Of Human Bondage: Every year, at least 700,000 human beings are traded for profit..

National Review Online ^ | March 18, 2002 | Kate O'Beirne

[xsysmgr]

EDITOR’S NOTE: Kate O’Beirne wrote the piece below just prior to being named a U.S. Delegate to the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women. She has spent the last few weeks at the United Nations at the commission's 46th session. “Of Human Bondage” appeared in the March 11, 2001 issue of National Review.

very year, at least 700,000 human beings are traded for profit like so much property. In his battle against this international human trafficking, Chris Smith — a Republican congressman from New Jersey — has undertaken retail rescue operations as well as wholesale policy reforms. Two years ago, La Strada, a Ukrainian group that assists victims of traffickers, appealed to Smith to help eight young women from Ukraine who had been recruited to work as waitresses in Montenegro. They were actually being forced to work in local brothels and were fearful of the local police — who were apparently complicit in the operation, which was run by one of their former colleagues. He held the girls' passports after they were "sold" to him. Smith immediately contacted Montenegro's prime minister, who ordered a raid of the brothel that freed seven of the Ukrainian girls as well as a young woman from Romania. The eighth Ukrainian had disappeared, having reportedly been "resold" to an individual in Albania.

Hoping to rescue the tens of thousands of women held in similar sexual bondage, Smith wrote landmark legislation to pressure countries to end this barbaric practice. In the past, Smith's efforts were dismissed by a complacent international community, and opposed by the Clinton administration. But in 2000, when Smith's bill passed unanimously in the Senate (with the indispensable help of Kansas senator Sam Brownback), and nearly unanimously in the House, President Clinton took credit — characteristically — for the legislation his administration had strenuously opposed. Clinton's Interagency Council on Women (honorary chairman:Hillary Clinton)had lobbied unsuccessfully to narrow the definition of prohibited sexual trafficking to exclude "consensual" prostitution. The Clinton view that prostitution is a legitimate career option for women reflected the position of some feminists, notably Ann Jordan, director of the International Human Rights Law Group's Initiative Against Trafficking in Persons. Last year, Jordan offered an analogy, quoted in The American Prospect: "We don't support a woman's right to choose because we think abortion is a great thing, but because we believe fundamentally that women should have control over their own reproductive capacity. The same argument can be made for prostitution. Women who decide for whatever reason to sell sex should have the right to control their own body."

The Clinton administration's position — pro-choice on prostitution — met a firestorm of criticism from William Bennett and Chuck Colson, but also from Gloria Steinem, Patricia Ireland, and Eleanor Smeal. Critics on both right and left agreed that desperate women were unable to give meaningful "consent" to their own sexual exploitation, and would (in the words of an angry letter anti-prostitution feminists wrote to President Clinton) "shield many traffickers in the global sex trade from prosecution."

And the trade is thriving. The U.N. estimates that human trafficking reaps $7 billion a year. Even the watchdogs themselves bear watching: Members of the U.N.'s International Police Force in Bosnia, where sexual trafficking has become an international scandal, have been accused of transporting young girls from Eastern Europe to local brothels. And the traffickers are a domestic as well as an international problem: An estimated 50,000 trafficking victims, overwhelmingly women and children, are brought to the U.S. every year. In February 1998, there was a raid of brothels in rural south Florida where Mexican girls, some as young as 13, were forced to have sex with dozens of men a day. The evidence of beatings, drug addiction, and forced abortions prompted one federal judge to call this trafficking case "one of the most base, most vile, most despicable, most reprehensible crimes" he had ever encountered. A trafficking ring in Atlanta imported nearly 1,000 women from Asia who were forced to work in debt bondage as prostitutes.

Over President Clinton's objections, the 2000 law mandated a yearly assessment of countries' anti-trafficking efforts, and provided for sanctions against both destination and source countries that fail to meet minimal standards in discouraging trafficking. Last July, secretary of state Colin Powell released the first of these annual reports. Countries are rated according to their records on prosecuting traffickers and protecting victims. Among those on the "Tier 3" list of countries that fail to meet even minimal standards are Greece, Indonesia, Israel, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and South Korea. (Vietnam and Cambodia were inexplicably spared Tier 3 status, despite the widespread corruption in both countries that contributes to widespread trafficking.) In two years, Tier 3 countries will be denied non-humanitarian aid unless President Bush grants a "national interest" waiver. The next list is to take into account opinions from human-rights groups in assessing whether countries that meet minimal legal standards, like Germany and Japan, are making real progress in reducing the incidence of trafficking within their borders.

