New Anguillian Morality

 

Anguilla is about to enter upon the year 2023 with government legalising casinos.  They are doing so with the usual caveats that it will be restricted only to “high-end” players.  Locals will not be permitted to use the facilities.  So, there will be no negative social impact on Anguilla.

The Premier has publicly said that this activity, once licensed, will provide much-needed revenue to support Anguilla’s social programmes.  He sees no problem with it.  The government has published that it expects to raise EC$5 million from this activity.  So, this APM administration is all on board with the idea of developing Anguilla as a casino-friendly destination.

This is not the first time that this initiative has emerged in Anguilla.  But it is the first time with the support of the island’s government.  When in the early 1980s a Sicilian hotel developer from St Maarten met with the then Chief Minister and put a proposal to him to cut off the western quarter of the island and turn it into a resort area to be occupied by his hotels and casinos, the Chief Minister called on the Chief of Police to take the developer to Blowing Point Port and to put him on a boat with instructions never to return to Anguilla.  The diorama he produced to illustrate his proposal still hangs on the wall in the Land Registry.

A few years later, in the 1990s, the US entertainment magnate, Robert “Bob” Johnson of television’s BET Network, made another casino proposal.  He wanted to dredge the Road Pond and construct a casino and condominium apartments.  Government put it out for public discussion and the mood was overwhelmingly one of opposition.  When it emerged that the western end of the Pond consisted of an estimated forty feet of rock salt that would have to be removed by blasting, the project died.

In 2020, the first year of this Administration’s term, there was another proposal to put a casino in a marina in the Road Pond.  The leader of the opposition party in the House of Assembly has admitted that the outgoing Administration first approved of this project.  She was on radio supporting the proposal on the ground that it would bring much-needed development to the island.  However, the proposal met with almost universal public disapproval, and appears to have been quietly dropped.

Back in April 2019, the AUF administration issued a press release that they hired consultants to write a report about casinos for Anguilla.  So, it was not surprising, in the last week or two, to hear one of the young, male elected members of the opposition AUF party in the House of Assembly adding his voice to those in support of this proposal.  He gave a serious and studied argument why Anguilla had to enter the modern era, casinos and all, and why the resulting revenue would be good for the Treasury.  He has obviously not read any of the hundreds of studies on the social damage caused by casinos.

We do not know who has now approached our new government with a renewed proposal to put casinos in Anguilla.  It may have been some of the bigger foreign-owned hotel owners who come from places where it is normal for hotels to have casinos.  It may have come from some rather more unsavoury types.  The gaming and brothel businesses in nearby St Maarten are reputed to be owned and run by local politicians and their Sicilian mafia bosses.  In Curacao, it is the New Jersey mafia who, together with the local political bosses, are reported to control the industry.  You just need to Google the terms.

In previous years, before the casinos of St Maarten came under unified management, it was not unusual to see that on a change of casino management, the old crew left the island with their arms in slings and the bullet holes well-bandaged.  The new bosses entered with bulges under their arms.  Unless the mafia takes immediate control of any casinos that are licensed in Anguilla, similar exciting events can be expected for a while until ownership issues get sorted out.

I was not surprised to read an article in support of casinos in a recent issue of The Anguillian Newspaper written by the youthful past Minister of Economic Development.  It must have been his Ministry that put up the proposal to include legalizing of casinos.  He is young, impetuous, and inexperienced in the world.  So, he can be expected to rise in support of the proposal now that it has come to be questioned.

The most surprising thing of all was to hear a Baptist preacher on radio a few days ago giving a passionate speech in favour not only of legalizing casinos and lotteries but also brothels (or whorehouses, or bordellos, or however you call houses of ill repute).  He called them by the Anguillian euphemism, “houses of entertainment”.  It was a stunning reversal for a preacher of morality.  Maybe he was just being sarcastic and is not really in favour.

I have been thinking of what these developments mean for Anguilla and her people’s future.  There must be some good explanation for this new evolution in morality.  All three of these young men share certain characteristics that may explain their positions.

They are young and naïve.  They have no experience or learning of the history of casinos.  They have never made any kind of study of the damage the casino environment does to the lives of its habitués and their families.  They have never read any of the hundreds of reports on the societal evils of casino gambling.  They are innocents.  They can’t really be blamed.

