Boom-boom.

No, not as in shooting, boom-boom as in the word that a Thai man used to ask a friend of mine to spend money spending time with one of the young and underaged sex slave he had procured by some means.

An epidemic, a horrible sight, young girls, no more than 15 or 16 years old, near the oldest, standing in next to nothing and beckoning for men who are twice or three times their age to come pay to use them for one night and toss them to the side. Like everyone else in their lives have done, the men who came and went, their pimps and their mother's and father's who sold them simply to pay whatever debts they had and never looked back. I don't know quite what's worse, that a parent would sell their child into a life of sex slavery or the people who allow themselves to sleep with a child or, perhaps, the police officers who turn a blind eye and go about their business, understaffed, underpaid and corrupt.

My friend went on an expedition to Australia, something he had planned for quite a few years, saved up for and finally getting to go, he traveled through Australia and headed to Bangkok roughly two days ago, part of his itinerary. While he was walking through the streets he was approached by a Thai man named "Joe", as he had said, who was trying to get my friend to go get a massage from one of his parlors. My friend, Phil, kept saying no, trying to shake Joe off and go about his business. It kept on until Joe used the trade mark words "boom-boom". Those words, essentially, mean sex. Its a code-word even though everyone else in the world knows it, they apparently think that it'll help them get customers. I'm quite sure my friend was feeling horrified at that thought as he kept saying no and finally managed to shake Joe. But how many Americans go over there and don't say no?

Last semester I watched a video with my CSI class about human trafficking and saw all the horrific images of kids who were younger than me, about the same age as my seven year old cousin, sitting in a makeshift room and being bartered for their sex. Girls who were still virgins went for higher, even boys were used as sex slaves. These kids were sold into slavery by their parents who needed the money to pay off whatever debt they had accrued. The sad part about this is that they claim to love their children; who loves their children enough to sell them as sex slaves? Or to even sell their children?

Its quite obvious, to me, that they don't love their children like we in America do. We value children, so much so that we've set up guidelines and rules to make sure that we're protecting our children and keeping them from being exploited like the children in Bangkok and other places like that. All those laws against having sex with minors, statutory rape, they all keep people here in line, that's the theory, anyhow. I know there are men and women here who don't think twice about these rules and just go after whomever they want but if they're caught they're jailed. People like Joe don't get jailed because the cops are paid off, the cops don't care and they'll even visit these brothels themselves. Its absolutely rampant in Bangkok.

In that video we watched it followed a doctor who had gone over to Thailand for "vacation" and had intended on seeing these children. The undercover investigator talked to him and managed to get him to tell him why he was there. I felt sickened when he mentioned he was there to see girls who were 13 years old. Not younger, apparently, but there are girls and boys there that are as young as five years old. Even a 13 year old; they have to see things that I couldn't have even thought of when I was that old. When I was 13, and I imagine a number of you, I was out playing and still thought boys were icky. These 13 year olds have to open their bodies to any man or woman who decides to walk through the doors and perform acts that are unheard of all because of money.

Another problem is that the Asian culture doesn't look down on having sex with children, with teens or even prepubescent teens like we do. They don't see it as a bad thing, they probably never will, which makes it even more difficult to stop these children from being sold like this. Sadly, I don't think it'll ever stop. Its absolutely heart-wrenching to look at those faces and see there is no light in their eyes, its all been snuffed out the minute they were broken and used for sex. And if they are caught? The sentence is sorely lacking. One man was only in prison for three years for committing "obscene acts with girls ages 10 and 11 at his rented seaside villa in southern Vietnam" (1).

A Bangkok official said this "This case sends a strong message to child sex offenders around the world that society will not tolerate any form of sexual violence and exploitation of children," (2). But does it really? If this is still running rampant, how could it be that they are supposedly cracking down on things like this? I don't think that statement holds water, especially when people are only spending three years in jail for doing something to a 10 or 11 year old. Why only three years? How about a life time? Or just chuck them overboard with cement shoes? That works just as well for me, those children who have to live a lifetime dealing with this, they can't get out of it once they're in there because what kind of life would they have afterward? Always remembering those days and feeling like they can't get away from it. Take molestation victims now. Even if its been years, and I'm talking about 20 some odd years, it still comes back and it'll haunt them, it'll tear them apart inside.

Another man was deported back to American soil after spending only a year in prison in Thailand for molesting 15 and 16 year old boys. (3) What's even more horrific is that he paid only five dollars to ruin their innocence even further. There is no good price to pay for ruining innocence, mind you, but that's an even bigger kick in the groin. You can pay next to nothing to ruin these children.

Unfortunately there is next to nothing that we can do about it unless we can somehow change their minds to seeing that children should be valued in a society rather than sold as objects and used a profit. And while sex trafficking is horrible all around, I feel that the majority of people are even more horrified at children being trafficked to be used for such deplorable acts. Something needs to be done to stop these children from being prostituted, anything. As much as I would love to say simply kill all those who engage in this grotesque activity that isn't possible. I just wish I had the magic solution - the switch to make it all stop.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(1), (2) and (3) from: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,208800,00.html