Letters to the Editor
-
This is a demand side problem.
The fact is that too many men need to grow up and think. It's just not that hard to have fee sex in western society that anyone needs to engage in behavior this gross. Spewing garbage about how legalization will "help" this problem is as ignorant as the rightwing hypocrites who leave their value of families to pass patronage to what they publicly protest. (cluephone it IS legal in Holland and that isn't stopping the black market). Either way the costs of this immaturity is not just the psyche and ruined lives of the women forced into this "lifestyle", but of the billions of dollars in disease that it is costing.
There's no avoiding the fact that when you "purchase", you're not just "getting laid" ; you're creating a pandemic which is costing BILLIONS domestically and TRILLIONS internationally, destroying the lives of millions of people and preventing third world countries from addressing their underlying problem of poverty and corruption.
The last point is noteable; by NOT patronizing this sort of filth (otherwise called being a responsible adult) you help force third-world countries to find some other solution other than to squander their primary national asset: their young human capital.
Grow up. In my father's day, people had sex with maybe one or two persons in their entire LIVES. It's just hard to believe that anyone NEEDS to be doing the same weekly.
-
Prostitution and Sexual Slavery
You're conflating two similar but different issues - Prostitution and Sexual Slavery. While they both come down to sex for money, as generally practiced, the latter is many magnitudes worse than the former because of the coercive slavery aspect of it. Sure, it would be a great thing if "end users" stopped buying but, in the end, as a solution, it's a simplistically naive illusion/proposition. Kinda like the "back in my father's day..." stuff. Prostitution is not called the "World's Oldest Profession" for nothing. Also, it's a bit much to suggest that some countries are using sexual slavery as a soultion to their economic woes. While it generates a good deal of money and some governments might be indifferent about solving the problem, let's remeber that, for the most part, the people who are running and profitting from sexual slavery are large, ruthless, terrible and well organized criminal gangs.
-
The K11 Project
I just heard of a film project called The K11 Project (www.priorityfilms.com/k11) that targets the issue of child trafficking and prostitution through three different films: a narrative (with Chris Penn who just died) and two documentaries. The company that produced it screened segments of each of the films at The Jutice Conference 2006 at JMU University last week and it was really interesting. I did not know that it is so common. Terrible. I think they are about to launch a campaign worldwide about this issue.
It's really been hitting the headlines - Oprah, Lifetime's Human Trafficking, even yesterday on "24".
-
Well that was awful...
Virel (sp?) is my new hero. Hell of a man.
-
Sex slavery in our fathers' days
I don't remember sex slavery as a punchline; I never heard those sick jokes. But there's one class of Americans for whom white slavery (as it was called then) was long a danger: teenage runaways. The difference now is that the business has gone global.
I do remember one instance of the "punchline" quality of this dreadful business: the movie "Thoroughly Modern Millie," in which a hotel for young women was run by sex slavers who spirited away the guests. But they were comic villains; to show the full horror of the trade would have ruined the comedy.
I can only gasp in horror, as I did when I first read a Village Voice expose of "white slavery."
But I agree: Viorel is a wonderful man. I hope he gets his wife back without having to sell any organs.
-
He got his wife back...
He didn't have to sell any organs but he, and moreso his wife, endured quite a terrible ordeal. His clear headed persistence, doggedness and love was wonderful.
-
the bigger crime
A lot of the "tourists" who go to 3rd world countries to use prostitutes go for the UNDERAGE girls. Legalizing prostitution will not stop that activitiy, and in fact, could increase the abuse of them if they're the only "bad" girls in town.
To stop travel to 3rd world countries for access to underage prostitutes, we must have MORE laws, not less.
-
Frontline's Sex Slaves
I watched this program last night and came away more than a little disappointed and disturbed. Why focus this hour on the seemingly unusual case of a husband trying to rescue his (betrayed by an acquaintance)pregnant wife? [Although the man responsible for selling the wife was willing to be interviewed, I never understood why he sold her for $1000 and/or what outcome he envisioned.]
I also suspected the documentary crew was being manipulated by the individuals they encountered. [see interview below] Why so little attention to the 2 young women who "escaped"? I found their involvement and interventions unprofessional, damaging their credibility. The underlying problem of unemployment and poverty was not explored, nor what remedies/programs, if any, the "feeder" countries have or might institute to provide an alternative to answering these blind newspaper ads. In the link below, an interview with the producer, there is acknowledgement that there are many NGOs created in response to this problem.
The problem, as I see it, is poverty and lack of opportunity. While the horrors of "sex slaves" are shocking, so are the inhumane, slave conditions of agricultural migrant/illegal alien workers here in the United States. Apparently, public service education in the feeder countries is inadequate, however, "if it looks too good to be true, it probably is" applies to many "opportunities" that market to the under-educated and unskilled.
All in all, I felt this documentary played to emotionalism and "ain't it awful" sentiments. Prostitution is a worldwide phenomenon, largely tacitly accepted. There's quite a lot I wanted to know about who gets "caught" in the "sex slave" underworld. This documentary not only didn't answer my questions, it made me question the power and organization of these "sex slave rings" ... as well as leaving wide-open questions of personal responsibility wrt these young women, their families, and their countries of origin.
interview with producer from the washington post:
PBS Frontline: 'Sex Slaves'