{"id":82740,"date":"2023-12-07T18:20:19","date_gmt":"2023-12-07T18:20:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/posterboyedit.com\/?p=82740"},"modified":"2023-12-07T18:20:19","modified_gmt":"2023-12-07T18:20:19","slug":"human-trafficking-on-rise-in-australia-and-hidden-in-plain-sight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/posterboyedit.com\/world-news\/human-trafficking-on-rise-in-australia-and-hidden-in-plain-sight\/","title":{"rendered":"Human trafficking on rise in Australia and \u2018hidden in plain sight\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Ayra gripped a small satchel as she slept \u2013 inside was an extra phone, a SIM card, cash and the number of the Australian consulate. She was thousands of kilometres from home and totally isolated as her parents forced her towards marriage with a man she had never met.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was staying with my family but in the same city as him. I felt like I had no one on my side, other than my sister who was in Australia,\u201d said Ayra, who spoke to this masthead using a pseudonym.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

AFP\u2019s Commander Helen Schneider and Anti Slavery Australia\u2019s Jennifer Burn say high reports of human exploitation and trafficking in Australia are the tip of the iceberg.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Sydney Morning Herald<\/cite><\/p>\n

\u201cI slept with that little bum bag 24\/7 \u2026 in case I needed to just get out.\u201d <\/b><\/p>\n

At just 19, Ayra was one of an unknown number of mostly young women taken from Australia by their own family to be married off against their will. She risked everything \u2013 her family, her community, her safety \u2013 to stop it at the eleventh hour.<\/p>\n

The Australian Federal Police this week released data showing reports of human trafficking have increased year-on-year in Australia.<\/p>\n

Child trafficking, sexual servitude, forced labour and exit trafficking \u2013 when a person is forced to leave Australia against their will \u2013 all marked significant increases in reporting since 2018-19.<\/p>\n

Forced marriage is consistently the most common type of human trafficking, making up 90 of the 340 reports of 2022-23.<\/p>\n

But police, researchers and survivors know those figures represent just a fraction of a much larger problem that many Australians struggle to see.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Australia, at the moment, we estimate about 41,000 people are living under some form of modern slavery,\u201d said Dr Johannes Dumay, a member of the Australian government\u2019s Institute of Criminology\u2019s human trafficking and modern slavery research network.<\/p>\n

Dumay said human trafficking is a problem that \u201chides in plain sight\u201d in Australia, even though it had become more prevalent in recent years.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not seen as an Australian issue and I think it\u2019s because of how or what people view as Australian,\u201d Ayra said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut it is an Australian issue because there are so many young people, born and raised here, that are impacted by it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s only when you put it in the terms of \u2018modern slavery\u2019 that people feel the gravity of the issue.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ayra was flown to her parents\u2019 home country because they were anxious for her to settle down, start a family and carry on their cultural traditions as she approached her 20th birthday.<\/p>\n

No one had asked for Ayra\u2019s consent.<\/p>\n

Ayra was \u201cin survival mode\u201d as she met her future husband and then his family in a cafe the next day. No one in the room had listened to her pleas to call off the marriage.<\/p>\n

She wanted to leave, and she repeated a mantra privately to herself as the families discussed the ceremony: \u201cFight the good fight now or you will be fighting for the rest of your life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hanging over her head were stories of enraged parents harming daughters for acts of defiance and disrespect. Many young women who have fled forced marriages are ostracised from their communities or disowned by families over the \u201cshame\u201d.<\/p>\n

Ayra holds both Australian and New Zealand passports. Sitting in the cafe, she believed that was her true value to her prospective husband.<\/p>\n

Sometimes, she said, Australian women are forced to marry their cousins so visas can be obtained for the extended family.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re expected to marry them so the rest of the family can come here for a better life. It\u2019s very hard to say no to that,\u201d Ayra said.<\/p>\n

Ayra told her parents there was \u201cno way in hell\u201d she would let the marriage ceremony proceed, and she was escorted outside, crying, in a strange city, isolated and in fear.<\/p>\n

Her father was \u201cfurious\u201d but did not harm her. Instead, Ayra\u2019s family cut her off.<\/p>\n

She is now rebuilding the relationship back in Australia and working with Anti Slavery Australia to help other young people resist forced marriage.<\/p>\n

\u201cMore needs to be done focusing on raising awareness about these terrible crimes and human rights abuses, because every single one of them is a breach of fundamental human rights,\u201d said Anti Slavery Australia\u2019s director, Jennifer Burn.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are many reasons people don\u2019t report \u2013 they\u2019re fearful of law enforcement or authority, or have uncertain visa status or don\u2019t want to get their parents into trouble.\u201d<\/p>\n

AFP Acting Detective Superintendent Kurt Wesche said human trafficking was known to be significantly under-reported in Australia, and it was difficult to understand what was driving the increased reports.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose who don\u2019t have a knowledge of Australian laws are quite often vulnerable victims and often reluctant to progress to a criminal justice response, which can be quite traumatic for the victims to go through,\u201d Wesche said.<\/p>\n

He said the trend could either reflect a rise in actual incidences of trafficking, the impact of the AFP\u2019s \u201cLook a little deeper\u201d campaign \u2013 which teaches frontline responders how to identify signs of human trafficking \u2013 or a combination of both.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese perpetrators are targeting some of the most vulnerable people in our community. And the AFP is very focused on conducting these investigations and prosecuting those involved,\u201d Wesche said.<\/p>\n

Anti Slavery Australia says its lawyers receive reports or requests for help related to forced marriage each day through its online service, My Blue Sky.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Among its goals is to help frontline workers from health, schools, law enforcement and social agencies to recognise and support people in forced marriages.<\/p>\n

Ayra said many from migrant backgrounds distrust agencies tasked with helping victims, like Australian Border Force, which they associate with a history \u201cget out of my country\u201d messaging.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a very dark image that is painted for migrants because we\u2019ve had those negative experiences with [those agencies].\u201d<\/p>\n

AFP\u2019s human trafficking Commander Helen Schneider said her investigators were taking a victim-centric approach and were committed to disrupting and preventing human trafficking.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe hope that with an increase in public awareness, people who would have otherwise remained silent now feel empowered to report their experiences to the AFP,\u201d Schneider said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAustralia is not immune to human trafficking but we will do everything we can to protect
victim\u2013survivors and put offenders before the courts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Start the day with a summary of the day\u2019s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

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