By combating sexual exploitation, the United States has the opportunity to demonstrate its finest qualities.
In a 2003 speech to the United Nations, President Bush made a compelling case for why ending sexual exploitation is a moral imperative. He labeled it a “humanitarian crisis” and noted that its victims “see little of life before they see the very worst of life – an underground of brutality and lonely fear.”
For the purpose of clarity, I will use the phrase “sexual exploitation” to encompass three different terms: Sex trafficking, sex tourism and child pornography.
Sex trafficking is the transportation of individuals across international borders to work as prostitutes or slaves. The U.S. State Department estimates that 600,000 to 800,000 people are trafficked across international borders each year; of this number, 80 percent are female and 50 percent are minors. Sex tourism refers to the practice of people traveling outside of their own country to engage in sexual activities, often with children. More than a million children are exploited in the global sex trade each year, according to the State Department. Finally, sexual exploitation includes child pornography, which fuels other sex crimes.
Amidst the horrors of sexual exploitation, the good news is that Americans are fighting this scourge. Since 2000, Congress has acted bipartisanly to pass stricter laws against sex trafficking and tourism. Moreover, private Americans and humanitarian organizations have mobilized to protect the victims of these crimes.
There are three characteristics of the American response to sexual exploitation that deserve further reflection: The use of free markets to solve humanitarian problems, the power of religious conviction as a motivation to action and the importance of moral clarity.
In January, Christianity Today magazine reported on humanitarian and missionary groups working to liberate Southeast Asian women from sexual exploitation. Recognizing that economic conditions often push women into the sex trade, these groups are searching for economic solutions. So far, the results are promising.
Mark and Christa Crawford are representative of a fresh approach to humanitarian aid. The Crawfords left southern California in 2001 to help women in Thailand, home to approximately 200,000 victims of sexual exploitation. Since arriving in Thailand, the Crawfords have started Just Food, Inc., a chain of cafes serving American cuisine and employing former prostitutes.
Just Food provides a model for how free market solutions can address humanitarian problems. By providing former prostitutes with a living wage, and teaching them marketable skills, businesses like Just Food empower women to escape sexual exploitation. The Crawfords understand that the most effective way to liberate women is to provide them with alternatives to the sex trade. Profit-driven, but socially conscious, businesses provide these women with the freedom to choose better alternatives.
By helping women in Thailand, the Crawfords are acting out their religious convictions. Both are evangelical Christians, and they see Just Food as an opportunity to share their faith with the women of Thailand. Christa Crawford, a Harvard law graduate and former corporate lawyer, gave up a lucrative career to move to Thailand. Religious conviction can motivate people to abandon affluence in order to serve the world’s most vulnerable people. Furthermore, religious faith can sustain people who face the depravity of sexual exploitation on a daily basis. Of course, our government should not finance missionary work. But we ought to recognize that religiously motivated groups can be some of the most effective agents in the fight against sexual exploitation. As long as religious groups share the goal of ending sexual exploitation, our government should find ways to cooperate with them.
Although private groups and individuals are best suited to ending sexual exploitation on a case-by-case basis, strong political leadership is also necessary. The U.S. must denounce this evil in black-and-white terms. During the Clinton administration, efforts to combat sexual exploitation were hampered by disagreements over how to address prostitution. In 2002, Kate O’Beirne wrote an article in National Review detailing how the Clinton administration wanted to distinguish between consensual and nonconsensual prostitution. Some feminist groups have argued that prostitution is a matter of “choice” and that women who make this “choice” should be left alone.
Personally, I have yet to meet anybody who aspired to a life of prostitution. And I would wager that most of the feminists who are so quick to defend the “choice” of prostitution for women in developing countries, would be horrified if their own daughters made such a “choice.” It is far more likely that the vast majority of prostitutes have found such employment because they do not have any other options. The fight against sexual exploitation is a fight to give these women other options.
The U.S. should denounce all forms of sexual exploitation and promote policies that give women positive choices. Moral clarity will help women all over the world see the light of freedom.
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