In my novel The City of Earthly Desire I touch upon the horrendous crime known as human trafficking. A significant portion of the narrative deals with the sex industry that burgeoned in Budapest shortly after the collapse of the communism. The sudden explosion of strip joints, peep shows, curbside prostitutes, and porn shoots created a seemingly insatiable demand for flesh. Luckily - for the owners, pimps, entrepreneurs, and assorted riffraff of racketeers who were looking to turn a buck from the sale of flesh - the economic malaise of Hungary after the fall of the Iron Curtain ensured the girls worked cheaply. But the sex industry is business and business always seeks to maximize profit. Why pay a young girl a hundred dollars a day to turn tricks when you can get a girl to turn tricks for nothing? Enter human trafficking and sex slavery.
In my novel, the protagonist Béla helps establish what he believes to be a legitimate adult entertainment company that deals fairly with its performers, and for the most part, this proves to be the case. However, as the novel progresses, Béla is horrified to discover that some of the women he had used in his films and magazines had been kidnapped and trafficked from the impoverished Hungarian countryside or from countries whose economies were in even deeper shambles than Hungary's was at the time.
Sadly, the crime of human trafficking exists outside the pages of fiction. Not only does it exist, it is thriving, and, ironically enough, Hungarian women and women from other central and eastern European countries continue to be among its most visible victims. Below is a link that details the activities of a human trafficking ring based in the United Kingdom that lured women from Hungary with the promise of nanny and maid jobs then horrifically exploited the women by forcing them into sex slavery. Thankfully, the perpetrators all received sentences for their unspeakable crimes, but in my opinion, they deserved at least double the time.
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-28123869
In my novel, the protagonist Béla helps establish what he believes to be a legitimate adult entertainment company that deals fairly with its performers, and for the most part, this proves to be the case. However, as the novel progresses, Béla is horrified to discover that some of the women he had used in his films and magazines had been kidnapped and trafficked from the impoverished Hungarian countryside or from countries whose economies were in even deeper shambles than Hungary's was at the time.
Sadly, the crime of human trafficking exists outside the pages of fiction. Not only does it exist, it is thriving, and, ironically enough, Hungarian women and women from other central and eastern European countries continue to be among its most visible victims. Below is a link that details the activities of a human trafficking ring based in the United Kingdom that lured women from Hungary with the promise of nanny and maid jobs then horrifically exploited the women by forcing them into sex slavery. Thankfully, the perpetrators all received sentences for their unspeakable crimes, but in my opinion, they deserved at least double the time.
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-28123869
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