20 people were arrested in an early morning raid yesterday at strip clubs in NYC and Long Island, where women from Russia and Eastern Europe danced after being illegally smuggled into the country. All 20 face racketeering and extortion crimes related to their involvement in several strip clubs, which are allegedly controlled by the Gambino and Bonanno crime families. Authorities say the ring would lure women to the U.S. with promises of jobs as waitresses, but upon arrival they'd be enlisted to dance at clubs including Cheetah's in Manhattan; Gallagher’s 2000, Perfection and Rouge in Queens; and Scene in Commack, Long Island. more ›

Attorneys defending a 67 year-old Westchester cookbook author from federal human trafficking violations and sexual abuse charges are attempting to suppress information that he had a legal, consensual encounter with a 16 year-old girl in Michigan in 2008. (At the time, the age of consent in that state was 16.) The Post reports that the lawyers told the judge "the questionable ethical and moral choice of an older man sleeping with a very young female would "lead many jurors to hate [Joseph] Yannai," and after stressing that his behavior was "not criminal," it "would certainly be viewed as abhorrent by a large portion of society." more ›

An intense traveling art exhibit that aims to enlighten people about the horrors of sex trafficking has arrived in New York. Called "Journey," the installation consists of seven shipping containers with work by international artists intended to evoke the experience of being a sex trafficking victim. It opened yesterday on Washington Place, and will remain open through Sunday. This video shows the interior of one of the containers, in which Coco de Mer founder Sam Roddick recreates a room in a brothel: more ›