The senseless murder of 8 people in three “massage parlors” in Georgia has revealed a gross dereliction of duty and shameful neglect of responsibility of numerous city government departments including the police.
According to the Weds. March 17th AJC, a witness said “the women who worked there seemed to never leave. They not only worked there, they slept there.” Another witness said “they never talked to anyone.”
On TV news Tuesday night, police reported the murderer said that he had a sexual addiction and killed the women to protect himself from temptation.
It should be obvious that these establishments were houses of prostitution and these women were captive sex slaves who had been “trafficked.” Traffickers victimized these unfortunate women and forced into sexual slavery. It is common for traffickers to threaten their victims with violence, to drug them against their will and eventually, terrorize them into submission.
But the women were also victimized by the blatant neglect of numerous city and county departments that should have been aware of the nature of these businesses. These “massage parlors” should never have been allowed to obtain business licenses or to remain open after routine health or fire inspections.
Politicians decry sexual slavery but they allow this cruel practice to flourish right out in the open under bright neon lights.
The employees and elected officials of these city and county governments that failed in their responsibility to protect these women from traffickers are as complicit in the ongoing plague of the sexual exploitation of young women as the owners and managers of the “spas”and the owners of the buildings that housed those illicit businesses.
The women were victimized three times. First by the traffickers, then the local governments shameful neglect, and finally, the mentally ill gunman who should never have had a weapon.
Jim McMeans