To hate Congress:
Frustrated by continuing prostitution at “juicy bars” that cater to American troops in South Korea — and what he calls “weak” monitoring by commanders — the co-chairman of the U.S. Congressional Caucus on Human Trafficking plans to introduce legislation that would create a senior position in the Department of Defense to enforce the department’s prohibitions against the exploitation of women.
U.S. Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., said he will propose the appointment of an assistant secretary for trafficking issues because he suspects that the policing of juicy bars near U.S. military installations varies “based on the commitment of the commanding officer.”
“Zero tolerance does not mean partial tolerance,” Smith told Stars and Stripes. “My concern … is that the important job of monitoring trafficking-related concerns has been added to somebody’s already too-large portfolio of work. What we [want is] a hub — a command and control center” led by an assistant secretary for trafficking issues in the DOD.
Smith had suggested the assistant secretary position in 2005 as part of a larger anti-trafficking proposal, but that measure was removed before the bill became law.
“The fact that juicy bars appear to be gaming the system in Korea is a sign that the monitoring is weak,” Smith said. “Juicy bars should be on their own watch list for the military, if not actually off-limits.” [Stars & Stripes]
Like the Congress does not have anything to worry about back stateside-they have to extend their reach and the word “NO” to the right side of the international dateline.
ROK Drop has more detailed coverage on this at his place. I predict a large increase in the number of leave chits to Thailand and the PI-where folks can at least have a week or so away from the courtesy patrols. Of course, given the recent events in both places-they are probably off limits too.
So what’s a red blooded young man on a one year unaccompanied tour to do? Oh yea, have sex with their fellow Soldiers, Sailors and Airman. Let me know how well that works out.
Skippy,
Next tiime you go to CO, please bow down at the temple of the goddess Schroeder and give alms. Also, next time in AZ, go to the temple of Tailhook and throw curses.
This has got to be the dumbest move yet. Here in Nippon, they have been invoking the Article 92, to CNFJ Reg, visiting massage parlors. They have shore patrol standing outside them when young sailors come out and cuff them and send them back to their ships for mast.
Never mind that on the GW maiden crusie they had a high number of blue on blue sexual assulat cases. I wonder will they be going full throttle when DADT is repealled? So will they say that all the “HeShe’s” and Benny Boys are being trafficed illegally and are really just honest and hard working men who like to dress and act like women, and gay service members will not be allowed to partake with them?
There are a lot better things for Congress to do than this. They need to check their own house first.
think its broken unless you really prefer no comments.
If they get rid of the Filipinas in these juicy bars that would end the perception of human trafficking whether it is real or imagined. If those bars are filled with Korean women I don’t think these Congressmen and other critics will have much to say because the juicy bars would just turn into the equivalent of a strip bar in the US. It is just that the Korean bar owners would lose out on a lot of money because the Filipinas are working for dirt cheap compared to what they would have to pay a Korean woman.
No it won’t-it will simple ramp up the volume on people who want to exploit the situation for anti-US propaganda (GI’s raping Korean girls). Guarantee you it will happen.
Besides-it does nothing to stop the sex trade. Guys will simple figure out another destination to get laid. I was never a big fan of juicy bars myself-since they rapidly became too expensive and I could wait till I traveled on to HK, Thailand, or back to Japan to close the deal without the MP’s looking over your shoulder.
Juciy bars close?- Watch as some innovative entreprenur opens a new set of “discos” that just happen to have a lot of freelancers from China/Thailand/PI. Independent contractors at work.
I spoke with a Juicy Bar Owner once. She told me that when the Sk economy is down, more Korean lady’s will choose to work in the juicy bars near the bases. When things are going well, they choose to work only in bars that cater to Korean’s only.
It is a simple matter of economics. The Korean women will go to where there is the best deal to be made. Same with women from other countries. The PI should be more concerned with why so many of their male and female populace have to leave to find work, or why women go to places like Angeles, or frequent the numerous internet cafe’s and chat rooms to find some foreign guy that is willing to spend a few bucks on them, instead of worrying about what some GI’s in another country are doing.
If they can’t do it in the bar, they will find other ways, the most serious of which would be marriages of convienence.
If Koreans want to go make a big deal about Americans raping Korean women they can do that already and does occasionally pop up and some of the rapes are proven to be untrue:
http://rokdrop.com/2008/02/23/more-details-on-false-rape-allegation-2/
http://rokdrop.com/2008/01/16/policewoman-rape-case-gis-released/
The anti-US and GI stuff in the Korean media has greatly decreased since Lee Myung-bak became President plus there hasn’t been any real good GI crime stories to exploit.
You also seem to be confusing prostitution with human trafficking. If the human trafficking component to all of this is removed then I don’t see how the Congress can complain when the bars are staffed with Koreans.
I guess I don’t understand the distinction-if anything Koreans are like Japanese and like to outsource their prostitution to the folks like Thais and Filipinos because, just like the Japanese, they look down on them.
Besides-in the end it just means more of “big brother” interfering in the private lives of the US military people serving there. That was thing I hated whenever I went to Korea, big brother knew when you came back through the gate-what you bought at the commissary, how much beer you bought, and they tried to regulate every aspect of the experience. It took a lot more work to manipulate the system so you could have a good time. That’s why I normally just worked and hopped a plane to HK before or after so I could get my “me time”.