The Lie about the Lie about Human Trafficking
I read an interesting article today yesterday. Actually it was more sad than interesting. It told about how the Olympics and other major sporting events are hotspots for human trafficking and sexual slavery. As you read this, thousands of women and children have been brought to Vancouver to meet the "demand" generated by the Winter Olympics. I was so amazed by that sickening fact, I decided to pass it on:
My good buddy Joel retweeted that. I read some more articles. This is a pretty big problem. Then I got this unexpected response:
What? Who is this person and are they defending human trafficking for forced prostitution? So I said:
Research time. Apparently Elena Jeffreys is the president of a group called the Scarlet Alliance, which was formed in 1989 to protect the rights of Australian sex workers. Subsequent tweets seem to indicate her position is that if we decriminalize prostitution, regulate it, and stop authorities from harassing sex workers, then everything will be OK. Oh, and bury our head in the sand when it comes to trafficking.
Really?
The sad fact of our human culture is that it is generally always more profitable to do things illegally than legally, especially vice-related things. Why build a nice, clean, licensed brothel with well-paid workers when you can use a dirty, cheap apartment in a run-down neighborhood with free "labor"? Why not take advantage of desperate people in poor countries, who only have a dream of a better life?
Let's face some facts: Somali pirates are pirates because they can make more money being pirates than they can being fishermen, even after figuring in the risk. Sex traffickers do what they do because they can make more money than they can in legitimate business, even after figuring the risk. And there is very little risk. Prostitution is not a "popular" crime to prosecute - there is very little bite to many of the laws, and there is the myth that it is a "victim-less" crime. But there are always victims. Women who "choose" prostitution because they feel they have no other choice, because they feel they can't make it in the "real" world, or because they are desperate; families of johns who suffer because of their bad choices; workers who are locked into exploitive working environments; the estimated 42 percent of prostitutes in the US who are minors; workers threatened with deportation or abuse if they don't comply. (By the way, this is not limited to prostitution. Many nail salons are little better than brothels.)
I don't think Elena Jeffreys is a bad person; quite the opposite: I think she is truly trying to do what she can to protect these women. I applaud her for her efforts, actually. The objectives listed on her website are laudable. However some are conspicuously absent: providing an exit strategy for those who desire to leave the business and counselling for those who feel trapped in their roles. I am much more supportive of people like Anne Lobert, who aims to not only protect women, but give them options.
In any case, hiding your head in the sand is not going to make human trafficking go away. Whether it's for forced prostitution, or indentured servitude as a domestic servant, agricultural worker or nail salon worker, slavery is alive and well in North America. There's even less protection in Canada than the US, where customers responding to "erotic services" ads are requred to provide a credit card. But people will always find a way.
A great place to find out about human trafficking is Love146.
@mikeymo1741 :Did you know that the Olympic Games are always a hotspot for human trafficking ? http://is.gd/8w17I
My good buddy Joel retweeted that. I read some more articles. This is a pretty big problem. Then I got this unexpected response:
@ElenaJeffreys : @joelklampert @mikeymo1741 "increased by 300% between 1996 – 2001 from 4,000 to 15,000 children" #trafficking numbers are unreliable
What? Who is this person and are they defending human trafficking for forced prostitution? So I said:
@mikeymo1741: @ElenaJeffreys // 1 is too many.
Research time. Apparently Elena Jeffreys is the president of a group called the Scarlet Alliance, which was formed in 1989 to protect the rights of Australian sex workers. Subsequent tweets seem to indicate her position is that if we decriminalize prostitution, regulate it, and stop authorities from harassing sex workers, then everything will be OK. Oh, and bury our head in the sand when it comes to trafficking.
Really?
The sad fact of our human culture is that it is generally always more profitable to do things illegally than legally, especially vice-related things. Why build a nice, clean, licensed brothel with well-paid workers when you can use a dirty, cheap apartment in a run-down neighborhood with free "labor"? Why not take advantage of desperate people in poor countries, who only have a dream of a better life?
