Women and Justice: Keywords

The defendants Yang and Li trafficked 17 Vietnamese women who were prostitutes in Vietnam to Yunnan Province, China. Yang and Li pretended to be clients and brought the women to hotels and restaurants where they kidnapped the women and transported them to China. The defendants offered the women to villagers in remote rural area of Yunnan Province, China and forced the women to marry buyers by force or threats. Under Article 48 and Article 240 of Criminal Law of the People’s Republic of China, the two defendants were sentenced to the death penalty and their private property was confiscated by the court. The women were provided with assistance to return to Vietnam.

包办婚姻与早婚、性暴力与强奸、人口拐卖

被告人杨某和李某将17名从事卖淫活动的越南妇女拐卖至中国云南省。被告人以嫖娼为名，采用暴力手段，强行将越南籍妇女被害人绑架并带入中国。被告人将这些妇女转卖至云南省偏远地区的村民并强迫和威胁他们嫁给买家。依照中华人民共和国刑法第四十八条和第二百四十条，两名被告人被判决死刑、并处没收全部个人财产。中国司法机关将被解救妇女全部安全地送返国籍国。

The defendant Lan Shushan was charged of the crime of trafficking women and children for trafficking one woman and 34 children. Throughout 1988 to 2008, the defendant Lan Shushan independently and with his colleagues Tan Ruxi etc trafficked one woman and 34 children to Fujian Province, and traded them for money with the help of accomplice Lin Chuanxi, Su Ermei etc. Lan Shushan benefited approximately RMB 500,000 from the transactions. According to Article 240 section 1 & 2, the ring leader of a large scale trafficking shall be sentenced to death penalty. Thereby, Lan was convicted and sentenced to death by the Appellate Court of Hechi City. Lan appealed to the Supreme Court of Guangxi Province and the judgment is affirmed. The Supreme People’s Court of PRC reaffirmed decision and approved Lan’s death.

人口拐卖

被告蓝树山因拐卖一名妇女和三十四名儿童被控拐卖妇女、儿童罪。1988年至2008年，被告蓝树山单独并伙同同案犯谭汝喜等人拐卖了一名妇女和三十四名儿童至福建省，并在同案犯林传溪、苏二妹的帮助下将这些妇女儿童出卖。蓝树山因此共非法获利约五十万元人民币。根据刑法第三百五十条，在共同犯罪中，蓝树山系地位作用最突出、罪责最严重大型拐卖人口活动的主犯，应依法判处死刑。河池市中级人民法院认定蓝树山犯拐卖妇女、儿童罪，并判处死刑。蓝树山上诉至广西省高级人民法院，法院维持原判。中国最高人民法院维持原判并核准死刑。

The female defendant was charged with trafficking in person for the purpose of sexual exploitation. The defendant used an employment agency in Peru to offer Peruvian women waitress jobs at her residence in Chile. She would assist them in crossing the border and would pay travel costs. Upon arrival, the victims were kept at the defendant’s residence and were forced to provide sexual services to clients arranged by the defendant. The defendant also kept the victims’ passports so that they would be unable to leave until their debts were paid. The defendant was found guilty and sentenced to six months of imprisonment.

Al acusado se le inculpó de trata de personas con fines de explotación sexual. El acusado utilizó una agencia de empleo en Perú para ofrecer trabajos de meseras peruanas en su residencia en Chile, prometiendo que los ayudaría a cruzar la frontera y pagaría los gastos de viaje. A su llegada, las víctimas fueron mantenidas en la residencia del acusado y fueron obligadas a proporcionar servicios sexuales a los clientes organizados por el acusado. El acusado también se quedó con los pasaportes de las víctimas para que no pudieran salir hasta que se pagaran sus deudas. El acusado fue declarado culpable y condenado a seis meses de prisión.

Five defendants were charged with participating in an organized criminal group for the purpose of trafficking in persons. Each defendant was charged with having a specific function in the group for facilitating the entry of several Dominican women into Chile. The women were deceived into coming to Chile, with promises of legitimate work, such as employment in the tourism field. Upon arrival in Chile, however, the women were forced into prostitution. Four of the defendants were found guilty, and imprisoned for various amounts of time depending on their position within the criminal organization. One defendant was found not guilty on the basis that he did not have knowledge of the criminal acts.

Cinco acusados​​fueron acusados ​​de participar en un grupo delictivo organizado con fines de trata de personas. Cada imputado fue acusado de tener una función específica en el grupo para facilitar el transporte de varias mujeres dominicanas a Chile. Las mujeres fueron engañadas para que vinieran a Chile, con promesas de trabajo legítimo, como empleo en el campo del turismo. Sin embargo, al llegar a Chile, las mujeres fueron obligadas a prostituirse. Cuatro de los acusados ​​fueron declarados culpables y encarcelados por varios períodos de tiempo según su posición dentro de la organización criminal. Un imputado fue declarado inocente por no tener conocimiento de los hechos delictivos.

O, a Nigerian national and apparently only 17 years old, appealed against a conviction for the offence of possessing a false identity document. One of the submissions on her behalf, supported by a senior outreach worker for The Poppy Project, was that she had been the victim of trafficking for sexual exploitation and used the false identity document in an attempt to escape. The Court of Appeal granted her appeal, stating that it regretted that neither the prosecution nor the defense had considered her age or the possibility that she might have been a victim of sex trafficking at first instance. It was unlawful to impose a prison sentence as such on a person aged 17. Further, the Court of Appeal noted that common law and article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights alike require far higher standards of procedural protection than were given to O at first instance. The Court of Appeal expressed the hope that the case would drive home the message that proper inquiries need to be made where there is doubt about the age of a Defendant who is a possible victim of trafficking.

Domestic slavery. The applicant arrived in France in 1994 aged 15 years with a passport and a tourist visa. She had agreed to work for Mr. and Mrs D. until the cost of her air ticket had been reimbursed. During this time, Mrs. D. was to attend to her immigration status and find her a place at school. In reality her passport was taken away and she became an unpaid housemaid for Mr. and Mrs. D. She worked seven days a week, without a day off, and was never paid, except by Mrs. B.’s mother who gave her one or two 500 FRF notes. At an initial hearing, Mr. and Mrs. B. were convicted; however, this was overturned on appeal. The Court of Appeal ruled that the additional investigations and hearings had shown that, while it did appear that the applicant had not been paid or that the payment was clearly disproportionate to the amount of work carried out, in contrast, the existence of working or living conditions that were incompatible with human dignity had not been established. The European Court of Human Rights rejected this decision and held that in this case there had been a domestic slavery to the fore. The Court focused on the vulnerable nature of the applicant and the fact that the work being carried out without remuneration and against her will. This case brings the issue of domestic slavery to the fore. In a report by the Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men it was observed that 95% of the domestic slavery victims taken up by the Committee against Modern Slavery since 1994 were women. The case also demonstrates the specific threat that domestic slavery poses to women and highlights that over 4 million women worldwide are sold into domestic slavery each year.