Kara defines three variables that amount to the cost of operating an illegal sex business which include the cost of buying the slaves, the cost of operating the brothel (i.e. rent for the location, food, clothing, and bed for the slaves, etc.), and the risk of being caught which sometimes includes jail time and/or fines. Kara argues that trying to interfere with the first two costs is futile and that increasing the risk of being caught is the only effective method for decreasing the demand of sex …show more content…
He argued that countries putting pressure on nations that are involved in trafficking is a good method for combating slavery. He cited the 1980’s apartheid in South Africa as an example of this technique working. However, this reminded me of what we talked about in class regarding the Tier System used by the Trafficking in Persons Report published each year by the United States. Countries ranked tier 3 and under are subjected to economic “punishment” similar to the “pressure” Bales writes about. This punishment could involve the relinquishment of trade deals and even the renouncing of aid that is meant to help trafficked victims. But how do these punishments actually help to end slavery? If anything, you could argue that the economic pressure only makes the people of said country even more vulnerable to slavery because they lost their legitimate job when the United States stopped trading with them. It seems to me that this tactic could do more harm than