Steven P. BarrettIf the House can define kiddie prostitution as slavery, why not the Senate & DOJ? (LINK)
August 1st 2008 04:05
By Steven Barrett
Many, many years ago, when I lived in Central Florida (and worked for a brief stint as a state corrections department probation/parole officer), I would often express a momentary "thank you" for not having to deal with the local "hooker population" among my regularly assigned cases for supervision. Especially since so many of them held "office hours" and plied their ages-old "trade" not very far from the sub-division where I co-rented a house.
One of the odd vagaries of Florida life -- thanks to its anti-government attitudes, especially concerning zoning -- is that you could have a nice neighborhood and just a two minut walk away, was a conglomeration of regular commercial strip-malls, and then of course, those-strip malls, and large movie houses featuring "XXX" movies. (Well, they'd never come right out then, at least, with "Porn Galore," or however the sleaze merchants would advertise their sinematic "arts." During the daytime, the regular folks would be out. After nights, well, it was a mix of nigh-lifers, low-riders, late commuters and very low-riders willing to pick up "hitchikers" who weren't exactly "hitchikers." They were the Professionals. Yeah, right.
What a tawdry bunch back then. Damn glad, too, that my car never broke down in that section of what we all called (not so affectionately) as SOB Trail, short for South Orange Blossom Trail. I sure had nothing against striking up acquaintances with members of the opposite persuasion, but not those gals who did made "persuasion" part of their trade; especially since I was an "officer of the court," a state court, no less!
One thing I didn't notice, nor did I hear much about it either, was the prevalence or existence of child slave sex workers: child prositutes. They sure are nowadays. And thankfully these rings are getting the flashlights they've been trying to avoid. But bad publicity, a few trials and roundups aren't enough, not with the likelihood of them resurfacing under newer and more insidious guises remains strong, especially if American women are participating in these rackets/kiddie prostitution and porn rings.
The House of Representatives, under Speaker Nancy Pelosi managed to pass a major bill aimed at destroying this new form of slavery. In "Polarizing Viewpoints on Sex Trafficking
by Janice S. Crouse:
In fact, the House comes right out and calls this racket what it is: child slavery. The Department of Justice, and the Senate dither and quibble over definitions about what prostitution is. The Department of Justice, working under perhaps the most pro-active leader in the civilized world when it comes to dealing with child slavery, is looking more foolish by the hour! Bush has enough problems with his image, but he doesn't deserve this and even Speaker Pelosi would surely agree on this point.
(Quick, send somebody up from K-Street to at least give them a bawlderized version, if the racier kind is too much for them.) And if memory serves me correctly, the former "Red Light District" of Washington, DC was no less than where K-Street intersects with 14th Street NW. (Nowadays it's still a red light district, but the clientele is a lot more expensive and we're all paying these tabs.) The Department of Justice and the august Senate doesn't know how to come up with a definition of "streetwalking"?
That'd be like Willie Nelson saying he couldn't tell the difference between beer and whiskey. It was bad enough that the late Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart new what porn was when he saw it, but he couldn't describe it. Most parents can when they catch their kids looking even the slightest bit sideways at some!
I'm not trying to make light of a horrible situation, but it's time for a good house sweeping of the augean stables of the Senate and grab some DOJ law clerks and make them look at some photos of what these children, some of them babies only 4-5 years old, put up with as their "life." If that won't get them off their fat duffs, then they need only to read what Msgr. Franklyn Casale of St. Thomas University in Miami-Dade, FL had to tell the late-Cong. Tom Lantos in his Prepared testimony given Oct. 18, 2007 before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs (on Human Trafficking.) I listed the web address in case anybody's interested to find out more about STU's "Miami Plan" to bust up these sex slave rings. Click:http://www.stu.edu/Abou tSTU/MarketingCommunications/ tabid/267/Default.aspx
Disgustingly enough; if the Senate, comprised of some of the best and brightest minds, elected and non-elected, not to mention our legal eagles working at Justice, can't define prostitution, I'm sure this young gal can in no time flat.
Many, many years ago, when I lived in Central Florida (and worked for a brief stint as a state corrections department probation/parole officer), I would often express a momentary "thank you" for not having to deal with the local "hooker population" among my regularly assigned cases for supervision. Especially since so many of them held "office hours" and plied their ages-old "trade" not very far from the sub-division where I co-rented a house.