They enjoy the over-confidence of youth.  They believe that they can control the heartbreak and crime that casinos will inevitably bring to our families.  They believe they can keep Anguillians out of the temptations and addictions of casino gambling.  They sincerely believe that Anguillians’ past opposition to casinos was mistaken and misguided.

They are misinformed.  They believe that opposition to casinos come only from “white people”.  I have heard them saying on radio that they believe that these white people are hell-bent on keeping our Anguillians back from developing ourselves.  We can do this apparently by emerging into the modern world of casinos and houses of prostitution.  This xenophobia and race blaming is very effective in Anguilla when you want to rile up public sentiment against something or someone.

The preacher who spoke so passionately in favour of casinos and houses of male entertainment was also in favour of lotteries.  He thought casinos were a sign that Anguilla was modernising.  He pointed to the fact that there are several “madrokas” or Dominican Republic lottery outlets operating in Anguilla.  Madroka Anguilla Lottery Ltd was in fact licensed three or four years ago to run lotteries in Anguilla.

It is a fraud on the revenue for lottery tickets to be sold without government collecting the 10% fee on each ticket.  We can’t collect revenue on illegal tickets.  Yet, illegal lottery ticket sellers openly operate in Anguilla today.  The police very occasionally shut one down, but they soon reopen without any difficulty.

There are scores of brothels operating openly in Anguilla.  They front as sports bars and other houses of entertainment.  It is a serious offence to operate a house of prostitution.  The police occasionally shut one down, but it soon reopens.  No one seems to care that these facilities are illegal and not medically inspected.  It is not surprising to learn that sexually transmitted diseases are on the increase.

I have a modest, Swiftian proposal to add to these suggestions for increasing government revenue.  It should fit in well with Anguilla’s modern public morality.  My proposal will also prevent the children of poor people in Anguilla from being a burden to their parents or to the country.  “A young healthy child under a year of age is a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled.  I have no doubt it will equally serve in a fricassee or a ragout.” (Johnathan Swift).  I propose that of the 200-odd babies born in Anguilla each year, a nominal 25% be butchered and the best cuts sold in supermarkets.  At the price of veal, the resulting increase in GST revenue will greatly benefit the Treasury.

Given the lack of any apparent public opposition to the proposals for legalising casinos, lotteries, and bordellos, there should be no objection from the churches to the idea of selling baby meat.  The silence from church and community leaders serves to reinforce the acceptability of casinos and brothels.  Today’s churchmen will be so busy raising revenue by holding revivalist meetings that they will not object to this modest proposal of mine.  It will be a benefit to the poor and the public and increase government revenue.  It should be a runaway success all round.

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NOTE:  Anguilla as a country is less than 70 years old.  Anguillians have no literary heritage.  Indeed, only within the last 50 years has any Anguillian writing of any kind been published.  Thus, save for a few exceptions, doggerel takes the place of poetry.

Unsurprisingly, we have no understanding of, nor appreciation for, irony, satire, sarcasm, mockery, or parody.  Most Anguillians don’t recognize sarcasm or satire.  Everything said or written is interpreted literally.

As a result, the last two paragraphs of the above essay, based on Johnathan Swift’s famous satirical essay “A Modest Proposal” were taken literally.  The proposal to sell and eat baby meat was read literally and considered offensive, even by English language teachers who read the essay.  It was politely rejected by the local newspaper.  

Casinos Soon Coming to Anguilla?

Casinos and most forms of public gambling are illegal in Anguilla.  So, I felt a slap in the face when I heard on yesterday’s Radio Anguilla news that government is working on drafting a new Casino Policy and a new Gaming Act for Anguilla.  According to the news, casinos hold great potential for revenue generation.  They will be introduced, the release said, early next year, 2023.  I only heard about it yesterday, but the proposal must have been in the works for some time.  I know we Anguillians are said to be hypocrites, but I did not think that we would allow things to go so far without making a great noise.

Anguillians are already addicted to small-time gambling.  We have gambled our little fortunes away for hundreds of years.  On boat racing days, men traditionally gather on the beaches at Sandy Ground and Maids Bay shouting and gesticulating as they encourage their favourite boat to outwit the competition.  Large sums of money change hands.  Fights and brawls over these unregulated bets are a common sight.  Perhaps because it happens so infrequently, no one comments on it or complains.

