11.04.2009

Victimless Crimes

I live in a small town. You won't see a hooker hanging out on the street corner. At least not openly. Some think prostitution should be legal - a fair trade going on for millenia between two consenting adults. Perhaps even an example of Capitalism at work. A "working girl."

Recently, a brothel in a nearby town was raided and was found to be part of an international sex slave ring. It was supplied by a Korean mob, owned by a Korean woman, managed by a Korean woman. The workers, of course, were Korean women from impoverished Korean towns, with little education and less hope. The neighboring woman-owned salon business knew all about it but didn't seem to have reported it. Nice. Love thy neighbor and all.

A federal agent said he wanted to know why the men went to these places. One comment struck him in particular:
He said he sees the women in the massage parlor as less than human because they do not look like his wife, or his sister, or his mother.
As if it weren't horrible enough what these people have done to their own kind. Then to hear a man talk about these women - moms, daughters, sisters - as if they were just an animal. Or a warm vending machine.

A victimless crime. Huh.

3 comments:

Melissa Angert {All Things Chic} said...

ugh - that's terrible!!! we need to pray for these women. stat.

Lora said...

there is no such thing as a victimless crime. Even if you are only hurting yourself, someone is getting hurt.

I worked with a prostitute once, she was childless, unmarried, unpartnered, and didn't get much business. Any, really. And you wouldn't question why if you saw her. But her self-esteem was so damaged by standing under the el. Her "resume" included high end escort stuff out in the burbs. Then she got old(er). And sick. And her teeth fell out because she had horrible insurance. And that's how she landed herself under the el. All alone and scared.

Heck, it seems like there is nothing like a victimless act, these days.
Taking your kids for a Happy Meal is detrimental somehow, really.

Driving your car pollutes the air. I'm killing my neighbors by letting my car idle while I wait for my husband...

Turning on your lights is hellish. Running your furnace. Drinking water.

Oh, here I go. Something to torture my brain with.

Haley said...

How sad for these women. It is sick what that "man" said. Absolutely disturbing.