300 Years & Counting 1H KILLS - On The Issues Magazine

officials said."The quest for cheap laborknows no bounds," said JeffreyNewman, executivedirector of the New YorkbasedNational Child LaborCommittee. "Six-, seven- andeight-year-olds are sweepingfloors and sewing on buttons."In more than 5,000 investigationssince 1987, the taskforce has uncovered about2,100 unregistered shops andmore than 600 child laborviolations, according to staterecords. There have been 500minimum-wage violationsand about 2,000 reports ofunsafe working conditions.Each violation carries amaximum $1,000 fine."But the bosses just closeup, move down the block andopen under a different name.As long as there is work,they'll find a way to stayopen,'' said task force supervisorCharles DeSiervo.And as long as there's a buckto be made, poor women andchildren will be exploited.TEACHING THERUSSIANS OURWAYSFrom Wendy Sloane, AssociatedPress: Like a growingnumber of Russians, a 20-year-old student is turningto sex for profit to survivesoaring prices and a worseningeconomy. The country'sopening to the West helpedthe sex business blossom.Several nights a month,Viktoria Galkina goes toNight Flight, a Swedish-rundisco frequented by Westernbusinessmen. She accompaniesa man to a hotel room —for a minimum of $200. Atthe current exchange rate,the $200 per trick is far morethan the average annualRussian salary of $115.20.COMMUNICATIONIRON CURTAINAn AP dispatch: A janitoraccused of tricking a womaninto making a night visit toher doctor's office, then rapingand stabbing her, has ahistory of sexual assaults andhad been ordered to undergopsychotherapy after his releasefrom prison.But the local police and thedoctor's office where ElbertHarris, of New Haven, CT,had worked for a year and ahalf, had been unaware of hisviolent past, the Police Chief,John Ambrogio, said. Harriswas arrested on charges ofattempted murder, kidnapping,sexual assault and recklessendangerment.Ambrogio said a day of researchfound Harris had ahistory of violent crimes datingto 1969, mostly involvingsexual assaults. The statewas under no requirement tonotify the local police abouthis presence, the Chief said,adding: "Something needs tobe changed. It's a classic caseof a lack of communication."This comment receives our"Understatement of the Year"award.Many young women arenow working as hard-currencyprostitutes or nudedancers in nightspots, includingclubs frequented byforeigners.The trend is helped byRussia's opening to the Westand the weakening of itsprudish mores. Pornographicbooks and newspapers,strictly forbidden in the preglasnostera, are now sold onstreet corners.In a country where the localcurrency is all but worthless,prostitution offers women thechance to earn fast dollars. Italso gives them a glimpseinto the lives of Westerners.It doesn't take long to proliferateour values, does it?SHADES OFTHE '50s!An AP dispatch: Officials ofSenator Jesse Helm's 1990re-election campaign signeda consent decreee to settle aJustice Department complaintthat the campaign wasinvolved in a mailing intendedto intimidate Blackvoters.The Justice Departmentbegan its investigation afterpostcards were sent to125,000 North Carolinians,most of whom wereBlacks eligible to vote, suggestingto them that theywere not eligible and warningthat if they went to thepolls they could be prosecutedfor voter fraud.Senator Helms, Republicanof North Carolina, wasopposed in the election byHarvey Gantt, the Blackformer mayor of Charlotte,N.C. The race had beenconsidered close but Mr.Helms won a third term bya comfortable margin, receiving1,080,208 votes toMr. Gantt's 974,701.The Justice Departmentcivil complaint, filed inFederal District Court inRaleigh, NC, chargedSenator Helm's re-electioncampaign, the North CarolinaRepublican Party andfour campaign-consultingand marketing firms withviolating the Voting RightsAct.The complaint assertedthat officials of the RepublicanParty and the Helmscampaign planned themailing after a poll publishedby The CharlotteObserver showed Mr.Gantt with a lead of eightpercentage points and afterstate election officialsreported a 10.6 percent increasein Black voter registration,compared with a5.3 percent rise in whitevoter registration.What's next? Police dogs andfire hoses?ON THE ISSUES SUMMER 1992