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Renewal Forum » Secret Service https://renewalforum.org Renewing Society, Restoring Dignity. Mon, 12 Jan 2015 15:18:28 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.1.41 Secret Service Case: some interesting reads https://renewalforum.org/secret-service-case-some-interesting-reads/ https://renewalforum.org/secret-service-case-some-interesting-reads/#comments Fri, 27 Apr 2012 14:11:39 +0000 https://renewalforum.org/?p=173 Below are a couple pieces that are worth reading on the Secret Service scandal. Additionally I want to acknowledge that some have pointed to the fact that the woman was comfortable going to the police in order to seek her money as an example of why we should legalize prostitution because it would limit the […]

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]]> Below are a couple pieces that are worth reading on the Secret Service scandal. Additionally I want to acknowledge that some have pointed to the fact that the woman was comfortable going to the police in order to seek her money as an example of why we should legalize prostitution because it would limit the victimization of prostituted peoples. The Renewal Forum agrees that there should be more legal protection for these people who sell their sex for sustenance, but we support a decriminalization of selling sex, but a criminalization of purchasing it (similar to the Nordic Model.)

This piece interviews one of the women involved in the scandal. In Columbia over 20 women were involved that were being prostituted. None of this would have probably came to life if the Secret Service agent paid the money and left, but instead the woman refused to go because she owed a man who “helps” her find customers $250. https://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/19/world/americas/colombian-escort-speaks-about-secret-service-scandal.html?pagewanted=all

There is a great piece on our expectation of military in the field written by an Afghanistan war veteran that talks about how common place destructive sexual behaviors are in the military. https://www.huffingtonpost.com/matthis-chiroux/secret-service-prostitution_b_1432333.html?ref=politics  This behavior has been common place for much of at least the last century with the famous war children in Germany, Korea, and Vietnam. In fact, those in service often feel pressured or bullied in to these acts.

Rachel Durchslag from the Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation makes the excellent point that this sort of sex tourism fuels sex trafficking. https://www.huffingtonpost.com/rachel-durchslag/sex-tourism-the-secret-se_b_1428733.html

Christian Science Monitor has a good read about sex tourism in Columbia and how it is related to child sex trafficking. https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Americas/2012/0417/Secret-Service-scandal-sheds-light-on-sex-tourism-in-Latin-America

 

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]]> https://renewalforum.org/secret-service-case-some-interesting-reads/feed/ 0 Men shouldn’t be boys. https://renewalforum.org/men-shouldnt-be-boys/ https://renewalforum.org/men-shouldnt-be-boys/#comments Wed, 25 Apr 2012 14:41:47 +0000 https://renewalforum.org/?p=170 Last week the story broke that, in preparation for President Obama’s trip to Columbia, a group of 12 Secret Service members and at least 11 military members became intoxicated and hired prostituted women into their hotel rooms. So far the biggest expressed concern from our legislators has been that fraternizing with prostituted women undermined the […]

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]]> Last week the story broke that, in preparation for President Obama’s trip to Columbia, a group of 12 Secret Service members and at least 11 military members became intoxicated and hired prostituted women into their hotel rooms. So far the biggest expressed concern from our legislators has been that fraternizing with prostituted women undermined the security of the president. There has also been some concern that they were partying while on the job, but there has been no condemnation for the purchase of prostituted women.

People excuse this behavior because it is technically legal to buy a prostituted woman in Columbia. People also excuse this behavior because we have this idea that boys will boys and this is standard fare for our men in uniform. In fact, this sexual perversion which often includes rape, sex with minors, and sex in exchange for food happens so often it is one of the reasons why Japan has an anti-US base movement.

This reality was acknowledge and declared intolerable by President Bush in executive order 12473 that amended the manual for court-martial for the Uniform Code of Military Justice to include the “patronizing a prostitute” to be a court-martialable offense. The United States has taken the view point that prostitution is “inherently harmful and dehumanizing, and contribute to the phenomenon of trafficking in persons.” In a similar manner we should be declaring that the patronizing of a prostitute by any government employee is intolerable and grounds for dismissal. In essence we should have a zero tolerance for the buying and selling of women, men, and children by any government employee: federal, state, county, municipal. All of them.

This is particularly true when you are talking about those employees who are charged with protecting people. Those who are charged with protecting people should not be in the business of exploiting them. Almost every victim of exploitation that we have talked to had a police officer or similar official as a client; this cannot continue.

Prostitution is an inherently harmful lifestyle and we should be helping people leave it and arresting those that further it through their demand. Human trafficking in the United States is often a pimp controlled woman who is being prostituted. This view is echoed and supported by many survivors of prostitution and sex trafficking who are now working to help others leave this dehumanizing life.

It is true that drunken partying is at odds with the duties we expect out of a Secret Service agent, but the bigger problem is their participation in this de-humanizing and exploitative act.

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