A former State Department official writes in the Times today about an underappreciated issue, human trafficking and forced prostitution in America. Apparently, the Justice Department isn't interested in doing much about it, rejecting nearly every provision in a bill that would increase prosecution and penalties. The disagreement creates some interesting bedfellows:
In this case, the feminist, religious and secular groups that help sex-trafficking survivors are on one side. And on the other are the department's lawyers (most of them male), the Erotic Service Providers Union and the American Civil Liberties Union -- this side believes that vast numbers of women engage in prostitution as a “profession,” by choice.
I recall this debate coming up during Spitzergate, but I'm surprised to hear about DoJ lawyers falling into the profession camp. You'd think that a Department that mainly and illegally hires conservatives would be able to follow the President's policy directives, or at least care about stopping human trafficking.
--Tim Fernholz
