sex trade

Mobile phones are a vital resource in the fight against human trafficking. We hear occasionally of stories like this recent one from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Malaysian police tracked down a syndicate using foreign women as sex slaves after receiving text messages from the women allegedly being held against their will.

According to the Star, "groups of gangsters in the eastern Sarawak state on Borneo island are believed to be holding women from the Philippines, Indonesia and China as prostitutes for foreign labourers working at the massive Bakun hydroelectric dam construction site in the state." One of the women obtained the mobile number of a reporter from the English daily and began sending SMS messages that the Star reported to police. A police raid resulted in the arrest of a local pimp and 10 women from Indonesia, the Philippines and China.

Meanwhile, in the Ukraine, three of the country's carriers are collaborating with the International Organization for Migration and set up a toll-free trafficking hotline. According to a report on Radio Netherlands, "customers of Ukrainian mobile phone service providers KyivStar, MTS and life:) can dial '527' from their handsets in order to receive information and advice from the IOM on migration and trafficking issues." The short code routes calls to a free IOM service providing information on the current realities facing migrants abroad including human trafficking and the consequences of irregular entry and stay in foreign countries. Migrants can also request information on legal methods of migration.

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