employer. Or they would end up marrying a Japanese man, through arrangements, similarly raped in the process by the pimp and the supposed “spouse”, then land in prostitution to pay off incurred debts. Massive poverty, the sexualization by the environment of women’s bodies, and the unquestioned demand by men for commodified sex bring about new forms of trafficking. We have been recently rescuing women trafficked to cyber- or internet prostitution. Young women are made to perform sexual acts in front of a webcam, while a buyer from Australia or the US watches after sending money to the establishment owner via Western Union or by swiping a credit card. The profile of the buyers is the same as those of other sex trafficking cases. The young women, strikingly for us, also suffered from previous childhood sexual abuse experiences. Challenges in faithfully implementing the international standards in local settings can be summarized into the following points: 1. Consciousness of policy-makers and implementers. As societies are steeped in old, patriarchal thinking that women who are sexually violated “invited” the violations that were done to them, we have to contend with the reality that numerous legislators, government officials and law enforcers maintain the thinking that women (and sometimes even children) are to be blamed for the sexual violence, such as trafficking into prostitution, that they have suffered. This reflects in the lack of prioritization for an anti-prostitution bill (or relevant laws for that matter) that will protect the victims and punish the perpetrators. This also manifests in the continuing abuse of women and children in prostitution even by government officials who buy them, own prostitution establishments or simply ignore the existence of the sex industry. There are also ethical issues when frontline government agencies blame victims even in the process of supposedly assisting them. Finally, this lack of in-depth awareness of the issue and special provisions of the anti-trafficking law shows in the low level of conviction of trafficking cases. 2. Political Will. This relates to the first challenge, but has to be mentioned, because some government leaders profess understanding of the dynamics of trafficking as well as involvement in the drafting of the international standards. However, the work of passing the necessary bill domestically takes a backseat compared to “politically expedient” agenda items. Thorough investigation and efficient prosecution of cases are wanting until funders make an extra push or the US Trafficking in Persons Report is due. By 2008, only 1% of cases were convicted, 21% were dismissed, dropped or withdrawn, while 35% are still waiting for resolution. Local government units are critical levels of governance whose political will to implement the law on the local level are challenged as they are known to be involved in protecting the local sex industry, if their leaders are not part-owners of establishments or buyers themselves. 52 ❙ Seoul International Conference Against Human Trafficking in Migrant Women