John Whitehead's Commentary
Trafficking Women: The High-Stakes World of Sex for Sale
The war drums continue to bang. Americans want to vanquish evil, especially if it appears in the form of Saddam Hussein--and if doing so means going to war, then so be it.
Yet there are wars and then there are wars. The key is understanding the difference between them. For example, some wars are fought for the sake of freedom, while others are fought for the sake of security. And then there are wars that must be fought for the sake of our souls because it is imperative that evil not triumph over good.
Unfortunately for the four million women and children sold into sexual slavery every year, evil is triumphing. It is winning even though international laws have been enacted prohibiting the sale of persons for services such as forced prostitution.
Yet trafficking in human cargo has become a lucrative business for small-time operators, organized crime syndicates and the tourism industries of various countries. In fact, the buying and selling of women and children for prostitution and forced labor is one of the fastest growing areas of international criminal activity, second only to drugs and guns. One source estimates that profits from trafficking in sexual slavery alone exceed between 7 and 12 billion dollars annually--and that's just based on the figures that are reported.
According to the 2002 State Department Report on Trafficking, somewhere between 700,000 and four million men, women and children were bought, sold, transported and held against their wills in slave-like conditions this past year alone. In some countries, women are actually sold in markets in the streets for $400-$800.
The largest number of victims are from Asia, with over 225,000 each year from Southeast Asia and over 150,000 from South Asia. Over 100,000 women and children are trafficked each year from the former Soviet Union. An additional 75,000 or more are imported from Eastern Europe, over 100,000 come from Latin America and the Caribbean and more than 50,000 victims are from Africa. They are shipped all over the world, wherever there is a demand for human flesh. And the demand comes from every corner of the globe: from businessmen, tourists, soldiers, religious clerics and politicians alike.
Rarely will these captives benefit in any way from the money their sponsors or pimps receive for their services. Most will be raped a minimum of ten times a day and forced to service the most sado-masochistic desires. Resistance or attempts to escape are met with increased brutality, even the mutilation of body parts.
These victims are condemned to a horrible life. Once they are sold into sexual slavery, they can expect to be held captive, undernourished and denied access to medical care. In one incident in Thailand, five young girls who had been imprisoned in a brothel burned to death in a fire. It was later discovered that they had been chained to their beds.
Incredibly, many women's groups in the U.S. have, for the most part, ignored the issue of sexual slavery. Instead, groups like the National Organization for Women have chosen to wage political battles over issues such as abortion. Marie-Jose Ragab, president of the dissident chapter of the National Organization for Women located in Northern Virginia, is one of the few women I know who has dedicated much of her efforts to sounding the alarm on this issue. Even so, few seem to be listening--not the public, not the media and not our government leaders.
Yet someone needs to pay closer attention because this evil is in our own backyard and has been for some time. The recent bust of a West Coast prostitution ring underscores the fact that the high-stakes world of sex for sale isn't limited to developing countries. According to a study by DePaul University, about 50,000 Asian, Latin American and Eastern European women and children are trafficked into the U.S. for sexual exploitation each year at a purchase price between $12,000 and $18,000 each. That doesn't account for the number of American women and children abducted and sold into the slave trade overseas.
That so many women and children continue to be victimized, brutalized and treated like human cargo is due to three things: one, a consumer demand that is increasingly lucrative for everyone involved--except the victims; two, a level of corruption so invasive on both a local and international scale that there is little hope of working through established channels for change; and three, an eerie silence from individuals who usually speak out against such atrocities, yet are unwilling to rock the boat.
But the truth is that we are all guilty of contributing to this human suffering. The traffickers are guilty. The consumers are guilty. The corrupt law enforcement officials are guilty. The women's groups who do nothing are guilty. The foreign peacekeepers and aid workers who contribute to the demand for sex slaves are guilty. Most of all, every individual who does not raise a hue and cry over the atrocities being committed against women and children in almost every nation around the globe is guilty.
The war drums are still sounding. The politicians and media are crying that danger is on the horizon. And although it is unclear how Americans should react to the proposed war on Iraq, I do know that if there is one war that must be waged, it is the one against those who continue to prey on women and children.
Constitutional attorney and author John W. Whitehead is founder and president of The Rutherford Institute. He can be contacted at johnw@rutherford.org.
Yet there are wars and then there are wars. The key is understanding the difference between them. For example, some wars are fought for the sake of freedom, while others are fought for the sake of security. And then there are wars that must be fought for the sake of our souls because it is imperative that evil not triumph over good.
