Kidnap gangs smashed as 10,000 freed
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Police have freed more than 10,000 abducted women - including 1,100 foreigners - since April last year, as the widening gender gap in the mainland fuels bride trafficking and prostitution.
"In recent years, human trafficking has become more complicated, international and professional," the Global Times quoted Chen Shiqu, head of anti-trafficking at the Ministry of Public Security, as saying. "It is a new challenge for police."
According to the paper, China's male-to-female ratio in 2005 was 120 men to every 100 women.
The gender gap has created a situation where there are not enough women of marrying age for single men.
During an ongoing crackdown on human trafficking that began in April 2009, police have so far freed 10,621 kidnapped women and 5,896 kidnapped children, the report said.
Among the women freed were 1,099 foreigners, mostly from Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Mongolia, who were sold as brides to Chinese men or forced to work as prostitutes.
The gap between the sexes has long been attributed to China's "one- child" family planning policy, which has resulted in more male births due to a traditional preference for male children.
"The traditional preference for boys and a shortage of women fueled the abductions," the paper quoted Li Hongtao, a professor at China Women's University, as saying.
"Children are sold to childless couples, and women are sold to some families who want to find wives for their sons."
During the crackdown, police have broken up nearly 2,400 criminal gangs, detaining nearly 16,000 suspects, the report said.
http://www.thestandard.com.hk/ne ... &sear_year=2010
After reading this, I now feel that a member's crusade wasn't just him alone. Weelock
There is also not enough females to go around in China. I knew this a long time ago.
[
Last edited by Weelock at 30-9-2010 11:26 ]