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Slavery is happening right here at home

Jenny Stanger

by Jenny Stanger

06 Sep 05:55am

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Filed under: Human Rights, Human Trafficking, Salvation Army, Sex Slavery, Slavery

38 comments

For most Australians human trafficking and slavery takes place in faraway places or behind the blacked out windows of sex businesses. It is a shock to learn that human trafficking and slavery happens right here in Australia and affects a much broader group of people.


I have supported men, women and young people subjected to forced labour, servitude and women deceptively recruited into slave-like marriages. These experiences are devastating, traumatic and a gross violation of human rights.

Government agencies and community service organisations have identified and uncovered slavery-like practices in many different sectors of the economy right here in Australia. These include, but are not limited to hospitality, construction, agriculture, manufacturing, domestic work, retail and even for the purpose of organ removal.

Forced labour and servitude are characterised by the deprivation of a person’s liberty through psychological manipulation, deception and threats to create a situation where they are not free – a prison without walls for someone else’s profit, gain or advantage.

While both Labor and Coalition governments over the last decade have committed considerable resources to anti-slavery strategies, only thirteen people have been successfully convicted of human trafficking and related offences due in part to the limited scope of current legislation.

The proposed Crimes Legislation Amendment (Slavery, Slavery-like Conditions and People Trafficking) Bill 2012 currently before a Senate committee, if passed, will broaden the definition of criminal activity related to human trafficking and slavery which currently leaves victims without redress within the criminal justice system.

Until quite recently, human trafficking and slavery outside of sex work received little attention during the last decade. There are historical reasons for this, which has not been helped by the inaccurate stereotyping of trafficked persons only as Asian women working against their will in the sex industry.

After ten years of research by the Australian Institute of Criminology and the collective experiences of police and community service organisations, it is clear that Australia, like other developed nations, needs to broaden its focus.

Like other community service organisations, it is The Salvation Army’s experience that significant numbers of people experience trafficking and exploitation outside the sex industry.

Since the opening of The Salvation Army’s Service for Trafficked People in 2008, there have been 133 referrals received, and of these only 36 have been victims of sexual servitude, debt bondage or serious exploitation in sex services.

Out of these 36 referrals, only 2 women did not plan to work in the sex industry when they arrived in Australia.

The majority of clients supported by The Salvation Army’s Service for Trafficked People have been men, women and young people who have been trafficked into Australia for the provision of labour in industries such as hospitality, construction, cleaning, beauty therapy, domestic work and through marriage.

In a recent fact finding mission conducted by United Nations Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons, Dr. Joy Ngozi Ezeilo, several manifestations of trafficking were noted, including trafficking for labour exploitation and via marriage.

Many victims of human trafficking and slavery simply want to be free and away from their captors, but for those who want freedom and justice, the improved legislation offers an important avenue for redress.

Project Futures in collaboration with The Salvation Army’s Service for Trafficked People is encouraging both men and women on this coming Friday the 7th of September to get behind Bow Tie Friday and the Stella Fella campaign.

By purchasing and wearing a silk bow tie this Friday, you will be making a statement against human trafficking, with all proceeds from the sale of Bow Ties from the Stella Fella website going to The Salvation Army’s Service for Trafficked People.

Comments on this post will close at 8pm AEST.

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38 comments

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    • acotrel says:

      06:17am | 06/09/12

      ‘Forced labour and servitude are characterised by the deprivation of a person’s liberty through psychological manipulation, deception and threats to create a situation where they are not free – a prison without walls for someone else’s profit, gain or advantage.’

      Sounds like some marriages !
      I am remarried and retired - no longer chained to the treadmill.  Life is great !

      Reply

    • Michael says:

      07:46am | 06/09/12

      Still a slave to your politics and hatred of Tony Abbott though, the one freedom you will never know…the freedom from thinking the way you do.

      The grass isn’t greener but it is sweeter than the grass you have always known..

    • Rose says:

      09:27am | 06/09/12

      It’s fairly pathetic to attempt to link a serious crime of human trafficking to your own bitter recollections of your failed relationship. I assume you went into the marriage voluntarily so, if it failed, accept your share of responsibility and move on.
      Human trafficking and slavery is far too important an issue for the discussion to be used as a platform for self serving people like you to distort with irrelevant whingeing.

    • Jason says:

      09:38am | 06/09/12

      A little bit harder if you’re purchased, forced to marry, your passport and identity confiscated from you and then forced to work 16 hour days for no wage at all!