Let's face some facts: Somali pirates are pirates because they can make more money being pirates than they can being fishermen, even after figuring in the risk. Sex traffickers do what they do because they can make more money than they can in legitimate business, even after figuring the risk. And there is very little risk. Prostitution is not a "popular" crime to prosecute - there is very little bite to many of the laws, and there is the myth that it is a "victim-less" crime. But there are always victims. Women who "choose" prostitution because they feel they have no other choice, because they feel they can't make it in the "real" world, or because they are desperate; families of johns who suffer because of their bad choices; workers who are locked into exploitive working environments; the estimated 42 percent of prostitutes in the US who are minors; workers threatened with deportation or abuse if they don't comply. (By the way, this is not limited to prostitution. Many nail salons are little better than brothels.)
I don't think Elena Jeffreys is a bad person; quite the opposite: I think she is truly trying to do what she can to protect these women. I applaud her for her efforts, actually. The objectives listed on her website are laudable. However some are conspicuously absent: providing an exit strategy for those who desire to leave the business and counselling for those who feel trapped in their roles. I am much more supportive of people like Anne Lobert, who aims to not only protect women, but give them options.
In any case, hiding your head in the sand is not going to make human trafficking go away. Whether it's for forced prostitution, or indentured servitude as a domestic servant, agricultural worker or nail salon worker, slavery is alive and well in North America. There's even less protection in Canada than the US, where customers responding to "erotic services" ads are requred to provide a credit card. But people will always find a way.
A great place to find out about human trafficking is Love146.
This is amazing.. Where did u find the information about Elena Jeffreys.. I really don't understand her comment.. I don't get how she is trying to justify this.. She doesn't think that these numbers are accurate however, when you go all over the world you will see it everywhere. I'm sorry but I'm totally against her. She probably isn't a bad person but she is advocating the wrong cause!
ReplyDeleteThis is amazing.. Where did u find the information about Elena Jeffreys.. I really don't understand her comment.. I don't get how she is trying to justify this.. She doesn't think that these numbers are accurate however, when you go all over the world you will see it everywhere. I'm sorry but I'm totally against her. She probably isn't a bad person but she is advocating the wrong cause!
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, Marisol. She seems good-hearted but mis-directed. And saying that the numbers are inaccurate or inflated does not mean the problem does not exist.
ReplyDeleteI don't read it as she is trying to justify human trafficking as much as she seems to be saying it isn't a problem.
I suspect she's expecting you to be taking a pop at all sex workers, rather than those who are forced into it in that particular way.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I do find bizarre is the numbers of children. Something's badly wrong if significant numbers of children are providing sexual services to a population. It's not just the traffickers, but the population itself.
Truer words have never been said, Toni.
ReplyDelete"Sex traffickers do what they do because they can make more money than they can in legitimate business, even after figuring the risk."
ReplyDeleteThe main migrant sex workers in Australia are from the UK and the US. Legally traveling, legally working, legally being sex workers in Australia.
Migrant sex workers affected by anti-trafficking measures in Australia are from Thailand and South East Asian countries. Places where it is harder to get a work visa from. If you live in these countries third parties (perhaps described by you as "traffickers") are a reliable method to get into the country to work. Sex workers consent and participate in these transactions because they want to come to Australia to work.
Sex work is legal, decriminalised and tolerated in Australia. If people could get access to visas then they could travel without needing to rely upon third parties. Sex workers consent to sex work but would be called "trafficked" by some academics and media sources, and perhaps (unsuccessfully) by some prosecutors. This is one of the ways that numbers about trafficking are unreliable. Another way is discussed in more detail at a recent article I wrote for The Scavenger http://www.thescavenger.net/people/numbers-of-sex-trafficking-victims-are-exaggerated-13456.html
Please read this article and comment, that would be helpful
Elena Jeffreys
It's your position, then that there is no human trafficking at all? That seems to be what you're saying, Elena.
ReplyDeleteMany of the sex workers in the US come from either Asia (Korea, Thailand, China) or Eastern Europe. Most of those were promised an opportunity, and instead are forced to work for little or no money, have their passports taken by their bosses, and are threatened with deportation or worse. For many of the domestic workers, they are avoiding poverty, keeping up a drug habit, or just trying to survive.
Yes, I'm sure there are women who are very happy with their chosen profession and do very well. I'm not talking about them. I'm talking about those who don't want to do it anymore (or at all) and cannot leave. Does your organization help them? Does it even recognize them?