Lovely post, Appaloosa Lady. The only exception I take to it is that I think that women's bodies have always been viewed as a commodity. For that matter, the bodies of laborers have always been viewed as expendable commodities by powerful exploiters. The values and mores of societies, shaped by those with the most status, and therefore the most influence, often justify and support this.   



Love, honor and obey.....

A wife shall submit to her husband....

May I have your daughter's hand....

The bride was given away by her father....

He exercised his conjugal rights....

The kidnapping of the bride in some eastern Europe and central Asian traditions

From the blog linked to by Bee earlier:

A story is told in New Zealand about the early 19th century visit of an Episcopal bishop to an isolated Maori village. As everyone was about to retire after an evening of high-spirited feasting and dancing, the village headman -- wanting to show sincere hospitality to his honored guest -- called out, "A woman for the bishop." Seeing a scowl of disapproval on the prelate's face, the host roared even louder, "Two women for the bishop!"

All of this indicates a strong bias across cultures of viewing women as property, as commodity.   It is even more true for children.   

I don't think, over-all, there is more or less sex trafficking than there has ever been. I do think there is more public awareness, more public outrage against the traffickers and the practice, and, at least in the abstract, more sympathy for the population of those trafficked. (But not more sympathy for the individuals within that population.)




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