WHAT MAKES AUSTRALIA APPEALING FOR TRAFFICKERS?

Project Respect believes that the demand for trafficked women is fuelled by:

• a lack of women in Australia prepared to do prostitution
• customers demanding women who are compliant
• customers demanding women they can be violent towards
• racialised ideas that Asian women have certain qualities, for example that they are more compliant and will accept higher levels of violence.

The sheer profitability of trafficking makes it a lucrative trade. While traffickers are allowed to operate with virtual impunity and without fear of losing assets or their income, trafficking will only continue unabated. An integrated and effective government response must address these factors and underline the fact that no matter how poor or desperate a person might be, if there’s no market for them in a destination country, they won’t be trafficked.

[Why Women Stay in Prostitution]