:00:09. > :00:15.declared the winner. Time for our world.
:00:15. > :00:23.In the heart of Mexico since the town where, for a generation so,
:00:23. > :00:28.coupes have grown rich from sex trafficking. To me, when I hear the
:00:28. > :00:34.name of that town, I think of naive young women. Women are a commodity
:00:34. > :00:38.to be consumed and thrown away. Thousands of Mexican women are
:00:38. > :00:43.deceived by the traffickers and forced into prostitution in New
:00:43. > :00:53.York, a life so degrading that some, like an the seer, risk everything
:00:53. > :00:56.
:00:56. > :01:01.to run away. I had a man who told me that with drugs, you can sell
:01:01. > :01:07.the drugs and they will be gone. With a woman, you can sell her
:01:07. > :01:17.again and again and again. We have come to Mexico to see how Alyssia
:01:17. > :01:47.
:01:47. > :01:53.was trafficked from here it to New This state in central Mexico is
:01:53. > :01:58.supposed to be one of the safest in the country. Largely untouched by
:01:58. > :02:06.the vicious drug wars. Yet this ancient land of the Aztecs is, we
:02:06. > :02:13.discovered, the epicentre of the sex trafficking trade. This man
:02:13. > :02:20.works for a charity that helps victims of sex trafficking. He is a
:02:20. > :02:30.young man who dares to stand up to the traffickers. He shows us a
:02:30. > :02:49.
:02:49. > :02:53.He estimates there are 1,000 traffickers in the town of only
:02:53. > :03:03.10,000 people. Entire families are steeped in the seduction and
:03:03. > :03:25.
:03:25. > :03:28.We went to see the town for ourselves. The town thriving on sex
:03:28. > :03:34.trafficking. Traffickers live in mansions like this, which locals
:03:34. > :03:39.say were built on the profits of prostitution. The only reason you
:03:39. > :03:48.can build them is because you have forced someone to prostitute
:03:48. > :03:53.herself 30 or 40 times per night. In New York, where many women end
:03:53. > :03:58.up, the US Department of Homeland Security tries to help. When I hear
:03:58. > :04:02.it the name of that town, I think of young women who are naive and
:04:02. > :04:07.have not been educated. They are invalid into these romantic
:04:07. > :04:12.relationships by sex traffickers, who are very manipulative, have
:04:12. > :04:19.been doing this for years and know how to emotionally take control of
:04:19. > :04:24.a woman. It is a story many are familiar with. Lawrie is a New York
:04:24. > :04:29.lawyer who has represented a militia and other victims of the
:04:29. > :04:35.gangs. Typically, they are very traditional and naive. They come
:04:35. > :04:39.from families where sex is not discussed. Prostitution is unknown.
:04:39. > :04:44.The women are completely unsuspecting. They think they are
:04:44. > :04:50.meeting the families of their betrothed and then they are held
:04:50. > :04:56.hostage and cannot go home. They are forced out of -- they are
:04:56. > :05:01.forced into prostitution. Some are raped the first night and there is
:05:01. > :05:06.such a sense of shame that they do not go back to their family.
:05:06. > :05:11.Alyssia's case, which is typical, she was held hostage. She went
:05:11. > :05:18.through a process of seasoning. That is when traffickers repeatedly
:05:18. > :05:24.viciously sexually assault a woman to greet her down. And they
:05:24. > :05:31.threaten her and her family with murder. As we approach the town, it
:05:31. > :05:37.felt like we were being followed. By the time we arrived, it was
:05:37. > :05:42.menacingly quiet, like a ghost town. We have just left the town. It did
:05:42. > :05:47.not feel safe to film their openly. We have been told that in a town of
:05:47. > :05:57.10,000 people, virtually everyone is either involved in the trade war
:05:57. > :06:10.
:06:10. > :06:20.Why can't these traffickers arrested? Because of local
:06:20. > :06:20.
:06:20. > :06:26.corruption, we were told. In Mexico City, the federal authorities want
:06:26. > :06:36.to combat sex trafficking but there are many obstacles. Why is it so
:06:36. > :06:54.
:06:54. > :06:58.difficult to prosecute the Sex trafficking is a crime that is
:06:59. > :07:05.largely hidden from view in Mexico. The reluctance of victims to
:07:05. > :07:07.testify against their abuses helps to keep it under wraps. The biggest
:07:07. > :07:12.challenge in the prosecution of human trafficking is how to
:07:12. > :07:17.convince the victim to provide solid and reliable testimony for
:07:17. > :07:23.the court. Victims of human trafficking are very special
:07:23. > :07:29.because they have suffered a lot and for them, to face a police line
:07:29. > :07:33.will prosecutor would judge, this is a form of lease victimisation.