Laura Lederer, now a deputy senior adviser to Powell, published the first comprehensive report on human trafficking when she directed the Protection Project at Johns Hopkins University. Lederer documented the sale of thousands of young Vietnamese women to agents in China, where men have trouble finding wives. (Congressman Smith points out the reason for the shortage of women in China: the regime's one-child policy, combined with the social prejudice against girls.) In Cambodia, the sex industry has grown along with the tourist trade, and girls are commonly sold into prostitution; studies have found that up to 40 percent of "sex workers" in Cambodia test HIV positive. Last year, Lederer reported that the number of children in prostitution in Cambodia has rapidly increased. The price tag for children in the sexual marketplace, however, rapidly decreases: A young virgin is sold to rich clients for between $400 and $700 a week, then quickly winds up in the open red-light district where the now-damaged goods command only $1.50 to $2.50 per client.

Administration officials note that the first annual report on trafficking is having its desired effect, with Tier 3 countries eager to take the necessary steps to avoid showing up on the sanctions list. According to Paula Dobriansky, under secretary of state with responsibility for a new anti-trafficking office, "the report has been one of the most significant tools we have used in elevating this issue internationally."

Other recent developments will help. Changes in U.S. law that increase prison terms for traffickers and provide new protections for their victims are being cited as a model for other countries. And in January, attorney general John Ashcroft announced that special "T visas" will be provided for those who suffer the most serious trafficking abuses, to protect them from deportation so they are available to testify against their captors.

Despite the laudable work of Powell and Ashcroft, the administration's human-rights allies believe that the new team hasn't moved aggressively enough to counter the legacy of Clinton-era policies in the bureaucracy. Meetings with the career diplomat who heads the State Department's anti-trafficking office have raised doubts about her experience with the issue and her commitment to the cause. In congressional testimony last fall, Dobriansky told wary lawmakers that, unlike its immediate predecessor, the Bush administration opposes all forms of prostitution; but career bureaucrats who enthusiastically promoted the Clinton administration's policies remain in key staff positions, grants continue to be awarded to groups that support "consensual" prostitution, and Ann Jordan remains a federally funded speaker on the international anti-trafficking circuit.

President Bush helped to rally support for the war in Afghanistan by highlighting the Taliban's oppression of women. While the toppling of the regime has liberated women from the burka, Bush has yet to speak out against the sexual bondage that enslaves tens of thousands of women around the world. The campaign to end all international trafficking in all forms of prostitution is supported by the feminist Left as well as the Christian Right. This is an effort Bush should be leading — by forcefully and unambiguously declaring his support for the principle that women are not to be sold.

[Mahone]

Bump in the hope that someone, someplace like FOX will give this story the attention it has deserved for so long!

[Pipers]

I like O'Beirne but she should have done her homework.

"...Mr. Clinton was elected to the presidency the following month. [1992] In an economic world order dominated by his Administration, the international trading of women has reached extraordinary proportions. Resting almost exclusively in the hands of organized crime - a fact discussed openly and publicly in official circles, international financial institutions and establishment media - the enormous and ever-growing illegal profits it generates represent a large sector of the international economic system.

Labeled "dirty" because of its illicit nature, this money is first laundered through "off-shore" banking institutions and then introduced into the legal and regulated financial structure, under the watchful and indulgent eye of government agencies.

As easily predicted, Russia has indeed unloaded their powerless human merchandise over the planet, selling millions of their women to all corners of the world, flooding the streets of Western and Central Europe, in aggressive competition with Asian exporters. In the United States, the market for such live products is thriving and legal, conducted by catalogues and videos advertised in otherwise respectable press outlets.

