Tonight I watched a program on MSNBC called Undercover: Sex Slaves in America. The documentary was an investigation into human trafficking in large cities, specifically revolving around Korean, Thai, and Latina women. Apparently, these women are told they can have a free ride to America, and once they get there, they must pay off debts of $55,000 or more. Their debtors force them to work in $60 “massage parlors” in order to pay off the money in time. They are told they will only need to work 6 to 7 months to do this, but then are forced to stay there for 10 to 20 years by the “massage parlor” owners.
Obviously, human trafficking is in a category of its own, but as I watched the documentary, I couldn’t help but wonder how the women felt about all of this. The government has decided to “solve” the problem by busting into the parlors renegade-style, issuing fines and closures, and then subsequently “setting the women free.” It’s interesting that we only choose to use the term “slavery” when referring to sex work, even though all lower- and middle-class citizens are also slaves of the economy, forced to work endless hours in horrible conditions for very little pay on a daily basis.
In video after video, the U.S. Health Department can be seen shaming the women, shutting down the parlors, and, in general, wreaking havoc on the women’s lives. The funny thing is that the documentary never addresses the question of what happens to the women after the parlors are busted. My guess is that they are forced into low-wage jobs, flipping burgers or working registers. They will struggle to make enough money to pay for rent and food, even though they will work long hours with no benefits, very little time off, and no maternity leave. They will also probably treated poorly due to the fact that they are foreign and don’t speak English.
My point is this: we’re so quick to identify slavery when it relates to sexuality, but what about all of the other forms of slavery going on around the world? And who are we to deny underprivileged women an opportunity to make $1000 to $2000 dollars a week, if that’s the only way they are able to do so?
Sex slavery would exist even if there weren’t a bunch of slimy dudes looking to make some money off of immigrant women, because the racism and sexism prevalent in our society enables it on a daily basis. Corporate greed and the hierarchy imposed by the status quo already enforce the slavery of the American people without even having to break the law. It seems to me that sex slavery is just a natural extension of racism, corporatism, and patriarchal attitudes, which are all things that many Americans fight staunchly to protect. Therefore, the cause of our troubles doesn’t originate from some random evil guys living in big cities – it comes from our own backyards.
The obsession about sex as uniquely damaging to women allows an entire Rescue Industry to fund itself and feel good about it. For the past fifteen years I’ve been talking to all sorts of people who prefer to sell sex to their other options, and most of them do not want ‘saving’. This is the subject of my Border Thinking on Migration and Sex at http://www.nodo50.org/Laura_Agustin
Best, Laura
Thank you for the wise critique. Me & my neighbor have been getting ready to do a little analysis about that. We received an excellent guide on that matter from our local library and most books where not as influensive as your information. I am very glad to see such information which I used to be searching for a protracted time.This made very glad! Anyway, in my language, there aren’t a lot good source like this.
Setting trafficked people free without providing them with a reasonable way to become self reliant is counterproductive and inhumane — to them and their families. One solution might be to give them refugee status. They could then be provided with the resources to establish independence while they learn English. This would work only if those who trafficked them into the country are incarcerated for their crimes against humanity.