Human sex trafficking captured through the lens of Auckland photographer
Nikki Denholm is haunted by the universal hollowness in eyes that have seen too much.
The Auckland photographer captures powerful images of young girls sold into sex slavery in countries ranging from Cambodia to Uganda.
“I’m there in what tiny way I can to tell their story, but when I come home the eyes stick,” Denholm said.
“The same sense of desolation and hopelessness you see in a lot of the girls’ eyes, no matter which country they’re from, is something that does stay with me.
“I might cry when they’re telling me their stories, but in terms of me processing the enormity of human trafficking and the injustice of it, that’s something I will pick up when I’m at home.”
Denholm, 53, has worked in more than 40 countries documenting the stories of people suffering through war, famine, persecution, and crisis.
The mother of three girls was inspired to focus on human sex trafficking six years ago after a symposium in India alerted her to the severity of the problem.
At the time, 16,000 girls each year were trafficked from Nepal across the border to India, she said.
The Mission Bay resident worked in a red-light district in Mumbai where an estimated 42,000 young girls were held captive in high-rise brothels across seven streets.
“I was quite shocked at how many young girls and women are sold into human sex trafficking and how poor the outcomes are for them in terms of ever being rescued,” Denholm said.
Today, it is estimated that between 28-30 million people across the world have been trafficked into some form of human slavery, with between four and a half million and five million sold into sex slavery, she said.
“Something happens at a different level when you see a photograph than when you just read four and a half million girls have been sex-trafficked. I think what a photograph does is it brings the issues into people’s hearts really.”
Human trafficking is the world’s fastest-growing criminal area, reaping an estimated NZ$230 billion profit a year, according to Tearfund.
Read more here: www.stuff.co.nz...
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Witnesses sought in relation to mass disorder on K-Road Auckland
Police are appealing to the public for any footage they may have of the mass disorder that occurred on Karangahape Road in Auckland in the early hours of Sunday 28 December.
Emergency services were called to the disorder around 3.41am where it is estimated around over 50 people were present.
A Police investigation is underway after there were three serious assaults on and around Karangahape Road during the mass disorder.
A portal has been set up to allow the public to upload any footage they have of the disorder and the serious assaults.
The portal is https://dahr.nc3.govt.nz/
Police have arrested one person but are asking for help to identify and locate others involved.
• Around 4:15am there was a serious assault outside the Crown Bar on Queen Street.
A 33-year-old man received serious injuries and was hospitalised.
The offender is still unknown, and the Police file number is 251228/4647.
• Around 4:30am there was another serious assault on a Cobden Steet just off Karangahape Road.
A 27-year-old man received serious injuries and was hospitalised.
The offender is still unknown, and the Police file number is 251228/4462.
• Around 5am there was third serious assault at the Mobil Service Station on the corner or Karangahape Road and Ponsonby Road.
A 46-year-old man received serious injuries and was hospitalised.
A 21-year-old man has been charged with wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
He has been bailed to appear in court again on 16 January 2026.
The Police file number is 251228/4774.
Police would like to speak to anyone who has witnessed or filmed the assaults.
Witnesses can call Police directly on 105.
Please quote one of the above file numbers.
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