    • Overacotrelledandout says:

      09:55am | 06/09/12

      Well for peace sake just go away and enjoy it and unchain the rest of us from your treadmill of useless comments.

    • TChong says:

      07:28am | 06/09/12

      “Organ removal” really ?
      Since the article is about people being coerced - “slaves”, ICBS with the organ removal.
      Any, and every where in Australia, a consent would have to obtained from the donor.
      Of course , a criminal conspiracy involving multiple doctors and other health staff could occir, but how would such a conspiracy be kept secret. ?
      Very, very, very unlikely .

      Reply

    • Rose says:

      11:03am | 06/09/12

      On the contrary, very, very likely. You are talking about people with little to no English, people who may believe that death, or a lifetime of brutal servitude will result if they don’t comply or, that they will be free if they do. That means that these people have a motive for ‘donating’ the organ and they also have reason to declare their actions as voluntary.
      Yo seem to make the mistake of believing that this kind of bad stuff doesn’t happen in Australia, it does. This failure to believe that this kind of stuff is possible here is one of the reasons so many get away with it!

    • Rose says:

      11:04am | 06/09/12

      On the contrary, very, very likely. You are talking about people with little to no English, people who may believe that death, or a lifetime of brutal servitude will result if they don’t comply or, that they will be free if they do. That means that these people have a motive for ‘donating’ the organ and they also have reason to declare their actions as voluntary.
      Yo seem to make the mistake of believing that this kind of bad stuff doesn’t happen in Australia, it does. This failure to believe that this kind of stuff is possible here is one of the reasons so many get away with it!

    • Little Joe says:

      07:29am | 06/09/12

      Well it’s about time we started talking about this topic and it amazes me how little the authorities have done after the liberating of emancipated workers at an Asian Restaurant in the Blue Mountains a few years back.

      Our laws that allow for ‘sponsored workers’ to immigrate to Australia can provide the shackles and chains that bind the ignorant immigrant to their master. If they do not like the conditions of their employment they are simply threatened with deportation. And the ignorant illiterate cowers under the rod.

      Of course this is the tip of the iceberg and, if you can excuse the phase, one of the least vile of the slavery operations. Sex Slavery is real and vile, and occurs all over the world. Law enforcement know it happens but turns its back.

      As art imitates life, this reality is depicted in films such as ‘TAKEN’ and touched on in the Oscar Winning Film ‘SMASH’. Unfortunately there is a lot of money to be made through the trade in human flesh ..... and most do not care.

      When “All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing” ..... if all we are willing to do is write about this evil, then surely this evil will prevail for an eternity.

      Reply

    • St. Michael says:

      12:50pm | 06/09/12

      ...Ah, I’m pretty sure the reality content of ‘Taken” is verifiably small.  Unless Liam Neeson tore the city of Paris a new asshole in the last couple of years and no one told me about it.

    • Little Joe says:

      05:16pm | 06/09/12

      @ St Michael

      Thought I would mention movies some people would know ..... there are many foreign movies about Russian / East European Sex Slavery.

    • Tubesteak says:

      07:46am | 06/09/12

      “deprivation of a person’s liberty through psychological manipulation, deception and threats to create a situation where they are not free”

      Sounds like every place I’ve ever worked at.

      Include a line about bosses with a god complex and it would be every place I’ve ever worked at.

      Either that, or I’d echo acotrel’s comment on marriage for men.

      Reply

    • marley says:

      10:39am | 06/09/12

      You and acotrel should both be ashamed of yourselves, making light of what is a serious issue for those people so unfortunate as to be victims of this trafficking.  You both need to realize it’s not all about you.

    • Bee says:

      12:02pm | 06/09/12

      Marriage is much more slavery for women than men, especially if there are kids. They do the majority of the housework and childcare, and they have paid jobs on top of that. Get over yourself, you childish narcissist, no wonder guys like you are bitterly unmarried. You think the world owes you a living

    • Tubesteak says:

      02:18pm | 06/09/12

      marley
      It is all about me. Haven’t you heard?
      Not like the topic gave much meat to comment on anyway. So I went the light road.

      Bee
      Women don’t do the majority of the housework. Machines do most of the housework. The only labour-intensive housework chore is vacuuming and that only needs to be done once per week and it’s little more than pushing a very light thing around.
      Try pushing a lawnmower aorund in the blazing sun even at 6pm.
      Women are best equipped for child-rearing, but as someone else said today it seems they spend most of the time playing with the kids.
      I wouldn’t call your part-time work “jobs” all that arduous, either. It’s 9-5 simpleton stuff. Get into a billable hours professional services environment or down a mine shaft and you’ll find out what a real job is.
      There’s no way I’d marry a woman these days. They are the embodiment of narcissism and over-inflated egoes with self-entitlement to rival any diva.

