|
After terrorism, prostitution... |
|
|
Newspaper "ELEFTHEROTYPIA" |
18.6.2003 |
I am not worried by the fact that the US administration is showing an active interest internationally in fighting against the trafficking of women and children a new, 21st-century form of slavery, involving the marketing of human beings for the purpose of economic and sexual exploitation. On the contrary, I am glad to see that the super-power has included the issue in its policy agenda, and has asked its embassies throughout the world to collect data and information to be used in drafting the State Department's annual report on the subject.
But I am concerned about the one-sidedness of the report. It is not limited to a description and analysis of the situation and well-intentioned recommendations for policy measures to counter the phenomenon; rather, it sets a series of criteria and proceeds to classify countries in three categories of good, fair, and bad practice, based on the measures taken to prevent prostitution, bring procurers to justice, and protect the victims. It even threatens those countries in the "bad" category -of which there are fifteen, including Greece- with economic sanctions, cutbacks in projects and cultural exchanges, etc.
As admitted in the report itself, it constitutes an "instrument of diplomacy", obviously aimed at bringing pressure on third countries, in this case Greece; exactly the same methods were used in connection with terrorism and the "17 November" group. And this because while I certainly recognise the gravity of this problem in our country, and while I know that the issue of the related presidential decrees has been delayed, this is a very far cry indeed from saying that the situation here is worse than in other countries Ghana, Benin, Colombia, Hong Kong, South Korea, Lithuania, FYROM, Mauritius, Morocco, Poland Taiwan, and the United Arab Emirates! Not to mention the long list of countries included in the "fair" category, including Albania, Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova, the Philippines, Angola, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Burundi, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Gabon, India, Kuwait, Nigeria, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, Thailand, Uganda, Ukraine, etc. The US considers that all these countries, in many of which there is widespread corruption and women's basic human rights go unrecognised, perform better than Greece in fighting trafficking.
The situation is certainly not as presented in the report, which was based on data supplied by the US Embassy in Greece and on subjective views and assessments, and therefore lacks any scientific weight. We all know that last year parliament passed a new law providing for severe sentences for procurers, that many arrests have been made and many procurement rings broken, and that many initiatives have been advanced to highlight the problem and provide care for the victims of violence and sexual exploitation by the General Secretariat for Equality, the Archbishopric and many non-governmental organisations, with which, it must be noted, Mrs. Miller, the wife of the American Ambassador, had developed to her credit- a good working relationship based on friendship.
There is no doubt that a lot remains to be done in countering the criminal activities of international prostitution rings, which have grown explosively in recent years, while dealing with the sharp increase of immigration and the dire economic situation of sizable social groups in our midst. In the European Union, it is estimated that 500,000 women and children are being sold and purchased every day. We need therefore to intensify our efforts and formulate initiatives on many fronts, both on the national and on the European level.
We need more, and more effective legislative and administrative measures, severe penalties, protection for the victims, training and co-operation with the police and judicial authorities, common prevention and enforcement plans in all EU member-states, the creation of a European Centre for the prevention and battling of trafficking, and of course support for non-governmental organisations. Even more important, we need political volition and commitment at the highest possible level.
Personally, I believe that all strategies to counter prostitution must aim at punishing both those who earn huge gains by selling and buying human bodies, and those who feed the demand for such services and enlarge the sex industry and the prostitution market.