Update: Hundreds at State House protest human trafficking
5:43 PM Tue, Apr 21, 2009 | Permalink
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PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Between 275 and 300 protesters gathered inside the State House this afternoon to demand that state lawmakers enact a stiffer anti-trafficking law to prevent women from being "compelled" into prostitution. The protesters --- who included members of the clergy and victims' rights advocates --- The protesters were organized by the Coalition Against Human Trafficking. They carried signs that said, "Free the Captives -- Stop Human Trafficking" and "Hold the Human Traffickers Accountable." The coalition wants lawmakers to enact legislation which would mandate harsher penalties -- fines of no less than $40,000 and up to life imprisonment -- for anyone found guilty of trafficking for sex someone under 18, regardless of whether the minor testified to coercion. The identical House and Senate bills are sponsored by Rep. Joanne M. Giannini, D-Providence, and Sen. Rhoda E. Perry, D-Providence. State Police Capt. David Neill testified in favor of the measure. "The exploitation of minors must be stopped," he said. The original version of this story was posted at 5:30 p.m. Donna M. Hughes, a professor at the University of Rhode Island and an expert on the international trafficking of women and children, says that under the state's current human-trafficking law, enacted in 2007, "you could have a 14-year-old in a brothel and if she says there's no coercion, then it's not a violation of the trafficking law.'' Members of the coalition say that they have identified 32 brothels in Rhode Island, including 19 in Providence. Coalition members say that women who work in these brothels--many of them Asian--may have been forced or coerced into prostitution by traffickers who brought them into the country. Rhode Island is the only state in the country, except for certain counties in Nevada, which has no prohibition against prostitution that occurs indoors. Two separate bills that would make prostitution a crime, regardless of where it occurs, have also been introduced in the General Assembly. The coalition -- which is against prosecuting the prostitutions--has take no position on those bills. 
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These brothels have been around for years. They are, in fact, operated by an organized Asian crime cartel which has its US headquarters on Long Island. Boy Lynch, Cacieri, Boy Davey and the lazy do-nothing GA have done nothing to remedy this situation. (Oh, and to say nothing about the fact that the, um, "masseuses" are all "illegal aliens"). Miss Priss hopes that Rep Giannini and Sen Perry are sucessful in their attempt close down the sex-trafficking business in Our Little State.
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I AM DEFINITELY AGAINST HUMAN TRAFFICING ESPECIALLY THAT OF MINORS, BUT WHAT 2 CONSENTING ADULTS DO BEHIND CLOSED DOORS IS NOT ANYONES BUSINESS ESPECIALLY THE STATE.
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE IF I MEET A GIRL IN THE BAR OF MY HOTEL, AFTER DINNER AND A FEW DRINKS SHE COMES BACK TO MY ROOM. I PROBABLY WOULD HAVE SPENT AT LEAST $100.
SO IF I MEET HER IN HER ROOM INSTEAD AND HAPPEN TO LEAVE A FEW BUCKS ON THE DRESSER THAT'S WRONG?
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AJ:
If you don't see a pimp or a trafficker behind the girl or woman, taking your money, does that mean there isn't one there? The fact is, there is no way for a buyer to know if the woman he is buying from is being trafficked or not. Do you think trafficked women say to their 'clients' that they are being abused or trafficked? That's not much of a turn on... you never know what industry you're fueling when you pay for sex. Just becuase you don't see a trafficker doesn't mean he's not there. And just because the woman is white, American born and speaks English doesn't mean she couldn't be trafficked.
So, to answer your question, it might indeed be very wrong.
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