We can assist in the development of clear and comprehensive statutory definitions of the crimes of forced prostitution and sexual trafficking. The U.S. Government can provide targeted assistance to foreign governments for resourcing and training special units to fight force prostitution and international trafficking. All of the work that the IJM has done in physically rescuing women and girls from forced prostitution we have done with the assistance of select trusted contacts within local law enforcement overseas. This calibrated combination of U.S. policy initiatives can make a real difference in the quality and vigor of the response by local law enforcement to forced prostitution. All efforts to combat forced prostitution are impacted by the victims' eagerness to seek help and to cooperate in prosecution.
All law enforcement depends upon the support of the community and the cooperation of victims.
First, local law enforcement must get out of the business of protecting and profiting from forced prostitution. One must understand that the law enforcement personnel that most victims of sexual trafficking are familiar with are the ones they see turning a blind eye, taking a bribe, catching and returning the runaway to the brothel. Unless U.S. policy places strong pressure on foreign governments to prosecute vigorously and severely those police who participate in and profit from the sex trade, then one cannot reasonably expect much cooperation from the victims of that environment who are trafficked to our own shores. Secondly, victims must be provided a safe environment in which they can feel freely empowered to participate of their own volition in the justice system. It is well-known that the greatest ally of international sexual trafficking has been the way government authorities have treated the victims of sexual trafficking as criminals rather than as the vulnerable rape victims that they are.