Back to the Brothel

New York Times ^ | 1/22/05 | NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF

[wagglebee]

President Bush declared in his inaugural address this week that "no one deserves to be a slave" and that advancing freedom is "the calling of our time."

I'm amazed he didn't criticize Bush.

[srm913]

This is so sickening as to be unbearable.
Truth sucks sometimes.

[jocon307]

"I can't think of a better place to start than the hundreds of thousands of girls trafficked each year..."

The author tried to save this woman himself, I remember reading that story. But he failed, or rather, she failed him.

[roaddog727]

"The author tried to save this woman himself, I remember reading that story. But he failed, or rather, she failed him."

Yuo can lead a person to knowledge, but you can't make them think.

The corollary holds true:

You can free a person's body from slavery, but you may well not free their mind.

[anniegetyourgun]

He did with the next sentence - insinuating that Bush has done nothing on the matter.

Dear NYTimes writer: Perhaps next time you might want to mention the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 and the Domestic Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2004. Both signed into law by this president.

But no, the NYTimes would like to leave the reader clueless and thinking this administration has done nothing. To do otherwise would be committing the heinous act of informing their readers.

[Ginifer]

She's had numerous people reaching out to help her, but she thrives on remaining a "victim" in order to excuse her actions. There comes a time in everyones life where you have to live with the choices you've made and obviously she has made her choice. You can only help people as long as they are willing to accept help, otherwise you are just wasting your time.

[shubi]

We have essentially the same thing going on in every inner city in the U.S.

[injin]

sorry to say , but the Government in Thailand is just about correct when they prefer to just shoot meth dealer they catch
rather than even incarcerate them. This story is a classic case of what happens to those that self-victimize themselves with these types of drugs. The Cambodian Gov should look at Thailand's policies and follow suit. To hell with the bleeding heart NGO's that have a problem about this. It is not their problem to have to clean up the wreckage of human lives that are affected by these drugs.
And what a better issue for the World to call Myanmar to account for ? Myanmar is the greatest single source of these drugs , as far as I know.

[Fenris6]

Sorry, but this reads like Jason Blair and is the NYT afterall. He needs to provide proof he was really there before I'll buy into it. Not fair? Nope. This is the NYT.

[shubi]

There is no saving most of them. They will die young, ravaged by drugs and disease.

It is not the U.S. job to arrest foreign prostitutes.
Asian countries support themselves by this kind of thing.

[wastoute]

Notice the failure of this fellow's intent to "do good" in that absence of a relationship with the "Author of Liberty". He seems truly surprised that it didn't work.

[wagglebee]

I agree, charity is meaningless when the other person in unresponsive to help.

[SmithL]

It's sad, alright. When I first read about people willing to buy back these slaves, I was afraid that it would just create a new market for them.

[nothingnew]

After reading this article, I tend to agree with you. There's many things in this piece that truly puzzle me. I'm not even sure I believe any of this particular article.

Just my opinion at this point.

FMCDH(BITS)

[nothingnew]

Sorry, but this reads like Jason Blair and is the NYT afterall.

Bump...(see my #14)

FMCDH(BITS)

[brushcop]

Well yes, that certainly is possible, another Freeper alluded to the same thing. There's a vast difference (not in the crime itself but the magnitude and acceptance of the crime) in that we are not noted for being the destination for "sex vacations" as Southeast Asia is.

In this country, we actively root out and prosecute these people but then you always hear the apologists for decriminalizing the commercial sex trade. Could we do more, do better? I think so but ask yourself: If I had knowledge about this sort of thing going on, would I report it?

After being in law enforcement for 31 years, we would find out that there were folks that knew all along about the crimes being committed (that we were desperately working on) but not take the first step, even anonymously, in reporting them. It's not just law enforcement that has the duty to act, we do as well as citizens--am I making sense here?

[Logophile]

I can't think of a better place to start than the hundreds of thousands of girls trafficked each year. . . .

Perhaps we might start by going after the maggots who pay for this traffic.

[Rudder]

There is the distinct possibility that she likes sex and getting paid for it at the same time.

[SolutionsOnly]

There's a problem here - The author actually reinforces the human trafficking industry by buying the the girls'freedom. This may be somewhat noble on the individual level - but what has he really accomplished? He's reinforced the notion of the brothel owner that "Hey, there's a profit to be made in human trafficking!", meaning he'll be out looking for another victim to take the 'freed' girl's place.

I'm not sure where to come down on this. It's ugly any way you look at it.

[SolutionsOnly]

Perhaps we might start by going after the maggots who pay for this traffic.

I have to agree - but he odds of it happening are about the same as the gov't coming down on those who hire illegal aliens here. If there's a buck to be made, humans have an incredible propensity to rationalize evil and look the other way. It's despicable.