Yet again, Al Jazeera English has produced a piece on Bangladesh’s society that other international media outlets surely know about but have done little to highlight. The issue is child prostitution in Bangladesh, compounded by new reports that young girls are being coerced to ingest animal steroids in order to attract customers at a higher price. It seems the government thinks this is a policing issue, rather than one of legal enforcement.
The argument that most papers and news organizations are bleeding out readers and viewers has legs, but this is hardly a news piece to take lightly. This is hardly a piece that affects Bangladesh and Bangladeshis only. There’s little I can add in terms of commentary to this piece, for it is excellent and well worth your time. But I would point out that Al Jazeera’s reportage shows there are 17 legal brothels in Bangladesh. Secondly, the news reader points out that though the state is particularly attentive of the bad press that’s come with child labor in the garments sector, it is taking things slow and hazy when it comes to protect the same children from a much worse condition, fate.
One might be forgiven for suspecting that industrial policy is highly inelastic when international stakeholders boycott firms. The political economic argument that the same policy enforcement mechanisms cannot be applied is, nevertheless, hollow: everyone knows where the major brothels are in major cities. And they can be shut down with severe prejudice. It is simply inattention, here at work.