Donna M. Hughes (dhughes@uriacc.uri.edu)
Mon, 24 Aug 1998 17:10:21 -0400
Venezuelan NGOs Blast ILO's Proposition To Recognize Prostitution As
"Prosperous Activity"
- report by VHeadline/VENews © correspondent Patrick J. O'Donoghue --
VHeadline/VEnews: Friday, August 21, 1998 --
Reactions have been
swift to an International Labor Organization (ILO) call on Asian
governments to officially recognize the prosperous sex industry
and start collecting taxes. The Venezuelan Chapter of Coalition
Against Trafficking of Women has issued a statement condemning
ILO official, Lin Leam Lim, who was responsible for making the
ILO announcement at its Geneva HQ. Coalition spokeswomen, Zoraida
Ramirez says "The ILO as well as other government, non-government
and international organizations can't escape corruption and
internal decomposition."
The ILO's proposal is based on a study which reveals that sex
trade represents between 2 to 14% of Asian countries' GDP.
Although the organization clarified that it wasn't in favor of
legalizing prostitution, the statement declared that there were
advantages of recognizing it as an economic sector. International
Movement of Apostolate of Children (MIDADEN) deputy president,
Angel Gonzalez says "it's like saying that Andean Region
countries should recognize narco-trafficking as an economic
sector for the amount of money being poured into the economy
through money-laundering and should start collecting taxes from
narco-traffickers, which is akin to legalizing the trade."
Ramirez criticizes ILO's provision that prostitution
should only include adults and not boys and girls.
"Everyone knows that the Asian sex trade is centered
around child prostitution ... Lin Leam Lim is a lackey
of the Asian sex trade like so many others ...
prostitution is a form of slavery."
Gonzalez adds "It's hypocritical. It was the ILO that mounted the
failed Global March Against Child Labor and now this! While it's
intention is to face up to economic facts, it seems to forget
humanitarian issues behind prostitution and the damage inflicted
on real persons."
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