From: David Goldman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> And what, pray tell, is the great advantage of knowing that drugs is "second place" to slaves? David Goldman Feb 22, 2000 - 02:44 PM Sex Trade Replacing Narcotics in International Trafficking By Paul Shepard Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - With as many as 2 million women worldwide forced into sexual slavery, the sex trade seems to have replaced narcotics as the favored illegal trade activity, White House officials told at a Senate hearing Tuesday. Harold Koh, assistant Secretary of State for democracy, human rights and labor, said international criminals are moving away from "guns and drugs" to marketing women. "There are weaker restraints and growing demand," Koh told the Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee on Near Eastern and Southern Asian Affairs. Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., who chaired the hearing, spoke of meeting some women victims during recent travels to Asia and called the trade "the greatest manifestation of slavery in the world today." "They are told they will be taking a job as a nanny and are given money of their family. Then they are taken across a border and held against their will," he said. "We are only beginning to learn the methods of this industry," Brownback said. "Two-thirds come back with AIDS or tuberculosis. They basically come back to die." A woman called Inez and disguised to protect her identity testified that she was forced into a life of sexual slavery in the United States by traffickers in her native Mexico. She said she was duped by men who promised her work at a restaurant but said she owed them a "smuggling fee" of $2,500 that she had to pay off by selling herself to men. "We worked six days a week and 12-hour days," she said. "We mostly had to serve 32 to 35 clients a day." Law enforcement officials raided the brothel and while some of the traffickers have been prosecuted, some escaped capture and returned to Mexico, she said. Solid numbers on the scope of the problem are hard to come by, but best estimates show at least 50,000 women brought into the United States annually for forced labor, officials said. A breakdown of international borders and expansion of trade are among the factors fueling trafficking, said Teresa Loar, director of the President's Interagency Council on Women. Feeder countries for the slave trade include Ukraine, Albania, the Philippines, Thailand, Mexico and Nigeria, according to officials. Frank E. Loy, Undersecretary of State for Global Affairs, said the Clinton Administration approach has focused on preventing the trade from getting established, protection and assistance for victims and prosecution of traffickers. Loy said the administration has stopped short of pushing for economic sanctions against offending nations, however, because that would curtail efforts to build an international effort to combat the problem. Bills aimed at curbing trafficking have been introduced in the House and Senate. AP-ES-02-22-00 1444EST � Copyright 2000 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Get your money connected @ OnMoney.com - the first Web site that lets you see, consolidate, and manage all of your finances all in one place. http://click.egroups.com/1/1636/2/_/_/_/951253856/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------
