Duty Honor Country
Active member
By Pauline Jelinek
Associated Press
Wednesday, September 22, 2004; Page A13
U.S. service members stationed overseas could face a court-martial for patronizing prostitutes under a new regulation drafted by the Pentagon.
The move is part of a Defense Department effort to reduce the possibility that service members will contribute to human trafficking in areas near their overseas bases by seeking the services of women forced into prostitution.
In recent years, "women and girls are being forced into prostitution for a clientele consisting largely of military services members, government contractors and international peacekeepers" in such places as South Korea and the Balkans, Rep. Christopher H. Smith (R-N.J.) said yesterday at a Capitol Hill forum on Pentagon anti-trafficking efforts.
Defense officials have drafted an amendment to the manual on courts-martial that would make it an offense for service members to use the services of prostitutes, said Charles S. Abell, a Pentagon undersecretary for personnel and readiness.
If approved, the amendment would make it a military offense under the Uniform Code of Military Justice to have contact with a prostitute, Lt. Col. Ellen Krenke, an Abell spokeswoman, said later. The draft rule is open to 60 days of public comment after being published in the Federal Register, she said.
Officials also are developing a training program for service members and contractors, to be distributed in November. The program will explain trafficking, department policy on it and possible legal action against violators, Abell said in a written statement.
Additionally, the military is reviewing regulations and procedures for placing off-limits those businesses where such activities take place and working with Justice Department officials to tighten rules on contractor misconduct.
Gen. Leon J. LaPorte, commander of the 37,000 U.S. service members in South Korea, said another initiative started on the peninsula has been to "make on-base military life a more desirable experience, and attempt to diminish the seductive appeal of many of the less wholesome off-duty pursuits."
That effort includes offering expanded evening and weekend education programs, band concerts, late-night sports leagues and more chaplain activities.
All new arrivals to duty in South Korea are instructed against prostitution and human trafficking, and the military is working with South Korean law enforcement agencies, he said.
NATO officials in July outlined new guidelines adopted to ensure alliance peacekeepers do not encourage sex trafficking gangs by seeking the services of women forced into prostitution.
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That is going to change the whole Korea experience for US Soldiers
Associated Press
Wednesday, September 22, 2004; Page A13
U.S. service members stationed overseas could face a court-martial for patronizing prostitutes under a new regulation drafted by the Pentagon.
The move is part of a Defense Department effort to reduce the possibility that service members will contribute to human trafficking in areas near their overseas bases by seeking the services of women forced into prostitution.
In recent years, "women and girls are being forced into prostitution for a clientele consisting largely of military services members, government contractors and international peacekeepers" in such places as South Korea and the Balkans, Rep. Christopher H. Smith (R-N.J.) said yesterday at a Capitol Hill forum on Pentagon anti-trafficking efforts.
Defense officials have drafted an amendment to the manual on courts-martial that would make it an offense for service members to use the services of prostitutes, said Charles S. Abell, a Pentagon undersecretary for personnel and readiness.
If approved, the amendment would make it a military offense under the Uniform Code of Military Justice to have contact with a prostitute, Lt. Col. Ellen Krenke, an Abell spokeswoman, said later. The draft rule is open to 60 days of public comment after being published in the Federal Register, she said.
Officials also are developing a training program for service members and contractors, to be distributed in November. The program will explain trafficking, department policy on it and possible legal action against violators, Abell said in a written statement.
Additionally, the military is reviewing regulations and procedures for placing off-limits those businesses where such activities take place and working with Justice Department officials to tighten rules on contractor misconduct.
Gen. Leon J. LaPorte, commander of the 37,000 U.S. service members in South Korea, said another initiative started on the peninsula has been to "make on-base military life a more desirable experience, and attempt to diminish the seductive appeal of many of the less wholesome off-duty pursuits."
That effort includes offering expanded evening and weekend education programs, band concerts, late-night sports leagues and more chaplain activities.
All new arrivals to duty in South Korea are instructed against prostitution and human trafficking, and the military is working with South Korean law enforcement agencies, he said.
NATO officials in July outlined new guidelines adopted to ensure alliance peacekeepers do not encourage sex trafficking gangs by seeking the services of women forced into prostitution.
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That is going to change the whole Korea experience for US Soldiers
