Colorado just passed a law requiring massage therapists to register with the state, in the hope of making it easier to investigate trafficking with massage parlors as fronts.  The idea is that it’s easier for police to go in and ask to see licenses and relevant paperwork than it is to gather evidence and conduct a sting operation.

Hopefully the idea works and a few people are helped by it. I don’t like to make it even incrementally harder for legitimate businesspeople to do their work, particularly with times as difficult as they are–but on the other hand, if the new rule can help even one victim of human trafficking then it’s something we should try.  So I applaud Colorado for trying it, and I hope it proves useful.

Also in recent trafficking news, two Salt Lake City residents were indicted on trafficking charges.  They arranged massage therapy sessions through Craigslist using pictures of underaged girls, allegedly ending in sex acts at various hotels.  “Allegedly,” though they were charged last year with running a prostitution ring including a 15-year-old girl.  In case you were curious, one of them isn’t being held on custody pending trial, but is allowed to go about his business.

The Sri Lanka daily news reports on some interrelated human trafficking cases in Sri Lanka involving forged visas, employment recruitment agents from foreign countries, and people begging on the streets of Baghdad.  There’s scant information, but the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) is concerned about the country’s vulnerability to human trafficking and is looking at revising policies it has had in place since 1985, policies which apparently have unfortunate loop holes.  “According to local authorities the situation is not that alarming like in some Asian countries, but effective measures are needed before the issue gets out of hand.”  Three Sri Lankan Athletes, including at least one Olympian, also pled guilty to human trafficking charges recently.

Uganda has approved the death penalty for human traffickers.  You may understandably have strong feelings about this in either direction.

“In a debate overshadowed by memories of sacrificed children and Ugandans trafficked to countries like China, Egypt, Canada, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia for forced labour and commercial sexual exploitation, legislators unanimously resolved that a death penalty should apply for human traffickers.”