[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 114 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. CON. RES. 114

     Expressing the sense of the Congress concerning the worldwide 
 trafficking of women and girls, whereby women and girls are coerced, 
abducted, or deceived into migrating within or across national borders, 
and particularly the trafficking of Burmese women and girls in Thailand 
                for the purposes of forced prostitution.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 10, 1997

      Ms. Slaughter (for herself, Mr. Yates, Mr. Rohrabacher, Mr. 
  Abercrombie, Mr. Payne, Mr. Underwood, Mr. Brown of California, Mr. 
  Miller of California, Ms. Waters, Mr. McNulty, Mr. Pastor, and Ms. 
   Danner) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was 
          referred to the Committee on International Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
     Expressing the sense of the Congress concerning the worldwide 
 trafficking of women and girls, whereby women and girls are coerced, 
abducted, or deceived into migrating within or across national borders, 
and particularly the trafficking of Burmese women and girls in Thailand 
                for the purposes of forced prostitution.

Whereas the World Congress against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children in 
        June 1996 declared, ``Corruption and collusion, absence of and/or 
        inadequate laws, lax law enforcement, and limited sensitization of law 
        enforcement personnel to the harmful impact on children, are all further 
        factors which lead, directly or indirectly, to the commercial sexual 
        exploitation of children.'';
Whereas the State Department's 1996 annual Human Rights Report on Thailand 
        states, ``Incidents of coerced prostitution most commonly involve women 
        who are not ethnic Thai . . .; the number of such women entering the 
        country to work as prostitutes continued to rise. Because they cannot 
        speak Thai, and are considered illegal immigrants, these women are 
        particularly vulnerable to physical abuse, confinement, and 
        exploitation. Some women are lured with promises of jobs as waitresses 
        or domestic helpers, but are then forced to work as prostitutes.'';
Whereas the State Department's report also states, ``Credible nongovernmental 
        organizations reported at year's end (1996) that efforts by police to 
        enforce the new antiprostitution law were only moderately successful in 
        curbing the trade in children for commercial sex.'';
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 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 Convention of 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 the trafficking of women and girls and forced prostitution are 
        recognized as worldwide problems, and 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'';
Whereas First Lady Hillary Clinton remarked in Thailand, ``Expanding educational 
        opportunities for children, curbing the spread of AIDS, and ending the 
        exploitation of young girls in the commercial sex industry will not only 
        help individual Thai girls and their families, but Thai society as a 
        whole.''; and
Whereas Secretary Albright has remarked ``[I]f those who traffic in drugs should 
        be punished severely--and they should--so should those who traffic in 
        human beings'': 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 
        principles of human dignity, and forced prostitution involving 
        coercion or debt bondage constitutes a form of forced labor and 
        a slavery-like practice;
            (2) the State Department or other appropriate Government 
        agencies should investigate and take appropriate measures to 
        combat trafficking of women and girls and forced prostitution 
        in all countries where they are found;
            (3) the State Department or other appropriate Government 
        agencies should report to Congress annually on actions it has 
        taken to combat the trafficking of women and girls and forced 
        prostitution internationally; the annual report should include 
        an assessment of the extent of the problem and recommendations 
        for an appropriate international response;
            (4) the World Congress on Commercial Sexual Exploitation of 
        Children began important work on international child sexual 
        exploitation, and the international working group that was 
        formed as a result of the Congress should continue its efforts 
        to curb the sexual exploitation of children;
            (5) the State Department should urge the Thai Government to 
        strictly enforce the law criminalizing brothel operators, 
        procurers, members of the Thai police force who may be 
        complicit in forced prostitution, and customers of women and 
        children trafficked for the purpose of forced prostitution;
            (6) 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;
            (7) 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;
            (8) 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;
            (9) the State Department should encourage the Thai 
        Government to continue to allow nongovernmental organizations 
        assisting in efforts to stop sex trafficking and assisting 
        women and girls who have been victims of forced prostitution to 
        proceed with their work unimpeded;
            (10) 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
            (11) the State Department should report to Congress, within 
        6 months of the date of the adoption of this resolution, on 
        actions that it has taken to advocate that the Thai Government 
        implement the above steps.
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