The recent Anglican-Roman Catholic Bishops’ Dialogue held in Vancouver has produced a joint statement outlining concerns about human trafficking at the February 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver-Whistler.
Calling the Olympic Games “a celebration of human development through sport,” the statement also made it clear that the bishops are united as they “stand together to call attention to the profound social ill of human trafficking.”
Sadly too many men still think a woman is no more than a sex object to be used and discarded for men’s pleasure as portrayed in soulless porn films. The woman has to try and keep smiling as she is physically and sexually abused. Sadly many men think this is normal sex and try to treat their wives/ partners /girlfriends in a similar manner.
But I think the main reason male politicians and the leading authorities (again mostly male led) show little interest in this issue is probably because they have an attitude that the women who have sex for money deserve what they get, and they are just ‘dirty slags’ (sorry to use that term) but this is the kind of talk about prostitutes you hear in bars and clubs, so there is little sympathy from many ‘macho’ men. To change their preconceptions would need a new education with Panorama type investigations exposing the seedy, sleazy, brutal reality of the life of a young prostitute in Britain today. I would imagine it is anything but glamorous; more brutal and disgustingly sickening.
On a recent TV documentary on trafficking one young girl was held captive for up to ten hours a day in a room with no windows, just a double mattress on the floor and a toilet and a shower, her pimp forced her to have sex with up to twenty men a day. In her words ‘they could do whatever they liked with her behind the closed doors’, the pimp held her passport as she was powerless to escape. But no the men in power don’t want to hear such stories. They prefer their fantasy world of Belle de Jour. And enjoy their mutual titillation in men’s company. It seems UK feminism has done nothing to change the majority of men’s attitudes towards prostitution; in fact their double standard approach might have made matters worse for prostitutes, in supporting the sex workers, they are seen to condone all prostitution in the UK in all its brutal and depraved forms.
Perhaps the main reason there is no will amongst male politicians to make changes to protect women coerced or forced into prostitution; whether they are of foreign origin or not, is there is too much money at stake in this multi- billion pound sex industry (including its spin-offs of pornography, illegal drugs and protection rackets) with the major newspaper groups making huge incomes from prostitution adverts; that go under the name of escorts, massage parlours, saunas and the like.
If the will was there, the main supply could be stopped in a matter of days, but unfortunately the political will isn’t there, as there are too many men who have a vested interest in the continuing success of this sordid industry; a few for sexual reasons but the majority for financial reasons. Who has the guts in the UK today to lay the axe at the foot of the tree of this industry rather than a little tinkering and pretending to care? No one! Just as we are witnessing on many academic forums/ political blogs, there seems to be a prevailing attitude of let’s just shout ridicule at the people stupid enough to defend young women involved in prostitution. These people will soon go away; then we can all get back to the exploitation of young women in the UK and making lots of money.
Simon, your posts are interesting and sometimes informative. If you could find a way to break them up into paragraphs, they would also be readable.
Blessings,
The Rabbit
Sorry Rabbit I am so used to writing on other blogs that just squash up all my writing despite using lots of paragraphs and suitable spaces.
I am not used to the luxury of being allowed space for my comments…I will try and remember when writing on this blog in future…thank you for your positive feedback.
Best Wishes
Simon