Taiwanese Ring Forcing Indonesian Women into Prostitution

TAIPEI, KOMPAS.com - Fourteen Taiwanese people have been arrested for allegedly forcing Southeast Asian women into prostitution by violent means, police said Friday.

The ring, based in north Taiwan’s Miaoli county, had collaborated with manpower agencies and human smuggling groups to lure women who were mostly from Indonesia and Vietnam, police said.

The women were locked up and forced to work as prostitutes, even when they were ill, police said. Most were domestic helpers who ran away from their original employers.

Some of the women had to service ten or more clients a day and had been subjected to “violent” treatment, police said, but did not elaborate.

Eleven women were rescued during a police raid on Thursday when 14 members of the ring and two customers were arrested, said the Criminal Investigation Bureau.