VOA慢速英语--New Answers for the Old Problem of Sex Trafficking

 

The owner of an American football team was recently arrested after law enforcement caught him buying sex at a Florida business.

The arrest of New England Patriots¹ owner Robert Kraft came as the result of an investigation² of the sex trade in the state. It also serves as a reminder³ of the problem of human trafficking and abuse across the United States.

Most of the illegal sex work is happening at businesses that advertise as “massage⁴" parlors⁶.

Anti-trafficking campaigners say U.S. law enforcement officials are using a number of strategies to deal with the problem. They include deeper investigations⁷ into larger criminal groups; the closing of websites where men share descriptions of sex services they purchased; and enforcement of stronger civil laws on the massage industry.

Stephanie Clark is the head of a nonprofit group called Amirah. It provides safe houses for women escaping sex trafficking in Massachusetts.

Clark told The Associated Press, “You’re fighting against a multibillion-dollar industry that’s very, very good at…keeping their business going. They are always 10 steps ahead.”

A big business

As many as 9,000 illegal massage parlors now operate in more than 1,000 cities nationwide, powering the nearly $3 billion industry. That information comes from the Polaris Project, another nonprofit group. It operates a telephone support service for victims of trafficking.

Most of the sex workers are women from China and South Korea. Many have entered the United States illegally and are in their mid-30s to late 50s. Traffickers lie to the women and use many forms of pressure to force them into prostitution, including debt bondage⁸, Polaris Project explained.

The massage parlor⁵ in Jupiter, Florida where Kraft was caught on video in sex acts represents the common business model. It is found on a strip mall in a wealthy community along the Atlantic coast. The parlor employed mostly Chinese immigrants and was linked to nine or more businesses throughout Florida.

Officials say the women had about 1,500 paying clients a year, were given no days to rest and were not permitted to leave the building. Palm Beach State Attorney Dave Aronberg described it as “modern-day slavery.”

Several suspected parlor owners and supervisors⁹ face a number of prostitution-related charges. At least one, Lan Yun Ma of Orlando, faces human trafficking charges. Hundreds of male clients, including Kraft, face lesser¹⁰ charges.

California is home to nearly one third of the nation’s illegal massage parlors. Law enforcement officials there as well as parts of Minnesota, Utah and Washington are also dealing¹¹ with many cases, Polaris Project notes.

In one recent case in Massachusetts, Xiu J. Chen was charged with operating a human trafficking and money laundering¹² operation across six massage parlors north of Boston. She brought Asian women from New York and organized their transportation, housing and appointments with clients. The women mostly slept on mattresses¹⁴ on the floor.

In December 2018, Chen received five years in prison.

But in New York, major arrests of sex traffickers remain difficult, even with law enforcement’s newest strategy against human trafficking. The strategy took effect in 2017. It promised to take action against customers and traffickers, not sex workers. That information comes from Chris Muller of Restore NYC, a nonprofit group that works with immigrant sex trafficking survivors¹⁵.

Efforts to decriminalize and legalize

New York is one place seeing a growth in support for decriminalizing and even legalizing sex work, as in parts of Nevada and Europe. But, for now, anti-trafficking groups and local officials appear to be setting more realistic goals.

Delaware and North Carolina, for example, have recently listed massage parlors as health businesses. Now, the parlors must pass inspections¹⁶ and meet other cleanliness and safety requirements. Lawmakers in several other states are also looking into stronger regulations on the massage industry.

In addition, laws that limit business hours or ban things like front doors with buzzers¹⁸ and back-door entrances have been used to close hundreds of parlors in California. But officials say these local measures often just push the industry into neighboring areas without similar rules.

Federal and state government officials are also charging customers who write reviews of their massage parlor experiences on online message boards.

The U.S. Department of Justice said federal sex trafficking laws that began last year give states power to take action against trafficking websites. The department points to recent cases in which the government removed such websites and brought charges against their owners, including Backpage.com.

I’m Alice Bryant.

And I’m Jill Robbins.

Word in This Story

massage – n. the action of rubbing or pressing someone's body in a way that helps muscles to relax or reduces pain in muscles and joints¹⁹

parlor – n. a store or business that sells a specified²⁰ kind of food or service

reminder – n. something that causes you to remember or to think about something

strategy – n. a careful plan or method for achieving a particular goal usually over a long period of time

debt bondage – n. A condition similar to slavery where people are unable to control their lives or their work due to unpaid²¹ money

strip mall – n. a shopping mall consisting of stores and restaurants typically in one-story buildings located on a busy main road

customer – n. someone who buys goods or services from a business

mattress¹³ – n. a cloth case that is filled with material and used as a bed

buzzer¹⁷ – n. an electric device that makes a loud sound

review – n. a report that gives someone's opinion about the quality of a product, performance or something else

