The alleged sexcapades by several Secret Service agents while in Colombia in service to President Barack Obama may not just be an embarassment for their country; rather, the objects of their affections may have been exploited against their will, and the investigation into the debaucherous debacle necessarily must include the circumstances by which the involved women found themselves in the meat market.
Legal prostitution in Colombia and other countries has generated a thriving sex tourism industry, and in meeting supply for the demand many women find themselves enslaved in the trade. For example, in Spain where prostitution is legal an estimated ninety percent of the 200,000 to 400,000 working girls in the country are trafficked against their will by crime groups including those from Colombia as reported by Suzanne Daley for The New York Times: "advocates and police officials say that most of the women are controlled by illegal networks — they are modern-day slaves." No doubt the situation is equally gloom, if not more so, for women in Colombia.
Just because prostitution is legal doesn't mean it's consensual.
Moreover, the age of consent is only fourteen in Colombia, and the unfortunate involvement of even younger children in the country's sex trade is pervasive. The Secret Service agents "had their pick of young girls with long, black and brown hair" at the Pley Club in Cartagena according to club employees as reported by the Daily News.
Hopefully, all the working girls at issue chose the profession of their own volition and are at least 18-years-old, but these are among the questions which must be convincingly answered in the ongoing investigation. After all, the Obama Administration insists it cares about women.
Further reading that may be of interest:
Law Enforcement Agencies Losing Credibility Under Obama White House
04/17/12 UPDATE: Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan "said none of the women, who had to surrender their IDs at the hotel, were minors" as reported by Julie Pace for The Associated Press.