Unfortunately for the four million women and children sold into sexual slavery every year, evil is triumphing. It is winning even though international laws have been enacted prohibiting the sale of persons for services such as forced prostitution.
Yet trafficking in human cargo has become a lucrative business for small-time operators, organized crime syndicates and the tourism industries of various countries. In fact, the buying and selling of women and children for prostitution and forced labor is one of the fastest growing areas of international criminal activity, second only to drugs and guns. One source estimates that profits from trafficking in sexual slavery alone exceed between 7 and 12 billion dollars annually--and that's just based on the figures that are reported.
According to the 2002 State Department Report on Trafficking, somewhere between 700,000 and four million men, women and children were bought, sold, transported and held against their wills in slave-like conditions this past year alone. In some countries, women are actually sold in markets in the streets for $400-$800.
The largest number of victims are from Asia, with over 225,000 each year from Southeast Asia and over 150,000 from South Asia. Over 100,000 women and children are trafficked each year from the former Soviet Union. An additional 75,000 or more are imported from Eastern Europe, over 100,000 come from Latin America and the Caribbean and more than 50,000 victims are from Africa. They are shipped all over the world, wherever there is a demand for human flesh. And the demand comes from every corner of the globe: from businessmen, tourists, soldiers, religious clerics and politicians alike.
Rarely will these captives benefit in any way from the money their sponsors or pimps receive for their services. Most will be raped a minimum of ten times a day and forced to service the most sado-masochistic desires. Resistance or attempts to escape are met with increased brutality, even the mutilation of body parts.
These victims are condemned to a horrible life. Once they are sold into sexual slavery, they can expect to be held captive, undernourished and denied access to medical care. In one incident in Thailand, five young girls who had been imprisoned in a brothel burned to death in a fire. It was later discovered that they had been chained to their beds.
Incredibly, many women's groups in the U.S. have, for the most part, ignored the issue of sexual slavery. Instead, groups like the National Organization for Women have chosen to wage political battles over issues such as abortion. Marie-Jose Ragab, president of the dissident chapter of the National Organization for Women located in Northern Virginia, is one of the few women I know who has dedicated much of her efforts to sounding the alarm on this issue. Even so, few seem to be listening--not the public, not the media and not our government leaders.
Yet someone needs to pay closer attention because this evil is in our own backyard and has been for some time. The recent bust of a West Coast prostitution ring underscores the fact that the high-stakes world of sex for sale isn't limited to developing countries. According to a study by DePaul University, about 50,000 Asian, Latin American and Eastern European women and children are trafficked into the U.S. for sexual exploitation each year at a purchase price between $12,000 and $18,000 each. That doesn't account for the number of American women and children abducted and sold into the slave trade overseas.
That so many women and children continue to be victimized, brutalized and treated like human cargo is due to three things: one, a consumer demand that is increasingly lucrative for everyone involved--except the victims; two, a level of corruption so invasive on both a local and international scale that there is little hope of working through established channels for change; and three, an eerie silence from individuals who usually speak out against such atrocities, yet are unwilling to rock the boat.
But the truth is that we are all guilty of contributing to this human suffering. The traffickers are guilty. The consumers are guilty. The corrupt law enforcement officials are guilty. The women's groups who do nothing are guilty. The foreign peacekeepers and aid workers who contribute to the demand for sex slaves are guilty. Most of all, every individual who does not raise a hue and cry over the atrocities being committed against women and children in almost every nation around the globe is guilty.
The war drums are still sounding. The politicians and media are crying that danger is on the horizon. And although it is unclear how Americans should react to the proposed war on Iraq, I do know that if there is one war that must be waged, it is the one against those who continue to prey on women and children.
Constitutional attorney and author John W. Whitehead is founder and president of The Rutherford Institute. He can be contacted at johnw@rutherford.org.
ABOUT JOHN W. WHITEHEAD
Constitutional attorney and author John W. Whitehead is founder and president of The Rutherford Institute. His most recent books are the best-selling Battlefield America: The War on the American People, the award-winning A Government of Wolves: The Emerging American Police State, and a debut dystopian fiction novel, The Erik Blair Diaries. Whitehead can be contacted at staff@rutherford.org. Nisha Whitehead is the Executive Director of The Rutherford Institute. Information about The Rutherford Institute is available at www.rutherford.org.
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