1 patriots   

爱国者，爱国主义者( patriot的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Abraham Lincoln was a fine type of the American patriots. 亚伯拉罕·林肯是美国爱国者的优秀典型。
• These patriots would fight to death before they surrendered. 这些爱国者宁愿战斗到死，也不愿投降。

2 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

3 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。

4 massage   

n.按摩，揉；vt.按摩，揉，美化，奉承，篡改数据

参考例句：

• He is really quite skilled in doing massage.他的按摩技术确实不错。
• Massage helps relieve the tension in one's muscles.按摩可使僵硬的肌肉松弛。

5 parlor   

n.店铺，营业室；会客室，客厅

参考例句：

• She was lying on a small settee in the parlor.她躺在客厅的一张小长椅上。
• Is there a pizza parlor in the neighborhood?附近有没有比萨店？

6 parlors   

客厅( parlor的名词复数 )； 起居室； （旅馆中的）休息室； （通常用来构成合成词）店

参考例句：

• It had been a firm specializing in funeral parlors and parking lots. 它曾经是一个专门经营殡仪馆和停车场的公司。
• I walked, my eyes focused into the endless succession of barbershops, beauty parlors, confectioneries. 我走着，眼睛注视着那看不到头的、鳞次栉比的理发店、美容院、糖果店。

7 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

8 bondage   

n.奴役，束缚

参考例句：

• Masters sometimes allowed their slaves to buy their way out of bondage.奴隶主们有时允许奴隶为自己赎身。
• They aim to deliver the people who are in bondage to superstitious belief.他们的目的在于解脱那些受迷信束缚的人。

9 supervisors   

n.监督者，管理者( supervisor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I think the best technical people make the best supervisors. 我认为最好的技术人员可以成为最好的管理人员。 来自辞典例句
• Even the foremen or first-level supervisors have a staffing responsibility. 甚至领班或第一线的监督人员也有任用的责任。 来自辞典例句

10 lesser   

adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地

参考例句：

• Kept some of the lesser players out.不让那些次要的球员参加联赛。
• She has also been affected,but to a lesser degree.她也受到波及，但程度较轻。

11 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

12 laundering   

n.洗涤（衣等），洗烫（衣等）；洗（钱）v.洗（衣服等），洗烫（衣服等）( launder的现在分词 )；洗（黑钱）（把非法收入改头换面，变为貌似合法的收入）

参考例句：

• Separate the white clothes from the dark clothes before laundering. 洗衣前应当把浅色衣服和深色衣服分开。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He was charged with laundering money. 他被指控洗钱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 mattress   

n.床垫，床褥

参考例句：

• The straw mattress needs to be aired.草垫子该晾一晾了。
• The new mattress I bought sags in the middle.我买的新床垫中间陷了下去。

14 mattresses   

褥垫，床垫( mattress的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The straw mattresses are airing there. 草垫子正在那里晾着。
• The researchers tested more than 20 mattresses of various materials. 研究人员试验了二十多个不同材料的床垫。

15 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

16 inspections   

n.检查( inspection的名词复数 )；检验；视察；检阅

参考例句：

• Regular inspections are carried out at the prison. 经常有人来视察这座监狱。
• Government inspections ensure a high degree of uniformity in the standard of service. 政府检查确保了在服务标准方面的高度一致。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 buzzer   

n.蜂鸣器；汽笛

参考例句：

• The buzzer went off at eight o'clock.蜂鸣器在8点钟时响了。
• Press the buzzer when you want to talk.你想讲话的时候就按蜂鸣器。

18 buzzers   

n.门铃( buzzer的名词复数 )；蜂音器（的声音）；发嗡嗡声的东西或人；汽笛

参考例句：

• Scout in with Buzzers(Via The Swarm) or whatever fast unit you have. 用技能召唤的蜂群（或者任何你拥有的快速单位）探路。 来自互联网
• Buzzers have the ability to clear garrisoned structures. 蜂群拥有清除驻军建筑得能力。 来自互联网

19 joints   

接头( joint的名词复数 )； 关节； 公共场所（尤指价格低廉的饮食和娱乐场所） （非正式）； 一块烤肉 （英式英语）

参考例句：

• Expansion joints of various kinds are fitted on gas mains. 各种各样的伸缩接头被安装在煤气的总管道上了。
• Expansion joints of various kinds are fitted on steam pipes. 各种各样的伸缩接头被安装在蒸气管道上了。

20 specified   

adj.特定的

参考例句：

• The architect specified oak for the wood trim. 那位建筑师指定用橡木做木饰条。
• It is generated by some specified means. 这是由某些未加说明的方法产生的。

21 unpaid   

adj.未付款的，无报酬的

参考例句：

• Doctors work excessive unpaid overtime.医生过度加班却无报酬。
• He's doing a month's unpaid work experience with an engineering firm.他正在一家工程公司无偿工作一个月以获得工作经验。