[Marxism] US Military & Commercial Sex Industry

["Huibin Amelia Chew" <hachew@xxxxxxxxx>]

interesting:

"After much work by Korean non-governmental organizations such as
Korea Women's Associations United (KWAU), the South Korean government
has taken significant measures to combat trafficking and
prostitution...

"Under the new legislation, victims of prostitution are defined as
persons who are subject to various forms of coercion, including
through drugs and debt, to sell sex.   Victims of prostitution are not
subject to punishment. Rather they are eligible for the assistance and
counseling provided for in the law. In the year since the enactment of
these new laws in September 2004, the number of commercial sex
establishments has decreased by 36.8%"

--
Related;
http://www.equalitynow.org/english/actions/action_2301_en.html
Women's Action 23.1
June 2003

http://www.equalitynow.org/english/actions/action_2302_en.html

Update: Women's Action 23.2
March 2006

United States: The Role of Military Forces in the Growth of the Commercial
Sex Industry

A major step towards the establishment of a zero-tolerance policy with
respect to solicitation of prostitution by U.S. military personnel was taken
on 14 October 2005, when U.S. President George W. Bush signed Executive
Order 13387, which amends the Manual for Courts-Martial to specifically
enumerate "patronizing a prostitute" as a violation of Article 134 of the
Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ). U.S. military personnel will have
committed an offense if they "compelled, induced, enticed, or procured [a]
person to engage in an act of sexual intercourse in exchange for monetary or
other compensation." The act must also be "wrongful" and be "to the
prejudice of good order and discipline" of the armed forces or "bring
discredit upon" them. A violation is punishable by "dishonorable discharge,
forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for 1 year."

In June 2003, Equality Now issued Women's Action 23.1 advocating the
establishment and enforcement of a zero-tolerance policy on the solicitation
of prostitution to U.S. military personnel, noting the link recognized by
the U.S. Government between sex trafficking and the demand for prostitution.
Equality Now cited the participation of U.S. military forces stationed in
South Korea in the commercial sex industry as a case study of what is
happening around the world.  According to a Fox TV undercover report,
American Courtesy Patrol Officers, members of the United States military,
facilitated access by military personnel to numerous bars where trafficked
women from the Philippines, Russia and elsewhere, were being sold for
prostitution to United States servicemen.  Courtesy Patrol Officers knew
that women in these establishments had been trafficked and they were
familiar with the process by which club owners obtained these women and kept
them to sell for commercial sex.

At the request of thirteen Members of Congress, the Office of the Inspector
General in the Department of Defense initiated a global assessment of U.S.
military activities that promote and facilitate sex trafficking. The
assessment was conducted in two phases, first in South Korea and then in
Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo. In South Korea, Courtesy Patrols who engaged
in off-installation policing were reported to be "overly familiar" and
friendly with patrons and employees of off-installation bars and clubs,
rather than behaving as officials on duty.  The Department of Defense
interpreted such behavior to denote "official imprimatur to activities in
the clubs," at the same time finding that "law enforcement personnel might
find nothing to report if a service member paid a 'bar-fine' assessed
against a woman and left the club with her for an evening." The report on
Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo found that, "Because there is no military
standard that directly addresses patronization of prostitutes and other
activities associated with human trafficking, criminal prosecution of these
activities under military law is rendered more difficult. We believe that
correcting these weaknesses is consistent with the 'abolitionist approach to
trafficking in persons' or zero-tolerance policy with respect to U.S.
government employees and contractor personnel stationed abroad who engage in
trafficking in persons set forth in the 2003 National Security Presidential
Directive 22, which further states, 'the United States Government opposes
prostitution and any related activities'."

In January 2004, the U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense issued a memorandum
reaffirming the zero-tolerance policy with respect to trafficking. The
memorandum states that the Department of Defense "opposes prostitution and
any related activities that may contribute to the phenomenon of trafficking
in persons as inherently harmful and dehumanizing." In September 2004,
General LaPorte, the Commander of U.S. Forces in Korea (USFK) testified
before the Joint House Armed Services Committee as to their efforts in
administering "a zero tolerance approach to prostitution and human
trafficking." According to General LaPorte, since January 2003, USFK had
ordered disciplinary action of five servicemen for soliciting (or
patronizing) prostitution, and prosecuted 398 servicemen for related
offenses such as violating curfew and trespassing in off-limit
establishments. Further details are not known as the U.S. military has not
responded to repeated inquiries from Equality Now regarding any disciplinary
action taken against U.S. military personnel involving solicitation of
prostitution. In the meantime, U.S. soldiers are still using women in
prostitution in South Korea. A Filipina bar worker recently won a judgment
against a South Korean nightclub owner for forcing her to have sex with U.S.
soldiers, as reported in Stars and Stripes, a U.S. military newspaper. The
failure of the U.S. military effectively to enforce the law has been
corroborated by women's organizations in South Korea.