:07:33. > :07:43.This is why we are trying to help the government to develop those
:07:43. > :07:50.
:07:50. > :07:55.Despite all she has endured, Maria is one of the few women who will
:07:55. > :07:59.testify against her former trafficker. This teenager who
:07:59. > :08:05.dreams of becoming a professional footballer left her baby boy behind
:08:05. > :08:15.in Central America and travelled to Mexico. She was recruited by women
:08:15. > :08:29.
:08:29. > :08:36.Through a translator, Maria told me that when she got to the restaurant
:08:36. > :08:41.in Mexico, she was taken down to the parking lot where men gathered
:08:41. > :08:51.to by prostitutes. She was told to have sex with them to pay back her
:08:51. > :09:14.
:09:14. > :09:19.Maria was forced into prostitution, sold from one owner to another,
:09:19. > :09:25.beaten when she tried to escape. Then she found refuge in a women's
:09:25. > :09:29.shelter in Mexico City. The scale of the problem is rooted deep in
:09:29. > :09:39.Mexican society. What can the Mexican government do to stop
:09:39. > :09:53.
:09:53. > :09:57.Persuading women to have faith in officials is difficult. Will
:09:57. > :10:02.reassess she was sexually abused by one of the immigration officers who
:10:02. > :10:08.rescued her -- Maria says. The Mexican government is trying to
:10:08. > :10:15.tackle corruption. The UN helps to train prosecutors. Corruption plays
:10:15. > :10:20.a key role in the prosecution and the lack of prosecutions in human
:10:20. > :10:30.trafficking not just in Mexico but worldwide. This is going to take a
:10:30. > :10:31.
:10:31. > :10:38.long time to clean up the entire system and take those officials to
:10:38. > :10:43.account. And to find officials who do not want to be linked to an
:10:43. > :10:53.organised crime Group. Maria is safe for now and is prepared to
:10:53. > :11:04.
:11:04. > :11:13.take a stand against her abusers There is more trafficking going on
:11:13. > :11:17.today than what people are aware of. We have seen a number of
:11:17. > :11:22.investigations rise sharply, doubling in more than three years.
:11:22. > :11:27.Also the number of people taken into custody and charged with
:11:27. > :11:32.trafficking violations. That has doubled in almost three years.
:11:32. > :11:37.York is the destination for thousands of Mexican women
:11:37. > :11:42.trafficked by the criminals of that town. They are promised a better
:11:42. > :11:47.life. Instead of the glittering existence they dream of, they are
:11:47. > :11:54.sold into prostitution. I had a gent who told me that with drugs,
:11:54. > :11:59.he can sell the drugs and the drugs will be gone. With a woman, he can
:11:59. > :12:05.sell her again and again and again. There is something very sick and
:12:05. > :12:12.yet incredibly profitable about that. The women are often smuggled
:12:12. > :12:16.across the border. Other women come across by plane, using documents
:12:16. > :12:22.forged by their traffickers. Once they arrive, they are exploited
:12:22. > :12:27.using these kinds. I went to Queen's to learn more. How much of
:12:28. > :12:33.a problem is prostitution and human trafficking here? It is a terrible
:12:33. > :12:39.problem. It has been a problem for the last 20 years. Times Square has
:12:39. > :12:44.been cleaned up. Every illegal activity that used to be in Times
:12:44. > :12:50.Square has come here. This man is a state senator for Queens. He has
:12:50. > :12:59.had enough of sex trafficking. Three women are advertised through
:12:59. > :13:06.these small cards. And they depict naked women or pictures of flowers
:13:06. > :13:11.or fruit, that say free delivery. Free delivery of women? Free
:13:11. > :13:17.delivery of women. Interestingly enough, the hours are from 11
:13:17. > :13:22.o'clock at night until three o'clock in the morning. A strange
:13:22. > :13:27.time to be delivering flowers or fruit. Yes. That is the way it
:13:27. > :13:32.works. You will have someone, usually a man, standing on the
:13:32. > :13:41.corner and as you approach them, they will say the magic words - she
:13:41. > :13:49.could she go. And that means girls girls. Johnny's then call the
:13:49. > :13:53.number on the card. They connect with a driver. The woman is picked
:13:54. > :14:03.up by the Driver and driven around from location to location over the
:14:03. > :14:08.course of typically the 10 Allah shift. -- 10 per hour shift. Do the
:14:08. > :14:13.women go to private homes? For the most part. When you call the number,
:14:13. > :14:19.they ask for an address to deliver the woman to. What we have
:14:19. > :14:24.uncovered over the last few years is that they have Mobil trucks with
:14:24. > :14:28.mattresses in. You can get in, they will shut the door, the truck will
:14:28. > :14:33.drive around for a while. They will wait until you are done and they
:14:33. > :14:37.will let you off on a different street corner. And that's it.