    • Cynicsed says:

      07:11pm | 06/09/12

      Aaah,  but Tube, you’re such a catch!


      /sarcasm off.

      Such an important subject as slavery deserves respect. The mentality of people who minimise and mock the suffering of others sso self-evidently pathetic we hardly need to,point it out - but excuse me whilst I do.

    • Mik says:

      07:55am | 06/09/12

      Perhaps the author could give suggestions on ways of determing if a sudden influx of young foreign workers, into a shopping centre for example, is legit or not. People have reported that the language barrier and proxmity of “supervisors” makes questioning difficult.

      Reply

    • Trevor says:

      08:10am | 06/09/12

      Gina rhinehardt would certainly like to see an expansion of the slavery system if yesterday’s crazy ideological rant is anything to go by.

      Reply

    • Tel says:

      08:34am | 06/09/12

      Hmmm…. as far as I am aware you would have to own another person to be engaged in slaving. The word is badly misused these days. ‘Human Trafficking - yes, abuse of power, browbeating ..... it could come under a lot of headings, but ‘slavery’ is not really one of them. A bit of a reach there.
      Regardless of that, I will, as I always do, support the Sallies!

      Reply

    • Geoffrey Chaucer says:

      08:37am | 06/09/12

      While I don’t doubt the existence of human exploitation, this article is very, very short of details. It seems as if its primary aim is to promote the buying of silk bow ties.

      Reply

    • Sarah says:

      09:32am | 06/09/12

      Whenever I get my nails done I am always suspicious that these women (and men) are slaves. They hardly talk and their manager is always monitoring them. The prices are so cheap and I just wonder if they pay their staff the minimum wage. How do we report this stuff, what if my suspicions are wrong?

      Reply

    • Al says:

      12:20pm | 06/09/12

      You could look at reporting to the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (if they were bought in on a working visa the employer would be in breach of the visa conditions) or even the Fair Work Ombudsman (re: underpayment or non payment of entitlements) or the Police (deprivation of liberty).

    • Themostserene says:

      10:15am | 06/09/12

      Stella Fella? If so few of trafficking cases are for the purposes of sexual exploitation, why are you having a campaign that is so gendered? Surely women are as likely to traffick, and consume goods/services that benefit or derive from trafficking.

      Reply

    • Mear says:

      10:18am | 06/09/12

      Very little shocks me any more. Slavery in Australia does not shock me. It is only shocking if you believe in “Australia”, by which I mean the artificially constructed, shared delusion that we are somehow fundamentally different or better than any other social group on earth.

      Reply

    • Mear says:

      10:23am | 06/09/12

      I feel safe in assuming that Rinehart the Great would have less of a problem with this kind of thing than most. That ... so-and-so is so far divorced from the reality most Australians live in that she is a positive danger to the nation.

      Reply

    • Babylon says:

      10:44am | 06/09/12

      Organised Crime enjoys profitable human trafficking, for the sex and other industries, because it is aided and abetted by weak border controls, which is a characteristic of the Gillard Government.

      In the pursuit of the Big Australia, where overcrowding and strained resources is presented as a great thing, lax immigration rules help with Mass Immigration and allow the smuggling of slaves into Australia.

      For example, the immigration law allowing women as young as 17 to be imported into Australia to marry men is a conduit for a child sex slave.

      The extended family laws allow one to claim as a relative, a house slave or manual worker slave fairly easily.

      The Gillard Government has us totally unprepared and untrained despite the examples of Europe and refuses to learn from their mistakes. In consequence, slavery is a reality on mainland Australia.

      Reply

    • James1 says:

      04:01pm | 06/09/12

      “The extended family laws allow one to claim as a relative, a house slave or manual worker slave fairly easily.”

      Not exactly, indeed quite the opposite.  We brought my grandmother over from Ireland that way, and it was very, very complicated and expensive. In terms of immigration, Australia is one of the toughest countries in the world.  It is actually quite difficult to get in here, as the small number of illegal immigrants in this country shows.

      “For example, the immigration law allowing women as young as 17 to be imported into Australia to marry men is a conduit for a child sex slave”

      The law in most Australian states is that 17 is the age where it is legal to commit to marriage (and go to adult prisons, in QLD at least).  This is not a special immigration law.  If girls are being brought here against their will for the purposes of forced marraige, that is a problem, but it bears no relevance to the age of majority in Australian states.  In any case, the amendments to the Crimes Act discussed in the article seek to more effectively criminalise forced and servile marraige.