One of the odd vagaries of Florida life -- thanks to its anti-government attitudes, especially concerning zoning -- is that you could have a nice neighborhood and just a two minut walk away, was a conglomeration of regular commercial strip-malls, and then of course, those-strip malls, and large movie houses featuring "XXX" movies. (Well, they'd never come right out then, at least, with "Porn Galore," or however the sleaze merchants would advertise their sinematic "arts." During the daytime, the regular folks would be out. After nights, well, it was a mix of nigh-lifers, low-riders, late commuters and very low-riders willing to pick up "hitchikers" who weren't exactly "hitchikers." They were the Professionals. Yeah, right.
What a tawdry bunch back then. Damn glad, too, that my car never broke down in that section of what we all called (not so affectionately) as SOB Trail, short for South Orange Blossom Trail. I sure had nothing against striking up acquaintances with members of the opposite persuasion, but not those gals who did made "persuasion" part of their trade; especially since I was an "officer of the court," a state court, no less!
One thing I didn't notice, nor did I hear much about it either, was the prevalence or existence of child slave sex workers: child prositutes. They sure are nowadays. And thankfully these rings are getting the flashlights they've been trying to avoid. But bad publicity, a few trials and roundups aren't enough, not with the likelihood of them resurfacing under newer and more insidious guises remains strong, especially if American women are participating in these rackets/kiddie prostitution and porn rings.
The House of Representatives, under Speaker Nancy Pelosi managed to pass a major bill aimed at destroying this new form of slavery. In "Polarizing Viewpoints on Sex Trafficking
by Janice S. Crouse:
The crime of human trafficking is now the world’s second most prevalent crime (behind drug trafficking). According to Kevin Bales, Disposable People, there are more sex slaves today than there were slaves in the 19th century. Sex trafficking is, in many respects, worse than drug trafficking because drugs can be sold only once, but those who are trafficked can be sold repeatedly, often twenty to thirty times a day. Further, the criminal networks who offer children and women as sexual commodities, and those who purchase their sexual services are highly unlikely to get caught. If they do, they are even less likely to be prosecuted. Sex trafficking is one of the few crimes where the victim is the one who is arrested and prosecuted.
In fact, the House comes right out and calls this racket what it is: child slavery. The Department of Justice, and the Senate dither and quibble over definitions about what prostitution is. The Department of Justice, working under perhaps the most pro-active leader in the civilized world when it comes to dealing with child slavery, is looking more foolish by the hour! Bush has enough problems with his image, but he doesn't deserve this and even Speaker Pelosi would surely agree on this point.
... Bush made it a priority to end human slavery by establishing the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (TIP) in the United States State Department, encouraging the passage of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA), and using his bully pulpit to urge the eradication of “modern-day slavery.” As a result, the United States is the world leader in addressing the scourge that ensnares hundreds of thousands of vulnerable children and women.
The original TVPA’s emphasis on ending the demand for prostituted women and children put the focus where it belonged, on the criminals and johns who were bringing in over $10 billion a year by using human beings as commodities. In other words, the legislation focused on punishing pimps, not arresting prostitutes. Eachreauthorization of the TVPA tightened gaps in victim protection, perpetrator prosecution and domestic and international efforts to abolish the slave trade. This year’s TVPA is historic legislation that would greatly strengthen anti-trafficking efforts; it passed the U.S. House of Representatives by a vote of 405-2.
Sadly, when the bill went to the Senate, several factions (including, amazingly, the Department of Justice) succeeded in gutting the House bill. Ultimately, the Senate version of the legislation (S. 3061) contains major problems:
The definition of prostitution: The Senate bill defines prostitution as a form of “labor or services,” making the relationship between a pimp or trafficker and a prostituted person normative, just another employer and employee.
Prostitution, then, is a legitimate career option for girls and women.
The original TVPA’s emphasis on ending the demand for prostituted women and children put the focus where it belonged, on the criminals and johns who were bringing in over $10 billion a year by using human beings as commodities. In other words, the legislation focused on punishing pimps, not arresting prostitutes. Eachreauthorization of the TVPA tightened gaps in victim protection, perpetrator prosecution and domestic and international efforts to abolish the slave trade. This year’s TVPA is historic legislation that would greatly strengthen anti-trafficking efforts; it passed the U.S. House of Representatives by a vote of 405-2.
