Study sheds light on sex trafficking in Singapore

An independentstudy of sex trafficking victims has shed some light on the murky world of the unregulated sex trade here.

It found that victims from the Philippines were lured to Singapore by friends and acquaintances on the pretext of jobs such as waitressing and hostessing, before ending up in nightclubs.

Some Indonesian victims, meanwhile, were already prostitutes in Batam before coming here to ply their trade on the streets and budget hotels, under the watchful eyes of local pimps.

The 144-page study, released last week, was conducted by Singapore-based academic Sallie Yea, an assistant professor of geography at the National Institute of Education, who interviewed 87 women tricked into coming to Singapore.

Slightly more sex trafficking reports last year

THE police received 53 sex trafficking reports last year, up slightly from 52 in 2012 and 43 in 2011.

While the rest are still under investigation, five have been dealt with in court.

One of them involved a 17-year-old from China, who was beaten and drugged before being brought here last May to work as a prostitute.

The minor was made to serve 150 clients in 15 days.

Her pimp from China, 37-year-old Tang Huisheng, was sentenced to six years in jail last October.

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Study sheds light on sex trafficking in Singapore