Since time immemorial, cock pits have lined the roads of our villages.  I remember forty years ago when every village had at least one, even if it was only the shell of a barely started house.  The men gathered around late in the evening cheering on their champion cocks.  These leapt and cut at each other with their sharpened spurs.  Even larger sums of money changed hands.  Gaming with cocks is still a popular if vulgar Anguillian social activity.  In certain supermarkets, bags of pig food, rich in muscle-building protein, are regularly imported for sale to fighting-cock owners.  Yet, no one has ever been prosecuted for the offence of gaming in public.

Pitbull terriers are prohibited by law in Anguilla.  It is a serious offence to own one, far less to put it in the ring.   This has been so since the tragedy of mauled babies down in The Forest a few years ago.  Yet, dog-fighting continues to this day to be a favourite sport in certain sectors.  Thousands of dollars change hands as their dogs maul each other to death.  The ante for putting your dog in the ring is said to start at US$10,000.00.  The fate of a losing dog is a sad one.  It is not given a burial.  The body of a deceased loser is thrown on the side of the road to show contempt for it.  Protein-rich dogfood is imported and sold solely for the purpose of building up the muscles of these fighting dogs.  I need hardly add that no one in Anguilla has ever been prosecuted for keeping fighting dogs or for putting them in the ring.  None of the statutory prohibitions of cruelty to animals nor illegal gambling is an enforced offence in Anguilla.

And now, as has happened elsewhere, we will experience hard-working gambling addicts spending their week’s wages in casinos.  Efforts will, of course, initially be made to exclude Anguillians from casinos.  There will be solemn promises to this effect.  We remember when foreign-owned casinos were first allowed in St Maarten, and they were prohibited from letting in local St Maarteners.  That did not last long, maybe a decade.  It won’t last long here either.

Initially, casinos will be limited to hotels.  Inevitably, pressure will be brought to permit slot machines and other gambling furniture in restaurants and shopping malls.  The easy availability of opportunities to gamble will attract increasing members of the public, including children.

While occasional gambling may not be harmful, it is now well-known that the pleasure-causing endorphins and serotonins released in the brain by the thrill of the chance can cause gambling to become a habit and then an addiction.  Those who love gambling, inevitably become addicted to it.  People who can ill afford it will continue to play even after losing high stakes, in the hope of winning back what they have lost.  The resulting debt-trap will cause relationships to break down, families to be impoverished, and the gamblers resorting to crime to recover the amounts lost.

Once casinos are introduced into Anguilla, the crime rate will likely begin to rise, as it seems it has everywhere else where public gambling is made legal.  Robberies can be expected to go up, auto theft will probably increase, burglaries will probably soar, and even murders may go up.  Gambling is a target of crime because of the large amounts of money associated with it.

Anguilla has set its target on attracting high quality tourists.  Our hotels are mainly high-end, and we are advertised as up-market.  Gambling tourism is at the opposite end of Anguilla’s long touted objective.  Gambling tourism brings a low quality of visitors to what was formerly an up-market tourism community.

Until the island’s gaming industry is taken over by one of the big mafia families, it will be essentially unregulated and subject to violent administrative incidents.  We all remember that before St Maarten was reportedly taken over and managed by the Sicilian mafia, management changes were usually made by the previous owners departing with their arms in slings on the same aeroplane that brought in the new management.

The large profits that accrue to casino owners inevitably impact the political life of the island.  Politicians in Anguilla may be hard-pressed to resist the huge gifts that will be offered in exchange for a licence, support for a monopoly, or preferential treatment of one kind or another.  Our public life already garners suspicion, and it is frightening to contemplate what it will be like after casino gambling is introduced.

Only three decades ago, the US entertainment entrepreneur Bob Johnson offered to dredge the Road Pond and turn it into a marina.  His one condition was that the law be changed to permit him to construct a casino in the marina.  Public opinion on the island was unanimously against the casino proposal, and Mr Johnson went away.

When the Caribbean Lottery was introduced into the island several years ago, we waited to object too late.  Important local forces were behind it.  Government ignored the warnings and concerns of the public and made it legal anyway.  Now, illegal Santo Domingo Lotto outlets proliferate all over the island.  The police make ineffective and sporadic efforts to close them down.  But there is so much money in them that they soon burst back out into the open, even if illegal.

