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103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. CON. RES. 254

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

JUNE 13, 1994

Ms. SLAUGHTER (for herself, Mrs. MEEK, Ms. BROWN of Florida, Mrs.

SCHROEDER, Mrs. THURMAN, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, and Mrs. MEYERS

of Kansas) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

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 slaverylike 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;
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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 [sic] 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
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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

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate

2 concurring), That it is the sense of the Congress that—

3 (1) trafficking in persons violates the fun4 damental principle of human dignity, and forced

5 prostitution involving physical coercion or debt bond6 age constitutes a form of forced labor and a slavery7 like practice;

8 (2) the United States State Department should

9 continue to press the Thai Government to strictly

10 enforce all laws that can lead to the prosecution of

11 those involved in trafficking and forced prostitution,

12 including procurers, traffickers, pimps, brothel own13 ers, and members of the Thai police who may be

14 complicit;

15 (3) the State Department should ensure that

16 Thai police participants in United States Govern17 ment-sponsored police training programs are system18 atically vetted to exclude those who are implicated in

19 trafficking and forced prostitution;
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1 (4) the executive branch should take steps to

2 assure that weapons and equipment provided or sold

3 to the Thai police do not become available to mem4 bers of those forces who might be involved in traf5 ficking, forced prostitution, or abuse of women and

6 girls who are apprehended;

7 (5) the State Department should urge the Thai

8 Government to protect the rights and safety of Bur9 mese women and girls in Thailand who are freed

10 from brothels or who are arrested as illegal immi11 grants because their status as trafficking victims is

12 unclear;

13 (6) the United States Trade Representative

14 should extend the evaluation of a petition on Thai15 land’s labor rights situation that was filed last year

16 by the AFL–CIO in order to include a review of

17 Thai official involvement in trafficking and forced

18 prostitution;

19 (7) the State Department should appoint a sen20 ior advisor on women’s human rights to the Under21 secretary for Global Affairs who would serve as an

22 internal advocate to ensure that United States for23 eign policy addresses women’s human rights viola24 tions, including trafficking and forced prostitution;
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1 (8) the United States Agency for International

2 Development should target a portion of its assist3 ance to Thailand for AIDS prevention and control to

4 the foreign population in Thailand, particularly Bur5 mese women and girls in the Thai sex industry; and

6 (9) the State Department should report to Con7 gress, within 6 months of the date of this resolution,

8 on actions that it has taken to advocate that the

9 Thai Government implement the above steps.

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