3071-The political economy of new slavery

96 Responses to Sexual Slavery
region of Pakistan, is the same. However, the demand for recreation
by international workers has not yet reached a climax in Afghanistan,
since most internationals choose to go on ‘stress leave’ in Pakistan or
Thailand, and may seek the company of prostitutes there. 6
Release or escape?
In BiH, should sex slaves manage to escape from their nightclubs, they
might be granted asylum in a safe place, before being deported back
to their countries of origin, for the lucky few who have been able to
escape with their passport. Women who attempted to escape may also
be killed by their owner, or arrested by the local police and deported to
the other side of the inter-entity boundary line (IEBL), where another
pimp is waiting to buy them from the police. 7 As a matter of fact, after
having realized that many deported women would become victims of
trafficking again, the Office of the High Representative (OHR) issued
a decision in 1999 prohibiting the deportations of aliens by BiH police
without consulting the UNMiBH/International Police Task Force (IPTF)
(Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Human Rights, 2001). While this
ensured that the women arrested would be given IOM shelter, it also
resulted in the deportation of women solely across the entity line
within BiH. For those taken into custody after a police raid (providing
that the owner has not been tipped off in advance), another form of
unfair treatment occurs whereby they will be effectively considered as
criminals by the authorities, and either deported or imprisoned. How
would they be tipped off, when a raid is prepared by the local police and
assisted by the IPTF? The answer lies in the fact that, until recently,
a blind eye has been turned to the frequent visits that some IPTF staff
paid to nightclubs as clients. 8 Moreover, numerous times the local police
have been involved in either maintaining the existence of the prostitution
establishments, either for money or complimentary visits, or
facilitating the trafficking of the women within BiH, mainly across the
IEBL separating the Bosnian Croat Federation and Republika Srpska. 9
There have been many scandals surrounding the tacit acceptance of prostitution
by local or international police, as well as the impunity with
which some international staff were behaving in the field (Vandenberg,
2002; Human Rights Watch, 2002b). Cases of collusion and even
financial co-operation between nightclub owners and IPTF staff are too
frequent, involving trafficking of women, girls and also young boys. 10
Investigations and testimonies, such as that of Kathryn Bolkovac, point
to the reality that IPTF monitors visit brothels and arrange for women