At least 38 transgender women were found in brothels in Sao Paulo state, where traffickers had lured them with the promise of paying for their transition By Fabio Teixeira RIO DE JANEIRO, March 13 Thomson Reuters Foundation - Police in Brazil have dismantled a human trafficking ring that targeted transgender women, offering to cover the cost of surgery then forcing them into prostitution to pay for it, authorities said on Wednesday.
At least 38 transgender women were found in brothels in Ribeirao Preto, a city in Sao Paulo state where the traffickers had lured them with the promise of paying for their transition. Police are also investigating the deaths of two transgender women. One is thought to have been murdered for not paying her debts and the other died after botched cosmetic surgery in which industrial rather than medical grade silicone was used. They were also made to take drugs. Those who failed to pay back the money suffered physical and emotional abuse, investigators said.
Police have arrested five people and are looking for another four suspected of involvement in human trafficking, keeping workers under slavery-like conditions, pimping and involvement in organized crime. Another man, also involved with the group, was already under arrest for the suspected murders of two people and the disappearance of three transgender women, one of them underage. The trafficking ring had been active since at least , police said. Prostitution is not a crime in Brazil, but exploiting sex workers is.
Transgender people are often vulnerable to abuse because the prejudice they face means they often struggle to find work. They are treated as if they have some contagious disease," prosecutor Cristiane Sbalqueiro told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Sbalqueiro said many transgender women got into debt financing their transition, leaving them with no choice but to sell sex. Labor inspectors say they have yet to interview the transgender women to establish how many were victims of modern slavery. Visit www.
