The Global Slavery Index 2018 estimates that on any given day in 2016 there were over 3.8 million people living in conditions of modern slavery in China. Women and girls from South Asia, Southeast Asia and Africa are trafficked in to forced marriage in the country for fees of up to £30,000. The gender imbalance caused by the One Child Policy and the cultural preference for male children, has caused a shortage of women which has led to the trafficking of women to be sold as brides. As a result many women find themselves either deceived by promises of employment, sold or abducted and forced into marrying Chinese men who have paid for them.
Seng Ja Aung accepted an offer of a job in China, however upon arrival she was forced to marry a Chinese man.
I imagined I could get a good job working in some kind of shops. She just said there are many jobs – in the shop, in another shop, in a restaurant… [She] arranged everything from the camp to get to China. On the way, we had to take a motorbike, we had to take cars…all arranged by that girl.
Narrative provided by Human Rights Watch in their report “Give Us a Baby and We’ll Let You Go”: Trafficking of Kachin “Brides” from Myanmar to China