There was no "international outcry" as hoped. The reverse took place instead when governments began to coordinate strategies to bring order to the lucrative operations. A few of them have joined forces to actually promote the worldwide legalization of prostitution which, in turn would automatically legalize the buying and selling of women. The United Nations is cooperating. Last June, a U.N. Committee did not hesitate to "order" the Chinese government to" allow" their women to sell themselves, an obvious if perhaps unintended defense of the flesh merchants regularly put to death in that country.

In the United States, the effort to legalize prostitution globally is led by "The President's Interagency Council on Women", an arm of the U.S. Department of State. Mrs. Clinton is the Honorary Chair of the fifty or so Council Members, Secretary Albright is Chair and Secretary Shalala is Past Chair. When questioned about the attempts to force legalization in China, Miss Shalala seemed irritated that the subject could even come up and asked, in reply, if anyone present would not rather "talk about Fiji".

Among the well-known women listed as Council Members are Lieutenant General Claudia Kennedy, Ann Lewis ( Counselor to President Clinton) and Audrey Tayse Haynes ( Chief of Staff to Mrs. Gore and Special Council to the Vice-President). General Kennedy, the highest-ranking woman in the history of the United States Army, just retired. She recently made headlines when she revealed that she had been sexually harassed by another United States General in 1996.

Conservatives in the United States have been at the forefront of the harsh struggle to prevent the legalization of prostitution. NOW and other feminist groups with close ties to the Democratic Party and to the Clinton White House have remained passive, projecting an image of anti-legalization activism through the occasional press release, toothless in-house resolutions and strident declarations while giving full political behind-the-scene support to the Administration. The fraudulent posture, which provides the perfect cover for the trading of women to flourish, continues to be given credence by a politically partisan media reluctant to reveal the connections between rafficking, crime syndicates and the highest levels of the political and financial power apparatus, additionally hostile to credit conservatives for anything involving the defense of women.

Except one. Joseph Farah, CEO and editor of World Net Daily, became the first American editor to recently publish the work of Charles Smith, an investigative reporter who writes frequently on issues of national security. Tearing open the veil surrounding the horror, Mr. Farah sat the tone for the serious journalistic standards that have been oddly lacking on the issue, at least on this side of the Atlantic."

Source: www.dullesnow.org/womenforsale.html (there is a lot more to read). Selling women and kids makes me sick and we ought to do something about it but Kate is BS'ing us here.

[Pipers]

I like O'Beirne but she should have done her homework.

"...Mr. Clinton was elected to the presidency the following month. [1992] In an economic world order dominated by his Administration, the international trading of women has reached extraordinary proportions. Resting almost exclusively in the hands of organized crime - a fact discussed openly and publicly in official circles, international financial institutions and establishment media - the enormous and ever-growing illegal profits it generates represent a large sector of the international economic system.

Labeled "dirty" because of its illicit nature, this money is first laundered through "off-shore" banking institutions and then introduced into the legal and regulated financial structure, under the watchful and indulgent eye of government agencies.

As easily predicted, Russia has indeed unloaded their powerless human merchandise over the planet, selling millions of their women to all corners of the world, flooding the streets of Western and Central Europe, in aggressive competition with Asian exporters. In the United States, the market for such live products is thriving and legal, conducted by catalogues and videos advertised in otherwise respectable press outlets.

There was no "international outcry" as hoped. The reverse took place instead when governments began to coordinate strategies to bring order to the lucrative operations. A few of them have joined forces to actually promote the worldwide legalization of prostitution which, in turn would automatically legalize the buying and selling of women. The United Nations is cooperating. Last June, a U.N. Committee did not hesitate to "order" the Chinese government to" allow" their women to sell themselves, an obvious if perhaps unintended defense of the flesh merchants regularly put to death in that country.

In the United States, the effort to legalize prostitution globally is led by "The President's Interagency Council on Women", an arm of the U.S. Department of State. Mrs. Clinton is the Honorary Chair of the fifty or so Council Members, Secretary Albright is Chair and Secretary Shalala is Past Chair. When questioned about the attempts to force legalization in China, Miss Shalala seemed irritated that the subject could even come up and asked, in reply, if anyone present would not rather "talk about Fiji".

Among the well-known women listed as Council Members are Lieutenant General Claudia Kennedy, Ann Lewis ( Counselor to President Clinton) and Audrey Tayse Haynes ( Chief of Staff to Mrs. Gore and Special Council to the Vice-President). General Kennedy, the highest-ranking woman in the history of the United States Army, just retired. She recently made headlines when she revealed that she had been sexually harassed by another United States General in 1996.

