This is a very important topic to bring up as it highlights the human rights abuses that occur on a daily basis here within the US and the US territories. We, as the people of the United States, must get accross to those elected officials in power that the United States, itself, must be better policed before we go off and act as the moral arbiters of the world.

I just don't understand how men could do that to innocent women. It seems like all of those countries have a general lack of respect for women. Women are the fruit of life and they are being severely mistreated. Even our fascist gone capitalist ally China, faces the same gender specific discrimination to this day. Females in countries like that are viewed as property and valued less than the male population. They are sold to "tea houses" or work camps and never heard from again.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but a large number of the men in "those countries" that you refer to are mainland, white Americans. They come out here for a little "adventure."

Everyone has to remember that politicians are liars and cheaters and when their not kissing babies their stealing their lollipops. They also keep their options open which means they take bribes(now called lobbying) and turn their back on needy people because some company decided to donate millions of dollars to their campaign funds.

America no longer stands for what it used too.

absence of border and immigration control??....need to address???!!!..... can't continue????!!!! - wow that sounds familiar - one woud think ... if the the US were indeed cultivating the ideals of her "founding fathers" she would be dissolvong her own borders.... instead she tends to leave the same foul footprint everywhere she goes....

one of the strip clubs (that closed just in 2006) where minors and other women were forced to dance naked was located right across a police station in Garapan. and nobody said something about it for years or months -- not even the police officers! if the minors and the women didn`t escape they would still be dancing there today.

A number of owners and co-owners of strip clubs on Saipan are CNMI residents who have been allowed for years to operate and abuse workers---local officials turn a blind eye. if it were not for some concerned entities, these club operators would continue to remain in business.

Umm, Omicron Delta, what you just described above is EXACTLY what America has always been like...you are not describing anything new at all...What exactly did "America used to stand for" that's different from what it stands for now?

This is unquestionably a deep, black stain on United States integrity. A lack of Congressional action is a travesty. Action to eliminate this hellish should be swift and without mercy. No person should be subject to sex slavery anywhere in the world and certainly not in the United States, the so-called bastion of moral integrity.

I am over 50 yrs old and a college graduate. I have never heard of the "Common Wealth of the United States". However, if the USA's name is on the place, the people should be under the our protection. My mother talked about white slavery pertaining to women in the early 1900s. This should not be tolerated any place in the world.

Thanks to Brian Ross' reports in the late 90's and articles such as the one, at least the issues of sex slavery & sweatshops in CNMI are gaining the press that they deserve!

The family of man has a problem in human trafficking. This issue extends beyond gender, age, nationality or political party. Time wasted pointing fingers is time deprived from finding solutions.
It is commendable that ABC NEWS, Brian Ross and Anna Schecter put this issue on the table they now have a responsibility to do something about it.
If you are in fact our brothers/sisters keepers put the convenient scapegoats on the back burner. Who where and how are our fellow humans trafficked, enslaved and abused. Dig deep enough and you will find that the American Republican in his TOMMY HILLFINGER jeans is far from the ugliest part of the problem.

Thanks for following up on this important issue, Brian Ross and Anna Schechter!

With Tom DeLay out of Congress and the GOP out of power in Congress, maybe we can finally put an end to sex slavery and forced rape in the CNMI. It is unconscionable that the GOP blocked reform efforts because of lobbying by Jack Abramoff.

They will eventually be judged.

Al Franken has been talking about this for years. Not only are they forced into prostitution. If they get pregnant, they are forced to have abortions. They have Tom Delay to thank for this. Republicans are hypocrites!!

America used to stand for freedom and democracy; however, today freedom is being told how to act, what to wear, how to talk and democracy means dictatorship.

Corruption (yes it has always been there) has become so wide spread in government, law enforcement and the corporate worlds that the phrase by George Orwell (author of the book 1984) said “In times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act” seems quite applicable.

I love America and I believe in the Constitution of the United States of America; however, the people in power over the years have learned how to twist the meaning of FREEDOM and DEMOCRACY into their own vehicle to suite there own needs. As Americans it is yours and my duty to ask the hard questions of our leaders and demand they answer AND comply with the Constitution of the United States America. So if it has been going on for years – isn’t it time to stop it?

Saipan and the Mariannas are known to me from another angle that is also reprehensible. While using sweat shop imported labor housed in appalling conditions, for years clothing manufacturers were able to use a "made in the USA" label. The US has a moral responsibility for what happens in the Mariannas.

I can't stress enough the importance of this article. I am a teacher, and my class is only 1/3 female. This is a trend we teachers are seeing. Here and everywhere males are favored over females. No wonder the step to exploitation and abuse seems so easy to take. I keep saying that females are being left to die on hillsides everywhere (or raped, or murdered.) We need the information in this article to spread. Thank you for your research.

"America used to stand for freedom and democracy; however, today freedom is being told how to act, what to wear, how to talk and democracy means dictatorship."

Not really, dude...you're telling me that the government "tells" you how to act, what to wear and how to talk? That's lame. And dictatorship? LOL...no way. Anyway, who or what is dictating to you and your life? What exactly is being free, anyway? What is it that you are not being allowed to do that "the government" is preventing you from doing?

What does it say about our country when states like South Dakota are trying to pass an abortion ban that makes no exceptions for rape, while women in U.S territory are being raped and sexually abused on a daily basis? It seems to me that sex trafficking has been a major issue for years, but it has not received the attention it deserves because of its taboo nature. If the white American male in power does not care to put his time and money toward protecting the lives of these impoverished and desperate young women, then we might as well just give these rapists and kidnappers the green light to continue. The Mariana Island economy relies heavily on the garment factories which produce clothes with labels that brag “Made in the USA.” If the United States benefits from these factories, and if these factories produce clothing for the U.S, then they should certainly abide by the same strict set of labor and immigration laws as the rest of the country has to.

Now companies will move because a News show went looking to Make News. The only reason clothes are made there is because wages are HIGHER than in the Philippines or China much higher.

Now higher unemplowment will evolve as the companies leave but the NEWS show will get more advertising money because of ratings.

Yes of course any abuse is not acceptable. Just look at L.A. or Detroit. It is a Paridise. Nothing like this happens here. In reality it happens much more frequently,but we already read about it and it does not sell.

Send in the Federal Agents when there is a problem not undercover wanna be cops posing as real journalists.

Next year's scanal will be about how Nancy Polosi keeps wages down in the Islands...oh somehow that was missed...maybe next year ?

Well written Anna, Slavery still exists all around us. Physical and psychological. At least the article will help educate, but what is needed of course is concentrated and united action. The "power lies in the proles."

We must stand strong for those who can not defend themselves.

Funny, this effort to curb this abuse just died out and went nowhere. Now the Feds are moving in to control immigration and labor and the movement is bitterly opposed by the CNMI Government, yet they still get millions in US funding from tax payers. This place is a travesty. Now immigration is allow pregnant aliens enter the CNMI a produce instant US citizens to further strain the already stretched economic here. Are there economics in the CNMI?
US wake UP here. Just come and take these idiots over or cut them loose and save millions of US funding dollars. These people do not appreciate what has or is being done for them.