If we are so anxious to follow St Maarten’s example and raise revenue from every type of immoral activity, perhaps it will not be long before we legalise brothels to provide the services of foreign women in Anguilla.  I understand we can raise substantial taxes from this business.  Never mind that this means of living off the immoral earnings of desperate foreign women, is not only illegal but a quite disgusting form of human trafficking.  Think of all the needed public revenue it could bring in.  Shut your eyes and keep quiet!

Can somebody explain what has changed?  Is it that we are confident that we are so big and strong that we can regulate, manage, and control the evils of the casino industry?

Or is it that we have become so careless and complacent, that we no longer mind what our political leaders are doing that corrupt our life and society?

What are our church leaders doing to oppose this obscene and immoral proposal to license casinos?

Are our church groups discussing and debating the impact this proposal will have on community life if it goes into effect?

What are our women’s groups doing to confront this social evil which will result in so many of our poorer working families finding themselves at the end of the week with no wages or income to put food on the table?

What are our men’s groups doing to protect their brothers and sons from this habit-forming temptation?

What are our social workers and counsellors doing to bring awareness to our community about the threat this proposal to legalise casinos poses to our already fragile mental health?

Why is the Chamber of Commerce silent in the face of this invidious threat to our economy and society?

Is it still true that in Anguilla those who care don’t count, and those who count don’t care?

Is Anguilla Civilised?

An update to the brothel blog of a few days ago.

In addition to her photographs and the comments to them, Ms Soncini has published an article on brothels in Anguilla.  I invite you to read it by clicking on the link.  Then, click on the tab in the left-hand margin, “English Version of Published Article.”  It is very instructional.

Since I published my article on brothels in Anguilla, I have been getting feedback.  One Jamaican lady in the bank line with me this morning mentioned that Pam Webster brought up the matter of my article in some recent meeting of the House of Assembly.  According to the lady, Victor protested that (a) most of the article was not true;  and (b) he saw nothing wrong with prostitution, as it existed everywhere and at all times.  I don’t know, I did not hear the broadcast.

Of course, my article was not about prostitution.  It was about illegal brothels.  It is about the failure of the authorities to prosecute those involved in managing them and profiting from the business.  It is about the exploitation in brothels of these foreign victims by Anguillian men.

A couple of nights ago, Minister Cora Hodge, phoned me to express her concerns.  I learned that the Immigration Department has, in fact, carried out three raids on illegal brothels, not one, as a result of which several more women have been deported.  (It was very kind of her to take the time to respond to my concerns, something she definitely was not obliged to do.  I am very grateful to her.)

My response to the Minister was that her Ministry had very poor PR if there have been three raids in all.  I have never heard of any raids on houses of prostitution except for the one raid (which I got in writing from a senior police officer).  The other two raids must be very recent, maybe even subsequent to the publication of my article.  I urged her to have someone write and publish a press release explaining to the Anguillian public what the Ministry of Home Affairs has accomplished in dealing with the illegal brothel problem.  It is not acceptable to keep sweeping this matter under the carpet.

The Minister did not seem to realise that what is really sad about merely deporting the foreign girls is that the only persons who are made to suffer from the criminal activity of the men who run the brothels and live off the proceeds are the female victims themselves.  They are not treated as victims but as criminals and deported.  They are doubly punished for their poverty and helplessness.  The men, by contrast, only have to wait until the replacement girls arrive to continue their connivance at their exploitation.

Minister Hodge further advised that the Ministry has found a solution to the large numbers of these women and girls working in Anguilla.  They have introduced a visa requirement for Venezuelans.  They have reduced the visa time to just one week.  What use is that, I ask?  My information is that the Anguillians involved in this trafficking frequently bring the girls in at night, illegally, at Sandy Hill and Little Harbour bays, landing them on the beaches.  When they enter Anguilla that way, no one asks them about their visa.  

The brothel activity is not reducing as a result of these three raids.  The Jamaican lady mentioned earlier told us that she lives in Blowing Point, and two new houses have opened up since the hurricane, right near to her home.  She told us that the demand for new girls is growing such that plane trips to Santo Domingo are now being arranged to bring back new stock.

