New Law in Syria to Recognize Victims as..well...Victims
"Syrian law does not protect the rights of women. The same punishment applies for a woman, who is the victim, as for the man, who is often forcing her into the work"
Those are the words of a women's right activist in Syria named Maysa Hilyoa who is rooting for a new piece of legislation many hope will fix the problem.
As has been discussed time and time again on this website, sex slavery and trafficking is one of the most widespread and horrendous crimes on the face of the planet.
The sheer agony that young girls and boys must endure during such enslavement is often times a fate worse than death; a living hell; a zombie-like existence not fit for the lowest, dirtiest, garbage guzzling rodent.
Yet, imagine the hope present in the back of these sex slaves' minds as they continue attempting to live out the constant demands of servicing 20 to 30 men a day, half-starved and vehemently drugged with no financial gain. Imagine the thought that, perhaps, just perhaps, they will be rescued, that someone may find out and the police will raid the building and save them.
Well, for a long time in Syria and in a variety of other countries around the world as well as in the not so distant past of the United States, victims that have been forced into sex slavery will receive a fate worse than the traffickers themselves.
Imagine that -- after finally being found out by law-enforcement, you do not get to go home or receive any kind of help psychologically and physically, but instead are subjected to a stinking jail cell for years and forced to pay fines that you have no money for.
Syria's legislative laxness concerning the sex trafficking trade rampant within the city may finally be coming to an end after recent and rather lengthy negotiations to draft a law specifically targeting trafficking in Syria has been submitted to the prime minister's office for approval.
Supporters of the new law hope that it will pass soon and take effect within a few months.
Not only will the law increase the minimum punishment for trafficking from what it is currently (three years) to seven years imprisonment and a fine equal to $20,000 American dollars, but it will also recognize victims as just that -- victims, not criminals.
In a recent article entitled "New Draft Law Targets Sex Traffickers", Farouk al-basha, the leading member of the committee drafting the bill on trafficking, expresses his excitement by stating, "We want to have the best legislation in the world to counter the issue of trafficking. Most importantly, for the first time the trafficked person will be considered a victim and not punished. We will go after the perpetrators and the causes of trafficking."
This would be a first for Syria, a country that, despite a 2006 law banning the practice, has an estimated 100 recruitment agencies offering young girls for domestic service. The girls are often brought into the country against their will and have very few rights, if any at all.
In fact, under current laws in Syria, offenders are prosecuted under standard criminal law, which results more often than not in the victim of trafficking being punished more than the traffickers themselves and many women have been detained and deported on charges of expired entry papers and prostitution over the years.
As awareness about sex slavery and trafficking continues to spread throughout the world, laws have been continually improved. And, despite your inability to actually draft the laws yourself, anyone and everyone has the ability to spread awareness about such things.
People's action and dissenting voice is what causes governments to draft new laws and people's support for those laws is what ensures their passing.
