Eleanor Lyons, the independent anti-slavery commissioner, warned that sexual exploitation of women and girls is on a clear and sustained rise in the UK, with pimps using the internet to reach new victims and advertise them online with subscription platforms then acting as a gateway to abuse.
Yesterday, the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) published the results of a joint study detailing the close connection between illicit trade in counterfeits and labor exploitation. The joint study shows clear, repeated associations between the intensity of counterfeit trade and abusive labor conditions, strongly suggesting that such conditions structurally enable the production and distribution of counterfeits.
The 38-count superseding indictment names defendants whom prosecutors identified as members or affiliates of the Anti-Tren gang that emerged from Tren de Aragua, which federal authorities on Jan.20, 2025 designated a foreign terrorist organization. Prosecutors used racketeering conspiracy or RICO statutes, tying groups to crimes, for a wide range of actions, including some linked to an April 15, 2024 double murder in the Bronx.
Their playbook was to lure women and girls to places where they were isolated, by enticing them with fancy trips to the Hamptons or promises of fun parties then, through drugs or physical force, rape them. The victim's testimony shows the defendant's repeated pattern. They were corroborated by the sheer number of women who testified here. they led different lives But, they had one thing in common: they were each raped by these men.