      Also, it is a little bit sickening to try and blame this on GIllard as it stinks of rank political opportunism.  She does many, many things that are not good and I heartily oppose her government, but it is too much of a stretch to blame her for criminal people trafficking networks and slavery as well.  Be careful, Babylon, lest you become the anti-acotrel.

      As it stands, you are very close to going full acotrel.

    • George says:

      04:14pm | 06/09/12

      FFS wake up. The Liberal party is pro big Australia too.

      Maybe if these other countries didn’t breed like flies there wouldn’t be so many people to exploit and their situations in their own countries wouldn’t be so bad.

    • bev says:

      10:50am | 06/09/12

      “Until quite recently, human trafficking and slavery outside of sex work received little attention during the last decade. There are historical reasons for this, which has not been helped by the inaccurate stereotyping of trafficked persons only as Asian women working against their will in the sex industry.”

      Like many other subjects: Child abuse, DV, working conditions/pay for women feminists have ignored or altered/exagerated/distorted stats to suit their own agenda and take a side swipe at men in the process.  It is good to see the focus being moved to include ALL not just women.

      Reply

    • I, Claudia says:

      11:57am | 06/09/12

      This is a new low for some of our frequent commenters: the comparison of free employment and voluntary marriage to slavery. Shameful.

      Reply

    • marley says:

      01:31pm | 06/09/12

      I agree entirely with you.  The attitude of “it’s all about me” is breathtaking.

    • Bear says:

      12:06pm | 06/09/12

      $2 a day and slavery are pretty much the same thing, it’s not like it’s “livable” just because its Africa. It’s still a less than hand to mouth wage. Ginas a bitch.

      Reply

    • vox says:

      12:58pm | 06/09/12

      I wouldn’t dismiss Acotrel’s very relevant comment so easily. Some marriages are certainly master/slave orientated. And the ignorant suggestion that his comment draws a long bow because his marriage was entered into “voluntarily”, makes as much sense as saying that girls come here “voluntarily” only to find that the deal they thought that they were getting was a fiction fashioned for luring.
      To say that a man or woman can walk away if they choose, but a sex slave can’t is being a little precious. Their reasons for staying are often not much different, generally based on fear of reprisals, or fear of something else.
      In western countries often the fear is generated by the church. No-divorce rules and the church frowning on fathers who “desert” the family are just another encumberance to freedom.
      Glib comments by points scorers such as Michael and Rose only seek to cloud the issue. It is the Church of Abbott that demands that couples, even warring violent couples, stay together. If one partner is dominating then the other partner is then being imprisoned in the relationship. If the partners are equally combative then obviously they are both being enslaved by the Church.
      Howard’s Brethren Cult imprisoned whole families, not only with impunity, but with the active support of Howard.
      And if the situation, as stated by the Salvation Army, is so hopelessly unsolveable by present laws then what are the bow-tie millions going to be used for?
      “Put me down and smash me on the rocks, but please world, protect me from the sanctimonious sycophantic slavery of the saints.”

      Reply

    • Babylon says:

      01:25pm | 06/09/12

      The 457 Visa worker could be construed as a type of slave.

      Nearly all Australians would not go to a country and do the same work as a citizen there, but for 35 percent less pay. Nor would they live 6 to a 2 bedroom apartment, in a deprived area, to keep costs low.

      It would be too big an ask, regardless of the promise of Residency.

      In Sydney and Melbourne, there are Agencies where you can legitimately order 457 workers from abroad. The agency markets their affordability over local resources.

      Reply

    • Al says:

      02:35pm | 06/09/12

      Babylon - paying a 457 Visa worker less than that required under Australian IR law when performing work in Australia is illegal.
      They can even lodge a claim with the Fair Work Ombudsman:
      1) Whilst performing work under their 457 Visa.
      2) After they have gained residency (as long as it is within 6 years of the underpayment).
      3) On return to their original country (as long as it is within 6 years of the underpayment).
      If they are performing work in Australia they are subject to the Australian law.

    • John T says:

      04:44pm | 06/09/12

      How many of these alleged refugees will soon be indulging in and forcing others into this trade?

      Reply

    • marley says:

      06:05pm | 06/09/12

      Not many. Most of the people trafficking these days is run by Russian Mafiya and Chinese snakeheads.

 
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