My second problem with this so-called “solution” or “remedial action” is that this visa requirement only accomplishes two things I can see.  One, it ensures there is a steady supply of fresh girls imported into Anguilla.  The result of this “remedial action” is that the men who frequent these places have new victims once a week instead of once a month.

Two, all one week visa policy achieves is an increase in government’s revenue from granting the inevitably requested visa extensions.  This new visa policy makes it look like the government of Anguilla is knowingly participating in brothel keeping and living on the proceeds of prostitution.

One correspondent commented on the original Blog:  “Remember when Anguillian men went off to Macoris and other places, well you know what happened, men being men and being away from their wives, well, boys will be boys and that sort of behavior resulted in lots of babies, which came to Anguilla to claim their birthrights, and with them they brought their culture which includes Bodegas and brothels.”

To which I responded that we need to be careful not to seem to adopt the usual, false, weasely, Anguillian, fall-back excuse that all these wrongs are caused by the foreigners in our midst, especially the “Spanish”, and not by real Anguillians.  The truth is that brothel keeping in Anguilla is principally an affair of native Anguillians.  So, the particular family who own the houses in question may not personally run them.  But, they knowingly rent out their premises to these brothel keepers.  They are as much living off the proceeds of prostitution as Liliana, shown in the Ms Soncini's photo blog.  It is the same with many of the other “Sports Bars” throughout the island.  They are owned by native Anguillians who are happy to live off the proceeds of prostitution while hiring others to do the dirty work.

My worry is that a lot of us in Anguilla (mainly the men) are in denial about the consequences of this growing illegal and unhealthy business on our society.  The church is silent in the face of their most prominent members being participants in this business.  The National Council of Women appear to have had their balls cut off.  Members of the Mothers’ Union can be said to have deteriorated to a state of decrepitude.  Seventh Day Adventists appear happy to argue only about the correct Sabbath Day, while ignoring the pain and suffering their members bring to these exploited girls and women.

Mind you, like Victor’s alleged assertion, I have no problem with prostitution.  Everyone has a right to sell his or her body for sex, ONCE they are an informed and consenting adult.  But, we know the hazards to health and welfare that exist where this behaviour is conducted in houses that are not regulated and licensed.  (I will let others more qualified than me in matters of morality worry about that aspect.)  Some of these women are not consenting adults.  Some are under-age.  Others have been trafficked, meaning to me, tricked, beaten, and exploited.

Unlike with licensed brothels in St Maarten (if they still exist), the workers in Anguillian whore-houses are not medically examined on a weekly basis.  Diseases such as Syphilis, super clap Gonorrhea, Chlamydia, HPV and Genital Herpes, among others, are being injected into our families when the men come back home from these houses.  Limiting the visa time for these women to one week is not going to have any impact on the rate at which STIs are introduced into our society.

Obviously, because they are illegal, these illegal whore-houses are not examined by the public health department to ensure the conditions are sanitary.  The derelict buildings that are used for this trade, (as demonstrated in Belinda Soncini’s photo-blog) and the second-hand mattresses that the customers lie on seemingly in the abandoned villas at Mariners Hotel at Sandy Ground and elsewhere remain vermin infected.  This is an appalling way to treat these women, as if they are dogs without rights, barely human beings at all.

Because these houses are illegal, the sex workers are not protected in the event they are raped, beaten and even killed as happened recently.  The result of this free for all is that children are trafficked to Anguilla as sex workers.  Without protection of law, we can expect that most of their money is taken away from them (not least in paying officials for protection).  Their passports are confiscated by their pimps and managers, so they cannot escape the island, even if they are so desperate as to ask directions to the nearest police station.

The conduct of these Anguillian men who condone this “Sports Bar” business is disgusting, and would be unacceptable in any civilised country.

This begs the question: Is Anguilla a civilized country?

Anguilla Brothel Keeping

Published in the commentary section of the regional internet newspaper Caribbean News Now on 12 January:  http://wp.caribbeannewsnow.com/2018/01/12/commentary-brothel-keeping-anguilla/

Prostitution is notoriously the world’s oldest profession.  Prostitution is not illegal in Anguilla.  No law is broken if sex is exchanged for money or goods.  It might be immoral, but no crime is committed when sex is paid for.

