The cantonal supreme court’s decision this week comes after the man was sentenced for the offences in 2010 to ten years behind bars by a lower court.

The convicted man, described as a Roma, was the head of a prostitution ring in Zurich.

A  42-year-old man, regarded as the ring's deputy leader, also saw his prison sentence increased to seven years from six, according to an online report from the Blick newspaper.

Both men appealed their initial sentences after being incriminated for events that took place in 2007 and 2008, involving five victims, including minors.

The head pimp, implicated in illegal human trafficking, was found guilty of treating the women brutally, including one case where he beat a woman’s stomach until she lost her child through a miscarriage.

In Switzerland, prostitution is not in itself illegal. But according to court testimony, the women and girls were forced to engage in sex with customers who did not use condoms.

They worked in the Sihlquai area of Zurich for rates that were below what other prostitutes in the city earned.

Psychiatric reports showed that the main perpetrators in the ring suffered from serious personality disorders.

Peter Marti, the supreme court’s head judge, described the actions of the defendants as “inhuman, brutal, selfish and sometimes sadistic,” according to the Blick report.

The principal offender was ordered to pay a total of 135,000 francs ($137,000) in damages to five victims.