To the Editor
[New York Times]:
Re "A New Law in Tijuana
Regulates the Oldest Profession" (news article, Dec. 13): A more appropriate
term for prostitution would be "the oldest oppression."
The reality for
women and children used in prostitution is horrifying. A nine-country study
published in The Journal of Trauma Practice found that 71 percent of those used
in prostitution were physically assaulted, 63 percent were raped, 89 percent
wanted to escape and 68 percent met the criteria for post-traumatic stress
disorder.
In addition to being inherently harmful and dehumanizing,
prostitution and related activities fuel the modern-day slavery known as sex
trafficking. What other "profession" creates such abuse and
devastation?
While some attempts to regulate prostitution may be well
intentioned, we should not be focusing on regulation of prostitution, but rather
on abolition of slavery.
Apologists for the trans-Atlantic slave trade
of yesteryear advocated for better ventilation and mattresses on ships for
slaves, but all the regulation in the world would not have changed the fact that
people used as slaves deserved freedom. The women and children of today deserve
freedom, too.
John R. Miller
Washington, Dec. 15, 2005
_________________________________________________
Ambassador John R.
Miller
Director, Office to
Monitor & Combat Trafficking in Persons
U.S. State Department
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