What are illegal are the two offences of keeping a brothel and living off immoral earnings.  These carry severe penalties in Anguilla.  Pimps and brothel keepers are serious criminals.  They live off the earnings of sex workers.  That is the essence of the offence.

Brothels have operated openly in Anguilla for decades.  The first and most notorious known to me was opposite the Tyre Shop in George Hill.  It started, I believe, in the 1980s.  Its Madame was my client.  Many years ago, she asked my legal advice on how to evict one of her “tenants”.  These were nationals of Santo Domingo.  They were desperately trying to better their condition.  They did what they had to do to send money back home for the support of their families.  I tried to give her the most humane advice possible within the law.  Her business continued uninterrupted for a very long time.  I assume she operated under the eye of the police.  There was nothing secret about her operation, and she was never shut down.

Over the past five years, things have changed in Anguilla, particularly the nationality of the most favoured prostitutes.  Venezuelans are now outcompeting Santo Domingans.  A large number of so-called “Sports Bars” have begun to operate in all the villages.  The industry is growing fast.  Sometimes, it seems that every other house in South Hill is rented out to a brothel keeper.  In some of them, there are scantily clad young Venezuelan women sitting at the bar.  There are bedrooms in the back available to rent.  These establishments serve food and alcoholic beverages.  If you drive past them at night, they appear to be doing a thriving business.

In the year 2016, photographer Belinda Soncini visited Anguilla.  The result of her visit was a photo blog.  She posted it on the Social Documentary Network.  It is available to be viewed here: https://www.socialdocumentary.net/exhibit/Belinda_Soncini/4145.  She calls it “Desperate Women: Venezuela’s Latest Export.”  In her words,

This project documents the lives of women from my country, Venezuela, who were forced to migrate to the Caribbean to sell their bodies to feed and buy medicines for their families.  These women were professionals with good jobs, but the economic crisis in Venezuela left them no other choice.  They live isolated, fearing being judged, exposed to countless perils, sacrificing their lives to provide for their families.  They say they will keep doing this until their bodies can’t take it anymore.

This is a very sensitive photo blog, as you would expect.  The faces of the women are not shown in the photographs.  Her main concern was to reveal the miserable lives her compatriots were forced to endure in Anguilla for the sake of their families they left behind, not to embarrass or shame them.

My main concern is different.  I question how did we in Anguilla come to this sad state?  For decade after decade we permitted the exploitation of vulnerable foreign women by Anguillian entrepreneurs.  A little research reveals that, though the photo blog was published in the year 2016, the exploitation of foreign girls and women in Anguillian brothels continues today.  The whole Anguillian community knows about it.  Yet, no one speaks out against this form of human trafficking.

The Royal Anguilla Police Force know about it.  They occasionally, from what I am told, pick up a low-level pimp.  No criminal convictions in court for keeping a brothel have been publicised or are known to me.

The Immigration Department know about it.  They occasionally deport a few of the women.  But, this hardly stems the flow of replacement sex workers that they permit entry into Anguilla.

There seems to be no cooperation between the various government agencies that are supposed to take care of our health and welfare.  Restaurant licences continue to be issued to brothels.  Applications by them for renewal of liquor licences go unopposed by the police at the regular six-monthly court hearings.  It is uncertain if any officer of the Labour Department visits to inquire about foreigners working in bars and restaurants without permits.

At a recent meeting of the House of Assembly, Pam Webster, the Leader of the Opposition attempted to raise the issue.  She was shouted down with calls that “This is not the right place.”  So, where is the right place to raise the issue?

I have decided to raise it in the newspapers.  My letter to the editor was published in the issue of The Anguillian Newspaper of Friday 12 January.  It reads:

Anguilla’s Latest Addition to her Tourism Product

https://www.socialdocumentary.net/exhibit/Belinda_Soncini/4145

Anguilla’s latest tourism venture is beginning to attract international attention, as the above webpage shows.  However, some persons in Anguilla find this development disturbing.

Questions are being asked, such as:

Why are we not taking care of our vulnerable populations?

Why haven’t those with the power to end this situation taken action?

Why aren’t there coordinated efforts to stop this?

Why do those in authority refuse to take action and/or ignore this situation?

