Letters to the Editor
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Not All Our Filth
I agree that Toshiro Tzu's remarks were simplistic and offensive; however, blaming the United States for Russia's socioeconomic problems--let alone the specific issue of trafficking-in-persons--is pushing it. The Soviet Union collapsed because it was economically, ideologically, and morally bankrupt. The U.S. facilitated this collapse by matching the Soviets in the arms race, but the Soviet system was utterly corrupt, in the fullest sense of the word.
If you and your wife really believe Putin's Russia is more free than the U.S., and long for the halcyon days of the Soviet Union, so be it. Don't speak for Eastern Europe too, however! Not many Latvians, Lithuanians, Estonians, Poles, Czecks, Slovaks, Ukrainians, Hungarians, Rumanians, or Bulgarians share that longing!
There is an element to your argument about "our filth" that is spot on, however. Russian organized crime syndicates take advantage of poor women and girls with meager economic prospects. Although some may expect a job waiting for them as a maid, etc., when they arrive at their destination, many are aware that they will be prostitutes, but simply see no way out of their poverty than to cooperate. Once they are involved with the traffickers, they lose all control of their situation, and have to endure whatever conditions they are forced into.
The other side of the coin is the demand side, however. That's really where "our filth" comes in. Men troll the red light districts of Brussels, Amsterdam, Hamburg, etc., exploiting trafficking victims without a second thought. Not every prostitute in a window is a TIP victim; but the "Pretty Woman" fantasy is largely just that, a fantasy. Thousands of women and girls in these red light brothels throughout Europe were trafficked, and without demand, there'd be no money for traffickers to make. And no money would mean no trafficking. Western men who frequent these brothels are fueling demand and in a real sense are accomplices of the traffickers.
The U.S. has its own share of problems with trafficking and prostitution, but it's record is still pretty good on these issues. Not many people reading SALON will probably want to hear this, but whatever other faults the Administration may have, it has been very aggressive and proactive worldwide on combating trafficking and encouraging a victim-centered approach throughout Europe, Afica, and Asia. Its one human rights issue that the U.S. definitely has taken the lead on.
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Re: "I thought I'd find at least one kind person"
Wow! TV girl needs to step up to the plate more often. This is really moving, not like the usual whining, yuppie, mothers complaining about their stretched out vaginas or whatever. Way to go Heather!
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Supply and Demand
Thank you, David Schlaefer, for telling it like it is.
I'll never forget listening to some second-rate comedian on the radio one morning, gleefully recounting his sexual adventures in the brothels of Thailand. He was just so pleased with himself that these women would "do anything" for him. He didn't seem to realize that it was a job to these women and, in many cases, something that they were being forced to do. He had no awareness of his complicity in this abominable abuse of human rights.
I will watch Frontline tonight, even though I'm sure it will turn my stomach. I owe it to the victims to be a witness and to find out what I can do to help.
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End "users" must be held accountable
Kudos to Heather for giving media time to these horrifying, appalling crimes.
Salon needs to cover this issue more often. Unfortunately, sexual slavery is not a punch line in the US - it's happening right here at home. I've read other news articles citing instances of sexual slavery where people were trafficked in from South America and Eastern Europe and sold for a profit all over the United States.
If that's so, it's not just a filthy problem somewhere else, it's our friends and neighbours who are the end users.
Users of human beings.
So this is an American Issue and it needs to be front and center.
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Not a punchline in America
I think this is a great article and will definitely watch Frontline, but like several posters mentioned, the line about this being little more than a punchline in America is just wrong. In 1999 a group of women I know formed an organization called Women Against Global Trafficking here in Houston to shed light on this problem here in the U.S. There are many "modeling studios" in Houston that are fronts for sex businesses peopled by South Asian women who were forced into the sex trade against their will. I've also read reports that many illegal immigrant women from Mexico are forced into the sex trade in the U.S.
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Since when do humans care about humans?
Heather Havrilesky wrote:
"'Sex Slaves' will make you question how any human being could be so heartless as to torture vulnerable young women, often ruining their lives and changing them irrevocably.."
What, that's worse than dropping a bomb on a hospital filled with children? Or imprisoning an old woman and leaving her to expire in the desert sun? Or torturing people to death in the name of freedom? Or how about strapping a bomb to your back and walking onto a bus filled with innocent people and detonating it in the name of God? Is that more or less heartless than sexual slavery? Seems Ms. Havrilesky has a rather narrow view of human cruelty.
Like George Carlin recently said: "we're barely out of the jungle - what we are is semi-civilized beasts, with baseball caps and automatic weapons..."
And sexual slavery is but one rose in our bouquet of rot.
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Much Like Drugs ...
I think (and no doubt I am in the minority) that if globally there was a general legalization of prostitution.
At least it would take the stigma out of being a "Prostitute" and no longer allow the law enforcement establishment just to shrug it off as "oh, they are just Prostitutes". Also allowing women that want to work in the sex trade to do it safely under the color of the law.
Not saying that legalization is going to be Utopia. But at least it brings everyone to an intellectually honest starting point.
To pretend that we can stop people (the end user) from paying for sex is intellectually dishonest. Much the same as saying we can stop people from smoking weed, doing coke, or drinking whiskey.