More women becoming ring leaders in slave trade

“There are more than 27 million slaves worldwide, according to the United Nations, generating an estimated $32 billion in profits, most of which are earned on the backs of young women, yet more and more case findings are uncovering women as ringleaders and operators of trafficking syndicates,” says Sharon Buchbinder.

 
http://www.thedailybeast.com/witw/articles/2013/08/07/when-women-are-found-trafficking-other-women.html

• A Saudi Arabian princess charged in Los Angeles: Meshael Alayban faces one felony count of human trafficking after being accused of holding a domestic servant against her will at her condominium in Irvine, Calif. Alayban is one of the wives of Saudi Prince Abdulrahman bin Nasser bin Abdulaziz al Saud. A female servant, originally from Kenya, escaped and flagged down a bus, after which she told her story to local police. The woman says she was promised weekends off and a good wage but was forced to work 16-hour days, seven days a week and was paid only $220 a month. Alayban faces a maximum sentence of 12 years if convicted. She is being held in the Orange County jail in lieu of $5 million bail.

• United Nations study shows females traffic more sex workers than men in developing countries: Using data from 155 countries, the UN’s first international report attempting to calculate the scope, nature and patterns of human trafficking found a disproportionately high number of female perpetrators selling other women into slavery. The report uncovered an alarming trend: women who were once victims of the sex trade often develop into ringleaders of the illegal, underground sex industry. Researchers cite money, poverty and a skewed psychological perspective for possible reasons for this phenomenon.

• Woman recently sentenced to more than seven years in a federal prison for trafficking a 16-year-old in three different states: Jessica Loren Posey was sentenced earlier this year to serve time for transporting a juvenile girl to Tennessee, Kentucky and Ohio for the purpose of prostitution. According to a U.S. attorney, Posey met the girl at a party and coerced her to engage in sex for money. Posey, 25, marketed the girl using uploaded pictures on various pornographic websites, and she arranged meetings at hotel rooms, driving the girl there.