Conservatives in the United States have been at the forefront of the harsh struggle to prevent the legalization of prostitution. NOW and other feminist groups with close ties to the Democratic Party and to the Clinton White House have remained passive, projecting an image of anti-legalization activism through the occasional press release, toothless in-house resolutions and strident declarations while giving full political behind-the-scene support to the Administration. The fraudulent posture, which provides the perfect cover for the trading of women to flourish, continues to be given credence by a politically partisan media reluctant to reveal the connections between rafficking, crime syndicates and the highest levels of the political and financial power apparatus, additionally hostile to credit conservatives for anything involving the defense of women.

Except one. Joseph Farah, CEO and editor of World Net Daily, became the first American editor to recently publish the work of Charles Smith, an investigative reporter who writes frequently on issues of national security. Tearing open the veil surrounding the horror, Mr. Farah sat the tone for the serious journalistic standards that have been oddly lacking on the issue, at least on this side of the Atlantic."

Source: www.dullesnow.org/womenforsale.html (there is a lot more to read). Selling women and kids makes me sick and we ought to do something about it but Kate is BS'ing us here.

[joeu]

The 'T' visa is a joke.. "And in January, attorney general John Ashcroft announced that special "T visas" will be provided for those who suffer the most serious trafficking abuses, to protect them from deportation so they are available to testify against their captors." Like so many laws and regulations in our society today the mere claim that one is a 'victim' brings benefits. There need be no corroborating, independent evidence of any trafficking, the nature of the trafficking or whether the 'victim' knew in advance that a 'T' visa (which allows residency and eventual citizenship)was available before the person became a victim. The result of the 'T' visa will be that word will spread quickly among illegal aliens that the way to become legal quickly is to claim to be a victim. Even if the claim is fabricated, Presto!, residency is granted and US citizenship awaits the alien in the future. This is a solution?

[Pipers]

Great points assuming that the "T" is permanent. For now, all it plans is to provide a temporary legal cover to get testimonies against various criminals of our choice (trafficked women or anything else). Aftwerwards, it's deportation. They already do that in stinko Holland.

(BTW, did not mean to post twice.)

[Mike Johnson]

I wonder what tier the United States in on? I've seen reports on TV news programs about American women inveigled into sexual slavery in foreign countries, and America seems to the be the destination for many women sold as sexual slaves. Perhaps we ought to clean our own house before telling others how to clean theirs.

[joeu]

Beg to differ. Nothing in the law indicates a temporary fix. Once the 'T' visa is approved (essentially on the basis of an individual's claim and notably without required approval of law enforcement) the person is granted residency with the right to remain in the US for 3 years. During this time, spouse and children can also enter the US and after 3 years all may apply for permanent residence. There is nothing in the law to discourage falsification in order to gain residency in the US.

[Pipers]

Yes but "after 3 years", the "may apply for permanent residence" is the loophole because it can take months and sometimes years to get approval and the necessary documents. It is already happening now and people have to go back to their country in the meantime. (not with trafficking). Besides, "Mike Johnson" above is right. Seems to me this is a wink to our own flesh merchants more than anything else. clintonism lives on.

[joeu]

Law passed this past week allows even those in the country illegally to stay and obtain permanent residency. Those in the US legally under a 'T' visa would not be forced to return to their home country. Although there is a process, once here those under such a program as the 'T' visa resident have a clear shot at permanent residency and citizenship. The 'T' visa is an invitation for those wanting to jump the line to commit fraud. It is a bad law written apparently by those who believe good intentions make good policy. A very rare occurence.

[Pipers]

Maybe but this looks like the "protection" law in the Netherlands (and Germany possibly). It is a total farce for the women and a great cover for the "merchants", that is organized crime. In addition, those who testify are regularly assassinated afterwards as are their family members, kids, etc...wherever they may actually live. As we well know. You may be right on all counts but I am not so sure. Our legal system has always been a rip-off for the weak anyway. As much as I supported their election, I don't see anybody in position of power with the will to take a different approach. Unfortunately.