Under-age women are being forced into prostitution in New Zealand, a United States report on human trafficking shows.

The annual Trafficking in Persons report said New Zealand was a destination country for women from Asian and Eastern European countries trafficked into forced prostitution.

However, no new substantive information about such cases was discovered in the past year.

The report cited a media report during the year which said women, including some from Malaysia, were recruited by labour agents.

"But upon arrival in New Zealand, (they) are handed over to brothel owners, who confiscate their passports and force them into prostitution for up to 18 hours a day to repay the 'loan' of recruitment and transportation costs."

Child trafficking victims were found engaging in prostitution in brothels and on the street, some being closely controlled by local gangs, the report said.

Asian and Pacific Island migrants working in sectors such as agriculture and nursing were charged excessive recruitment fees and had their passports confiscated.

Asian fishermen were also allegedly victims of forced labour in New Zealand waters.

The report noted no independent research had been conducted to determine the full extent of the trafficking problem in New Zealand.

It recommended the government study human trafficking and increase efforts to investigate and prosecute offenders.

NEW ZEALAND (Tier 1)
New Zealand is a source country for underage girls subjected to sex trafficking within the country, and a destination country for foreign men and women in forced labor. New Zealand is reportedly a destination country for women from Asian countries, such as Hong Kong, Thailand, Taiwan, and China, and Eastern Europe trafficked into forced prostitution, though no new substantive information about such cases was discovered in the past year.

According to a press report during the year, women, including some from Malaysia, are recruited by labor agents, but upon arrival in New Zealand, are handed over to brothel owners, who confiscate their passports and force them into prostitution for up to 18 hours a day to repay the “loan” of recruitment and transportation
costs. Child trafficking victims are found engaging in prostitution illegally in brothels and off the street, some being closely controlled by local gangs.

Asians and Pacific Islanders migrate to New Zealand voluntarily to work
legally or illegally in the agricultural sector, and women from the Philippines migrate legally to work as nurses.

Some foreign workers report being charged excessive and escalating recruitment fees, experiencing unjustified salary deductions, restrictions on their movement, confiscation of passports, and altered contracts or working conditions without their permission – all indicators of human trafficking.

According to a press report and the United Nations Inter-Agency Project on human trafficking, there were concerns that some fishermen from Indonesia, Vietnam, and elsewhere in Southeast Asia are allegedly victims of forced labor in New Zealand waters; these men may have experienced conditions including passport confiscation, significant debts, physical violence and abuse, and are often forced to work a seven-day work week.

No independent research has been conducted to determine the full extent of the trafficking problem in New Zealand. (I wonder why not?)
The Government of New Zealand fully complies with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking.

The government has in the past prosecuted traffickers under a range of laws; however, the government did not prosecute or convict any offenders of trafficking during the year, nor did it identify or assist any trafficking victims during the reporting period. The government did, however,
make efforts during the year to raise public awareness of human trafficking through an anti-trafficking website and trafficking brochures. (staff cutbacks?)

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Recommendations for New Zealand:
Make efforts to study sex and labor trafficking occurring in New Zealand; significantly increase efforts to investigate and prosecute both sex and labor trafficking offenders; make efforts to proactively screen vulnerable populations, including women in prostitution, foreign workers, and illegal migrants, in order to identify and assist trafficking victims, through the routine employment of formal victim identification measures; identify and assist child trafficking victims engaged in commercial sexual activity; make proactive efforts to identify victims of labor trafficking, particularly among populations of vulnerable foreign laborers; investigate and prosecute employment recruiting agencies or employers who subject foreign workers to involuntary servitude or debt bondage; and develop and implement a visible anti-trafficking awareness campaign directed at clients of the legal and illegal sex trades."

The Prostitutes Collective says it is not aware of sex workers being forced to work against their will in New Zealand, despite a United States government report suggesting that happens.

The Trafficking in Persons Report by the US State Department says there is evidence of under-age women being forced into prostitution in New Zealand.