Many kiwis would deny that human trafficking occurs in New Zealand.
Many of us have never been witness to, or been involved in the world we
imagine to be associated with words like ‘slavery, sex-trafficking or human
trafficking.’ Even though we don’t see it and would prefer not to talk
about it, it is happening.
Human trafficking is the abduction, kidnapping, transferring, holing or
moving of victims to exploit in one of the many forms of modern day slavery.
Modern day slavery can mean forced labour, domestic servitude, forced
prostitution, child sexual exploitation, forced marriages, sweatshop labour,
organ harvesting, forced surrogacy, and other activities. And yes, it happens
here in New Zealand.
Forced labour and human trafficking was brought to light in 2004 when
allegations were made that foreign men had their passports confiscated, were
imposed significant debts, worked excessive hours and suffered physical
violence, mental abuse, and sexual abuse on charter vessels in New Zealand
waters. Unfortunately, this is not an isolated example. There have been cases
in the Bay of Plenty, Christchurch and Auckland.
Women are also trafficked into New Zealand and forced into labour, most
commonly prostitution. In 2001 a Thai woman arrived in New Zealand after being
promised a job as a waitress. Her passport was confiscated and she was required
to work as a prostitute to pay off her debt (the cost of her travel). She lived
alongside 14 other women, in overcrowded conditions who had suffered the same
fate. Within one week of contacting authorities she was repatriated and no
charges of any kind, were brought against anyone.
Ukrainian organised crime has been known to traffic young women into New
Zealand to work as prostitutes. In 2004 three girls were trafficked into
Auckland, one of the women was actually arrested and charged with possession of
a fake Israeli passport (she had also been trafficked to Israel). Again, no
charges were ever laid against her traffickers.
Young New Zealanders are also at risk. They are especially vulnerable
due to a lack of recognition of internal trafficking in New Zealand. There was
a recent case (approximately 200,6) in which a 15 year old girl seduced by a
brothel operator and then exploited as a sex worker in Auckland. The
brothel owner did not face any human trafficking charges as there is no legal
recognition of internal human trafficking.
This is perplexing, given that New Zealand made a commitment under the
Trafficking Protocol to have adequate penalties, to strictly enforce these
penalties and provide victims the chance to be heard in a case against their
offenders. There are significant gaps in New Zealand law that fails to provide
protection for the victims of trafficking and slavery. There are very few human
trafficking cases in New Zealand, not because the act itself doesn't occur but
because we do not adequately recognise the issue.