:14:37. > :14:47.will be required to service a Johnny and be done and on to the
:14:47. > :14:47.
:14:47. > :14:54.next appointment within a 15-minute I have had clients who had to work
:14:54. > :14:59.a double shift. They explained to me that chauffeur's will often
:14:59. > :15:09.arrange for house parties where women will be taken to a location
:15:09. > :15:15.and the gain raked over the next course by men. -- gang raked. And
:15:15. > :15:21.the men were get money for each act of rape. Ali Shah says she was
:15:21. > :15:31.delivered like this to 5,000 men in 18 months before she finally
:15:31. > :15:38.
:15:39. > :15:44.escaped, running into a corner shop, If they are young and starting out,
:15:44. > :15:50.they are terrified. They have been forced to do it. If they have been
:15:50. > :15:58.doing it for 3-4 years, they look up and in numb. They become used to
:15:58. > :16:04.it. They feel they do not have any options. They treat their victims
:16:04. > :16:09.like commodities, like commerce, as opposed to humans. In New York,
:16:09. > :16:16.efforts are being made to prosecute Mexican sex traffickers but it is
:16:16. > :16:20.formidable. If is easy to go after anything. How easy is it to
:16:20. > :16:26.infiltrate the organisation and bring them to justice and charge
:16:26. > :16:35.the traffickers? That will be more difficult because you are dealing
:16:35. > :16:39.with extraditions, witnesses who are reluctant to co-operate, and,
:16:39. > :16:44.frankly, they have not in the best position to co-operate due to
:16:44. > :16:47.trauma. As the hunt for sex traffickers continues, one
:16:47. > :16:57.controversial programme in the Auckland Games have to confront
:16:57. > :17:01.
:17:01. > :17:08.those who feel this trade. The men who pay for them - called Johns.
:17:08. > :17:13.This is a one-shot deal. This does grip -- diverse group of men share
:17:13. > :17:18.one characteristic - they have been arrested for trying to buy sex.
:17:18. > :17:26.They are attending a class on the dangers of prostitution. Women are
:17:26. > :17:36.often the victims of sex trafficking. The age of entry is
:17:36. > :17:36.
:17:36. > :17:40.usually 11-14 years old. You smack are having their -- young women are
:17:40. > :17:46.having their youth taken away from them. They might even be able to
:17:46. > :17:53.help the victims. Some of John's saved the prostitute when she told
:17:53. > :18:00.him she was being traffic. He brought her to the police. He did
:18:00. > :18:10.not go into the station but dropped her off safely. What a male may
:18:10. > :18:19.notice... Capital is left to the imagination during a presentation
:18:19. > :18:27.on sexual diseases. Here is a plain-speaking former prostitute.At
:18:27. > :18:32.helping! Rosetta is withering, telling they men they cannot ignore
:18:32. > :18:37.the consequences of using a prostitute. We are going out there
:18:37. > :18:43.and picking up some broken female and she's using drugs or giving it
:18:43. > :18:47.to a kid who is fighting for territory. And you want to act like
:18:47. > :18:57.you are not part of the downfall of the community by your behaviour.
:18:57. > :19:00.
:19:00. > :19:04.Because it is only a (BLEEP) job. Some of man are solemn. Others say
:19:04. > :19:10.this will change their ways. Will this make you think twice before
:19:10. > :19:16.you patron as a prostitute again? Doing it in the first place was not
:19:16. > :19:26.my intention. This was something I do not think twice born. Because I
:19:26. > :19:30.
:19:30. > :19:34.had this experience, it will be something I will never if forget.
:19:34. > :19:40.It was an eye-opener. I do not think it was a big thing in the
:19:40. > :19:45.country. Now that I know, the only thing I can do is spread the word
:19:45. > :19:50.to prevent anyone else from getting into trouble. It is a classroom
:19:50. > :19:55.unlike any other. Consumers of sex then that their behaviour is
:19:56. > :20:01.hurting women. After the men have gone through all about, how
:20:01. > :20:06.effective is the Johns School? Only 1% of the men are re arrested for
:20:06. > :20:11.patronising prostitutes. Critics question whether one class can
:20:11. > :20:16.change the attitudes of men who pay for sex. Buyers need to look at
:20:17. > :20:21.their own behaviour. Without demand, this need to consume an expose
:20:21. > :20:31.women as if they are take-out food available for delivery, we've will
:20:31. > :20:33.
:20:33. > :20:42.not be able to solve the epidemic of trafficking. And at a make which
:20:42. > :20:46.has made the paeans rich. It is a quarter where boys are aspired to
:20:46. > :20:51.the traffickers and girls believe it is glamorous to be prostitutes.