Editorial: Tackle people trafficking

It is election time. Newspaper headlines refer to bribery accusations, scandal and corruption as relevant issues. Yet I have seen not a single headline referring to any candidate's stand on the illegal trafficking of women in Taiwan.

In Jhongli, not half a kilometer from the police station, there is an establishment that houses -- or is it jails? -- women from Indonesia and Thailand. Their purpose? To provide massages for local men. Their influence on their working conditions? None.

I personally know a woman there who hasn't been allowed to leave the premises since her arrival late last month. She is in Taiwan on a travel visa, which makes her ineligible for employment. Just last week there was a police raid, and she was locked into a closet as the police "searched" the building. Later that evening, she was told to provide a massage for a member of the police department.

How do I know about this? The place was recommended to me by another foreigner. I went. I heard her story. I am now intent on stopping this practice, if not in this country than at least in this little corner of it.

I don't pretend to be naive enough to believe that the culture here has evolved enough so that the majority of people will crusade to stop this nonsense.

And I don't pretend to be naive enough to believe that this newspaper will have the guts to explore this issue on the ground in the places where it occurs.

I don't pretend to be naive enough to believe that Thailand's trade office will do anything about this woman's plight.

I don't even pretend to be naive enough to believe that any of my foreign friends will join me in protesting outside this place.

The usual suspects on the list of excuses -- that these women are making more money here than they would at home, that these women came here of their own free will, and so on -- won't wash any longer. It is a disgrace for anyone to call this government a forward-looking democracy when it turns its back on the people who need it the most.

For politicians and candidates for office to run in fear of this so-called black society, or the "mafia," is a disgrace. These women are locked away, and no one does anything. When will all of you realize what is going on? When will you stand up to these thugs and stop them from ruining the lives of these women?

I was happy to be a resident here. Now I'm disgusted and ashamed. If anyone wants to join me in freeing this woman, we have to do something.

William Wolfe
Longtan