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Natalee Holloway

When this story first hit the news, a couple of cable news outlets did a brief piece on the possibility that she had been kidnapped and forced into prostitution. This website summarizes the theory.

The speculation centers on another missing woman. Amy Bradley disappeared from a cruise ship in Aruba in 1998. Since then, there have been a few unconfirmed reports that she was in Curacao, working at a brothel, apparently unwillingly.

While there is no evidence that Natalee Holloway was abducted, much less forced into prostitution, there is also no evidence that she is dead. When they tested the "blood" evidence in the car of the three men, it was not blood evidence.

Aruba has not been known for a problem with sex trafficking. That does not mean it is impossible. The US State Department released its 2005 report on human trafficking and ranked various countries. John Miller, senior adviser to the U.S. secretary of state on trafficking in persons, commented on it.

Miller explained that the rankings given to each country are reflections of the efforts being made in the country to stop trafficking, not the size of the problem. Even Tier 1 nations, those receiving the highest ranking, are not exempt from the issue in his opinion. He said, “Tier 1 is only meeting minimum standards. Tier 1 doesn’t mean you don’t have a problem. I can tell you every country in this report in Tier 1 has a large problem.”

Aruba is not even listed in the report. The two brothers in custody are from Suriname, which may have a connection to the underground industry.

Even if there is no problem, 2 women in 7 years could have fallen into this situation without pinging on the radar screen.

Posted by Justene Adamec at June 30, 2005 08:39 AM | TrackBack