[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 21 Introduced in House (IH)]
104th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. CON. RES. 21
Expressing the sense of the Congress concerning the trafficking of
Burmese women and girls into Thailand for the purposes of forced
prostitution.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 1, 1995
Ms. Slaughter submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was
referred to the Committee on International Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of the Congress concerning the trafficking of
Burmese women and girls into Thailand for the purposes of forced
prostitution.
Whereas credible reports indicate that thousands of Burmese women and girls are
being trafficked into Thailand with false promises of good paying jobs
in restaurants or factories, and then forced to work in brothels under
slavery-like conditions that include sexual and physical violence, debt
bondage, exposure to HIV, passport deprivation, and illegal confinement;
Whereas credible reports also indicate that members of the Thai police force are
often actively involved in, and profit from, the trafficking of Burmese
women and girls for the purposes of forced prostitution;
Whereas the United States Government conducts training programs for the Thai
police and United States arms and equipment are sold to the Thai police;
Whereas the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against
Women requires all States Parties ``to take all appropriate measures,
including legislation, to suppress all forms of traffic in women and
exploitation of prostitution of women'';
Whereas Article 1 of the 1956 Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of
Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Institutions and Practices Similar to
Slavery calls for the complete abolition or abandonment of debt bondage;
Whereas forced labor, defined under the 1930 Forced Labor Convention as ``all
work or service which is exacted from any person under the menace of any
penalty and for which the said person has not offered himself
voluntarily,'' is internationally prohibited;
Whereas the 1949 Convention for the Suppression of Traffic in Persons and of the
Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others finds the traffic in persons
for the purposes of prostitution ``incompatible with the dignity and
worth of the human person,'' and calls on States Parties to punish any
person who procures for the purposes of prostitution, keeps, manages or
knowingly finances a brothel, or rents premises for the prostitution of
others;
Whereas Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs
John Shattuck has testified that the United States ``urgently needs to
encourage countries in which trafficking of women and children goes on
with impunity to enact new laws, and to enforce existing laws. A
particular target of this stepped-up law enforcement should be
government officials who participate in or condone trafficking, as well
as brothel owners and traffickers''; and
Whereas Secretary of State Warren Christopher stated before the 1993 World
Conference on Human Rights that ``(g)uaranteeing human rights is a moral
imperative with respect to both women and men'': Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring),
That it is the sense of the Congress that--
(1) trafficking in persons violates the fundamental
principle of human dignity, and forced prostitution involving
physical coercion or debt bondage constitutes a form of forced
labor and a slavery-like practice;
(2) the United States State Department should continue to
press the Thai Government to strictly enforce all laws that can
lead to the prosecution of those involved in trafficking and
forced prostitution, including procurers, traffickers, pimps,
brothel owners, and members of the Thai police who may be
complicit;
(3) the State Department should ensure that Thai police
participants in United States Government-sponsored police
training programs are systematically vetted to exclude those
who are implicated in trafficking and forced prostitution;
(4) the executive branch should take steps to assure that
weapons and equipment provided or sold to the Thai police do
not become available to members of those forces who might be
involved in trafficking, forced prostitution, or abuse of women
and girls who are apprehended;
(5) the State Department should urge the Thai Government to
protect the rights and safety of Burmese women and girls in
Thailand who are freed from brothels or who are arrested as
illegal immigrants because their status as trafficking victims
is unclear;
(6) the United States Agency for International Development
should target a portion of its assistance to Thailand for AIDS
prevention and control to the foreign population in Thailand,
particularly Burmese women and girls in the Thai sex industry;
and
(7) the State Department should report to Congress, within
6 months of the date of this resolution, on actions that it has
taken to advocate that the Thai Government implement the above
steps.
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