Why do we not speak out when these things are literally happening in our backyards?

Why haven’t those in power shut down these establishments?

Why hasn’t a coordinated effort been implemented among the elected government officials, Immigration, Labour, the Police, and others?

Why haven’t we seriously noticed that human trafficking is happening right here in many ways, and this is only one of them?

Keeping a house of prostitution and living on immoral earnings are serious offences.

Why do we not charge and prosecute those bringing in these women and those using their services?

We must treat criminals as such, and seek help for those being exploited.

What is the cause of our apparent lack of understanding of what is happening here?

Why do we show such a lack of courage, boldness and tenacity to address this evil and to end it?

Why are we not grieved to our cores?

It is going to be interesting to see who responds.  Will there be any stirring of conscience among the smug and self-satisfied church and state officials?  Or, will they all shrug and say, “No need to respond.  It is just another 7-day wonder.  The story will soon go away, as it always does.”

Another and different letter to the Editor on the topic was published in the Daily Herald of St Maarten on Wednesday 9 January 2018.  This is what it said:

Meet Anguilla’s Latest Addition to her Tourism Plant

https://www.socialdocumentary.net/exhibit/Belinda_Soncini/4145

Anguilla’s new tourism product is beginning to attract international attention, as shown by the above webpage.

Looking for ideas on economic diversification, the Anguillian business community has struck on an exciting new way forward.  Their solution has met with near universal approval.

It appears that, with a reputation for 5-star accommodation, the previous houses of recreation for men are being upgraded.  The now 40-year old Santo Domingan product has long been in need of sprucing up.  Plant has been repainted and decorated since the passage of Hurricane Irma.  The staff is being re-trained in the latest customer service techniques.  A bright future for this industry is anticipated.

There is official approval for this development.  The ever-courteous Anguillian police officers and immigration officials clear the way of all obstacles, even falling over on their backs to help participants to find their new positions.

The Christian Anguillian community are anxious to encourage participation.  It keeps the men busy and out of mischief, social workers say.

Wives are happy to get the men out of the house, for an inexpensive night out, sampling the delicacies on offer.

Politicians hold town-hall type meetings at these venues.  After all, it is where most of their male constituents are to be found after work.

Celia’s and Anna Maria’s are ever popular, though less so now that the under-16 year olds have been discouraged.  Off-duty police officers observe the comings and goings from the porch, making sure the peace is kept.

There is a move underway for this latest addition to Anguilla’s tourism plant to apply for associate membership in the Anguilla Hotel and Tourism Association, stagnant for some years now.

The Chamber of Industry and commerce is always seeking to gain new members, and this area of growing economic activity is bound to be a boost for the Chamber.

The only negative comes from some Ministers of Religion who respond, “Well, at least they are not our girls.”  But, these are mere spoil-sports whose stock in trade is criticism, no matter how healthy and natural the topic of their condemnation.  We can be sure their views will be safely ignored.

Next week, look forward to a critical assessment of the choice of commodities available at the Drug House of South Hill, yet another of Anguilla’s emerging new industries.

The Anguilla Hotel and Tourism Association and the Chamber of Commerce are, no doubt, going to be upset.  I make a preposterous and incredible suggestion that the illegal brothels are considering applying for membership.  Social workers and ministers of government will be highly offended that I highlight their inaction.  Police and Immigration Officers will be outraged that I jokingly suggest their incompetence.

My hope is that the whole of Anguillian society will be outraged, but outraged for the right reason.  I hope they will raise their voices in protest at this exploding form of human exploitation in Anguilla.  This is how public opinion is expressed.  Public opinion, when mobilised, is the most effective way of achieving social change and reform.  Keeping quiet does the opposite.

Maybe, this time the result of all this “taking offence” will be some action.  Search warrants can be obtained on the grounds of reasonable suspicion.  Nightly raids on one after the other of these illegal operations will soon have an effect.  With the evidence collected, a few lengthy jail sentences can be expected.  It won’t take long to shut them down.

Refusing their licences, searching their premises, collecting the evidence, prosecuting them, convicting them, locking them up, and closing them down are unlikely to happen unless civil society begins to make noise.  Without public agitation, too many persons are making money out of this lucrative business for our officials to risk offending the participants.

We shall see what happens.