of 169 passengers and seven flight attendants and staff were evacuated down inflatable slides, it said. Authorities initially reported three injuries, but revised the number
‘BALD-FACED LIE’: The woman is accused of administering non-prescribed drugs to the one-year-old and filmed the toddler’s distress to solicit donations online A social media influencer accused of filming the torture of her baby to gain money allegedly manufactured symptoms causing the toddler to have brain surgery, a magistrate has heard. The 34-year-old Queensland woman is charged with torturing an infant and posting videos of the little girl online to build a social media following and solicit donations. A decision on her bail application in a Brisbane court was yesterday postponed after the magistrate opted to take more time before making a decision in an effort “not to be overwhelmed” by the nature of allegations “so offensive to right-thinking people.” The Sunshine Coast woman —
BORDER SERVICES: With the US-funded International Rescue Committee telling clinics to shut by tomorrow, Burmese refugees face sudden discharge from Thai hospitals Healthcare centers serving tens of thousands of refugees on the Thai-Myanmar border have been ordered shut after US President Donald Trump froze most foreign aid last week, forcing Thai officials to transport the sickest patients to other facilities. The International Rescue Committee (IRC), which funds the clinics with US support, told the facilities to shut by tomorrow, a local official and two camp committee members said. The IRC did not respond to a request for comment. Trump last week paused development assistance from the US Agency for International Development for 90 days to assess compatibility with his “America First” policy. The freeze has thrown
PINEAPPLE DEBATE: While the owners of the pizzeria dislike pineapple on pizza, a survey last year showed that over 50% of Britons either love or like the topping A trendy pizzeria in the English city of Norwich has declared war on pineapples, charging an eye-watering ￡100 (US$124) for a Hawaiian in a bid to put customers off the disputed topping. Lupa Pizza recently added pizza topped with ham and pineapple to its account on a food delivery app, writing in the description: “Yeah, for ￡100 you can have it. Order the champagne too! Go on, you monster!” “[We] vehemently dislike pineapple on pizza,” Lupa co-owner Francis Wolf said. “We feel like it doesn’t suit pizza at all,” he said. The other co-owner, head chef Quin Jianoran, said they kept tinned pineapple
RSS