IV
105TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. CON. RES. 114
Expressing the sense of the Congress concerning the worldwide trafficking
of women and girls, whereby women and girls are coerced, abducted,
or deceived into migrating within or across national borders, and particu-
larly the trafficking of Burmese women and girls in Thailand for the
purposes of forced prostitution.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JULY 10, 1997
Ms. SLAUGHTER (for herself, Mr. YATES, Mr. ROHRABACHER, Mr. ABER-
CROMBIE, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. UNDERWOOD, Mr. BROWN of California, Mr.
MILLER of California, Ms. WATERS, Mr. MCNULTY, Mr. PASTOR, and
Ms. DANNER) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was
referred to the Committee on International Relations
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of the Congress concerning the world-
wide trafficking of women and girls, whereby women
and girls are coerced, abducted, or deceived into migrat-
ing within or across national borders, and particularly
the trafficking of Burmese women and girls in Thailand
for the purposes of forced prostitution.
Whereas the World Congress against Commercial Sexual Ex-
ploitation of Children in June 1996 declared, ‘‘Corrup-
tion and collusion, absence of and/or inadequate laws, lax
law enforcement, and limited sensitization of law enforce-
ment personnel to the harmful impact on children, are all
•HCON 114 IH
further factors which lead, directly or indirectly, to the
commercial sexual exploitation of children.’’;
Whereas the State Department’s 1996 annual Human Rights
Report on Thailand states, ‘‘Incidents of coerced pros-
titution most commonly involve women who are not eth-
nic Thai . . .; the number of such women entering the
country to work as prostitutes continued to rise. Because
they cannot speak Thai, and are considered illegal immi-
grants, these women are particularly vulnerable to phys-
ical abuse, confinement, and exploitation. Some women
are lured with promises of jobs as waitresses or domestic
helpers, but are then forced to work as prostitutes.’’;
Whereas the State Department’s report also states, ‘‘Credible
nongovernmental organizations reported at year’s end
(1996) that efforts by police to enforce the new
antiprostitution law were only moderately successful in
curbing the trade in children for commercial sex.’’;
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;
Whereas Article 1 of the 1956 Supplementary Convention on
the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Institu-
tions and Practices Similar to Slavery calls for the com-
plete 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 volun-
tarily’’, is internationally prohibited;
•HCON 114 IH
Whereas the Convention of Elimination of All Forms of Dis-
crimination 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 the trafficking of women and girls and forced pros-
titution are recognized as worldwide problems, and As-
sistant Secretary of State for Human Rights and Hu-
manitarian Affairs John Shattuck has testified that the
United States ‘‘urgently needs to encourage countries in
which trafficking of women and children goes on with im-
punity to enact new laws, and to enforce existing laws.
A particular target of this stepped up law enforcement
should be government officials who participate in or con-
done trafficking, as well as brothel owners and traffick-
ers’’;
Whereas First Lady Hillary Clinton remarked in Thailand,
‘‘Expanding educational opportunities for children, curb-
ing the spread of AIDS, and ending the exploitation of
young girls in the commercial sex industry will not only
help individual Thai girls and their families, but Thai so-
ciety as a whole.’’; and
Whereas Secretary Albright has remarked ‘‘[I]f those who
traffic in drugs should be punished severely—and they
should—so should those who traffic in human beings’’:
Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
concurring), That it is the sense of the Congress that—
(1) trafficking in persons violates the fun-
damental principles of human dignity, and forced
prostitution involving coercion or debt bondage con-
•HCON 114 IH
stitutes a form of forced labor and a slavery-like
practice;
(2) the State Department or other appropriate
Government agencies should investigate and take ap-
propriate measures to combat trafficking of women
and girls and forced prostitution in all countries
where they are found;
(3) the State Department or other appropriate
Government agencies should report to Congress an-
nually on actions it has taken to combat the traffick-
ing of women and girls and forced prostitution inter-
nationally; the annual report should include an as-
sessment of the extent of the problem and rec-
ommendations for an appropriate international re-
sponse;
(4) the World Congress on Commercial Sexual
Exploitation of Children began important work on
international child sexual exploitation, and the inter-
national working group that was formed as a result
of the Congress should continue its efforts to curb
the sexual exploitation of children;
(5) the State Department should urge the Thai
Government to strictly enforce the law criminalizing
brothel operators, procurers, members of the Thai
police force who may be complicit in forced prostitu-
•HCON 114 IH
(10) the United States Agency for International
Development should target a portion of its assist-
ance to Thailand for AIDS prevention and control to
the foreign population in Thailand, particularly Bur-
mese women and girls in the Thai sex industry; and
(11) the State Department should report to
Congress, within 6 months of the date of the adop-
tion of this resolution, on actions that it has taken
to advocate that the Thai Government implement
the above steps.
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