"Hong Kong 'in denial' about human trafficking problem, British lawmaker says", 27 Apr 2018

The leading British lawmaker [Lord Ian McColl] behind his country’s latest anti-slavery law said on Friday that Hong Kong was “in denial” about its human trafficking problem and that a single, dedicated piece of legislation would be a good start to curbing exploitation...

Hong Kong laws provide a narrow definition of human trafficking, including only trafficking for the purpose of prostitution. Forced labour is not covered, and illegal employment is a separate offence.The local government does not compile figures on human trafficking other than exploitation of foreign domestic workers, over which authorities opened 16 and 20 cases in 2015 and 2016 respectively. But in a 2016 report the Global Slavery Index estimated there were more than 29,500 victims in the city...Human rights lawyers have said the separation of offences under different laws subjects victims to unnecessary added suffering...

[Patricia] Ho has joined forces with Hong Kong lawmaker Dennis Kwok in tabling a private member’s bill similar to Britain’s Modern Slavery Act...