LEGAL action has been taken against two men who allegedly used social media to force women into prostitution.
The two men allegedly met their victims, who worked as housemaids in Bahrain, on social media and lured them away from their employers by promising them better-paying jobs.
They then held the women captive and forced them into the vice trade.
However, they have been implicated in only one incident and face charges of human trafficking, assault and holding their victim captive.
The announcement was made by the Public Prosecution yesterday, on the same day Bahrain is hosting a major Intergovernmental Forum on Combating Trafficking in Persons in the Middle East.
In the statement issued yesterday, prosecutors said that one of the men was in police custody and an arrest warrant has been issued for the other who is at large.
“The victim came to Bahrain to work as a housemaid,” said Capital Prosecutor Ahmed Al Ansari.
“One of the defendants communicated with her on social media and promised her a better-paying job.
“He helped her flee from her sponsor and then locked her in a house in Manama, where he forced her into prostitution by torturing her.
“His co-defendant brought men to have sex with the victim for money, which the defendants collected.
“The Public Prosecution took the victim’s statements and questioned one of the defendants.
“An arrest warrant has been issued for the other defendant who is at large.”
The case will be viewed by the High Criminal Court on October 24.
The GDN reported yesterday that the forum on human trafficking is being attended by senior officials from the UK, the US, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan, besides officials from Bahrain.
It features closed-door sessions and is being organised by the National Committee to Combat Trafficking in Persons (NCCTP).
Bahrain has taken a wide range of measures in the past few years to counter human trafficking such as amended legislation, a government shelter for victims (men and women) and setting up a Victims Assistance Fund.
Bahrain became the first country in the region to achieve Tier 1 status two years in a row and is now fully compliant with the Trafficking Victims Protection Act’s minimum standards for the elimination of human trafficking.
In its latest report on Trafficking in Persons (TIP), the US State Department documented that the Interior Ministry had probed 19 potential trafficking cases between April last year until March this year – of which 16 were for sex trafficking and three for forced labour.
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