Women ‘locked and forced to entertain' in trafficking trial
The High Criminal Court has set 15 July for the next hearing. All three defendants deny the charges.
Prosecutors say the women had arrived expecting dance work but were met with something altogether grimmer. Their passports were taken.
They were told to wear makeup and entertain male customers, but the pay never came. Instead, they were made to work long hours without pause, watched closely, and at night, locked behind a metal door.
The prosecution says they were preyed on in a vulnerable state and kept under threat.
There was no way out. Attempts to resist brought more pressure. The businesswoman is accused of docking their wages entirely, with no explanation.
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An Arab woman and two Asian men stood trial this week accused of trafficking two young Arab women into Bahrain, where they were allegedly worked to exhaustion, pushed to drink, and locked inside a hotel room to stop them escaping. The High Criminal Court has set 15 July for the next hearing. All three defendants deny the charges. Prosecutors say the women had arrived expecting dance work but were met with something altogether grimmer. Their passports were taken. They were told to wear makeup and entertain male customers, but the pay never came. Instead, they were made to work long hours without pause, watched closely, and at night, locked behind a metal door. The prosecution says they were preyed on in a vulnerable state and kept under threat. There was no way out. Attempts to resist brought more pressure. The businesswoman is accused of docking their wages entirely, with no explanation.