Sadly, when the bill went to the Senate, several factions (including, amazingly, the Department of Justice) succeeded in gutting the House bill. Ultimately, the Senate version of the legislation (S. 3061) contains major problems:
The definition of prostitution: The Senate bill defines prostitution as a form of “labor or services,” making the relationship between a pimp or trafficker and a prostituted person normative, just another employer and employee.
Prostitution, then, is a legitimate career option for girls and women.
(Quick, send somebody up from K-Street to at least give them a bawlderized version, if the racier kind is too much for them.) And if memory serves me correctly, the former "Red Light District" of Washington, DC was no less than where K-Street intersects with 14th Street NW. (Nowadays it's still a red light district, but the clientele is a lot more expensive and we're all paying these tabs.) The Department of Justice and the august Senate doesn't know how to come up with a definition of "streetwalking"?
That'd be like Willie Nelson saying he couldn't tell the difference between beer and whiskey. It was bad enough that the late Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart new what porn was when he saw it, but he couldn't describe it. Most parents can when they catch their kids looking even the slightest bit sideways at some!
I'm not trying to make light of a horrible situation, but it's time for a good house sweeping of the augean stables of the Senate and grab some DOJ law clerks and make them look at some photos of what these children, some of them babies only 4-5 years old, put up with as their "life." If that won't get them off their fat duffs, then they need only to read what Msgr. Franklyn Casale of St. Thomas University in Miami-Dade, FL had to tell the late-Cong. Tom Lantos in his Prepared testimony given Oct. 18, 2007 before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs (on Human Trafficking.) I listed the web address in case anybody's interested to find out more about STU's "Miami Plan" to bust up these sex slave rings. Click:http://www.stu.edu/Abou tSTU/MarketingCommunications/ tabid/267/Default.aspx
Child Prostitue "At Work"
Disgustingly enough; if the Senate, comprised of some of the best and brightest minds, elected and non-elected, not to mention our legal eagles working at Justice, can't define prostitution, I'm sure this young gal can in no time flat.
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Comment by tlcorbin
Coffee Quip
A Global Citizen
Paranormal Paranormal
Is Why
Alaska Chronicle
Comment by Anonymous
Just look at what porn can lead to with some weakend minds and characters. You don't even have to be a believer in God to see the direct linkage between messing up a person's head insofar as sex is portrayed and where this leads to if a person with a perverted mind is allowed to "do his or her thing" until caught or killed. Look at what Ted Bundy and men like him did to so many women, not to mention the horrific damage done to the Catholic and other churches. But I'm only tapping my finger on the tip of the iceberge when all the never revealled and dealt with cases of domestic sexual abuse are thrown into the mix. Think of the resulting mental horrors of these victims and the lifetimes of miserable lnsecurities they've had to deal with. I read somewhere that close to 80 pct. of all prostitutes were abused by somebody at home.
I'm not excusing making bad choices, but we have to take the whole picture into context; esp. considering the more subtle and sophisticated techniques the porn industry is using to entice young people into a fake, fake, fake racket of nothing but slavery. Can one blame them for wanting to be strung out on drugs? Booze, etc.? It all widens up and ensnares so many people. And this political stupidity over the definition of what's sexual slavery vs. making a living ... May the Good Lord have mercy on their souls should anything happen between now and an eventual resolution to this inexplicable jam up on the Senate and Justice end of the matter.
I'm just too angry to go any further on this for the moment, esp. now that Congress has adjourned.
Dammit to hell. The Suits win again, the enslaved kids get shafted over and over and over. While the pimps and madams keep laughing all the way to the bank.
Comment by tlcorbin
Coffee Quip
A Global Citizen
Paranormal Paranormal
Is Why
Alaska Chronicle
The lure of drugs, money, the 'life' lived la vida loca has sucked many I know into that cesspool.
Maybe I'll blog about it one day, because I can relate to your feelings about this topic.
Comment by Damo
For the Sake of Argument
My Apologetics
Comment by S.L.
The Political Brief
Sadly, the only decision our "Constipated Congress" was able to make was to take their vacation. Those that were willing to stay and finish their work weren't able to, being outnumbered.
Let's hope everyone remembers this in Nov.
Comment by Anonymous
But the Senate and DOJ, well -- I'm still wondering how difficult they have to make it for themselves to see what's so obvious to a teenager and a middle-aged john -- especially if he's a lawyer (LOL). Maybe that's his "disability" preventing him from recognizing the obvious and keeping it from obfuscating it.