During a conversation at The Civil Rights Summit held at the LBJ Presidential Library, former President Jimmy Carter reminded Americans that prostitution is still widespread throughout the nation, citing it as a key component for fueling sexual slavery.
“I don’t think there is a community in America that doesn’t have brothels, whore houses,” Carter said, adding that he would include Austin, Texas, and Atlanta, Georgia. “But this is something that is known by every city official. There’s not any way to have a house of prostitution that’s active and policemen on the beat not know about it.”
Carter called prostitution an “ancient sin,” but he pointed out that law enforcement and city officials are complicit in allowing it to occur in their communities.
“The policemen are either bribed, or they get free sexual favors, or the police chief tells them, ‘Let’s not rock the boat,’ and obviously that comes from the mayor and city council,” he continued.
Carter suggested that the United States follow the example of Sweden and other countries in Europe, which stopped prosecuting female prostitutes and began prosecuting pimps, brothel owners, and male customers, instead.
“They have greatly reduced the amount of prostitution and almost completely eliminated sexual slavery,” he asserted.
Carter said that the United States needed to adopt similar policies, but he stated that Americans aren’t willing to change their lifestyles “because we basically don’t want to change the way we enjoy life, because we’re not the ones that really come into contact with the girls who have been sold involuntarily into slavery.”
Carter cited statistics showing that 100,000 girls, in the last year alone, were sold into sexual slavery in the United States.
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