After much work by Korean non-governmental organizations such as Korea Women
's Associations United (KWAU), the South Korean government has taken
significant measures to combat trafficking and prostitution, enacting the
2004 Act on the Punishment of Procuring Prostitution and Associated Acts and
the 2004 Act on the Prevention of Prostitution and Protection of its Victims
Thereof. The former calls for strict sanctions for trafficking and procuring
prostitution and the latter authorizes the establishment of assistance
facilities and counseling centers with an infrastructure of social, legal
and medical support for victims. Under the new legislation, victims of
prostitution are defined as persons who are subject to various forms of
coercion, including through drugs and debt, to sell sex. Victims of
prostitution are not subject to punishment. Rather they are eligible for the
assistance and counseling provided for in the law. In the year since the
enactment of these new laws in September 2004, the number of commercial sex
establishments has decreased by 36.8%, according to figures provided by the
Korean National Police Agency.
Recommended Actions

Please write to U.S. President George W. Bush, welcoming Executive Order
13387 specifically enumerating "patronizing a prostitute" as a violation of
Article 134 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Urge the President and
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to strictly enforce this provision,
noting that patronizing prostitution feeds the global demand for sex
trafficking and noting reports that the law is not being effectively
enforced. Urge President Bush and Defense Secretary Rumsfeld to institute a
zero-tolerance policy on the solicitation of prostitution by U.S. military
forces around the world.

President George W. Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
United States of America
Fax: +1 202-456-2461
E-mail: president@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Mr. Donald H. Rumsfeld
Secretary of Defense
1000 Defense Pentagon
Washington, DC 20301-1000
United States of America
Fax: +1 703-697-8339
http://www.dod.gov/faq/comment.html

Please also write to South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun and Minister of
Justice Jung-Bae Chun, thanking them for the efforts to create a new legal
framework that recognizes and protects victims of prostitution while holding
those who exploit them accountable.  Urge them to ensure that the new laws
are strictly enforced.

President Roh Moo-Hyun
Office of the President - Cheong Wa Dae
1 Jongno-gu
Jongo-Gunsejong-no
110-050 Seoul
Republic of Korea
Fax: +82 2-770-0344
E-mail: webmaster@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Minister Jung-Bae Chun
Ministry of Justice
Building # 1
Gwacheon Government Complex
Jungang-dong 1, Gwacheon-si, Kyunggi-do
Republic of Korea
Fax: +82 2-503-1641
E-mail: webmaster@xxxxxxxxx

Women's Action 23.1: June 2003

Please keep Equality Now updated on your efforts and send copies of any
replies you receive to:

Equality Now P.O. Box 20646, Columbus Circle Station, New York NY 10023, USA
Equality Now Africa Regional Office, P.O. Box 2018, KNH 00202, Nairobi,
KENYA
Equality Now P.O. Box 48822, London WC2N 6ZW, UNITED KINGDOM
info@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


--
The naiveté of Americans who can't believe their 'heroes' are
committing such atrocities is ridiculous. Who ever heard of an
occupying army committing rape?? You raped the country, why not the
people?

14. Imagine your 14-year-old sister...daughter...her 5-year-old sister
were also killed... I don't believe the troops should be tried in
American courts... they should be handed over to the people in the
area and only then will justice be properly served.

It fills me with rage... The pity I once had for foreign troops in
Iraq is gone...eradicated by the atrocities in Abu Ghraib, the deaths
in Haditha and the latest news... I look at them in their armored
vehicles and to be honest- I can't bring myself to care whether they
are 19 or 39...if they make it back home alive...about [those] they
left behind… it's difficult to see beyond the horrors... how many more
they'll kill before they go home. How many more young Iraqi girls will
they rape?

-Baghdad burning

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