Dear FRONTLINE,

The eyes of the women tell us the pain. I do not believe the little boy would have lived for long even if the producers had paid for medical help. I think it sad that the woman went back to prostitution. Maybe teaching her a skill/educate would have been a very good idea. I do not blame the woman. I also hope Katia's husband will always be kind and gentle with her. God has an accurate record of all the names and the situations, he will avenge. I will pray for the victims, and the perpatrators.

Jim Ross
Colville, WA

Dear FRONTLINE,

Like most of the viewers whose letters you have posted online, I was just shocked and saddened by tonight's film "Sex Slaves." As I said (bitterly and ironically) to my husband as we watched, "Thank God we're past the need for a 'feminist movement' in this world, since all women are assured of equal treatment before the law, are no longer viewed only as sex objects, and can move in society without fear of bodily harm."

When feminism is so easily reduced to The Mommy Wars in American culture these days, it's important to be reminded that the feminist movement's victories are still experienced by far too few people on this planet.

A few viewers have asked what they can do to express their outrage and show their support for the victims. Tonight, the first web site I visited after turning off the TV was Amnesty International -- sure enough, they have a campaign calling on the UN Mission in Kosovo to strengthen its pending Kosovo Action Plan to Combat Trafficking in Human Beings published on May 17, 2005.

http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/siteapps/advocacy/index.aspx?c=goJTI0OvElH&b=953489&template=x.ascx&action=4720

It may seem like a small thing, to send a form e-mail to a foreign diplomat, but it's a place to start. I encourage you to respond to your viewers' requests by posting information on a variety of human rights organizations that are addressing the sex trade in their day-to-day work.

Thank you very much for your attention to my request, and thank you for tonight's program. The victims depicted and their many sisters will be in my thoughts and prayers.

Mary Karr
Denver, CO

Dear FRONTLINE,

As someone, who lived in Antalya for 4 years, I can tell you there are so many of poor sex slaves, it feels like it's impossible to stop the trading. It seems like unless these poor countries have sustainable economies there isn't much people can do.Antalya is a big touristic city in the mediterranean; and other touristic cities in Europe have the same problem.

I also should mention many Turks are very disturbed by the trafficking of the sex slaves into their country. I wish Frontline crew found someone, like a local journalist with good connections, to help them during their journey, which could have led to the freedom of some of these slaves. I believe they could have found people who were truly willing to help them on their cause, as many people are very sorry for the sex slaves. .

C S
los angeles, California

Dear FRONTLINE,

I have spent 30 years in the Army and it seems to me that our soldiers need to be kicking in doors of pimps and not doors in Iraq.

Alfred Aguilar
Riverside, Ca

Dear FRONTLINE,

I would like to thank the people responsible for making this film and the victims for their bravery in coming forward with their stories. After watching the program, I am ashamed to have been so ignorant of this problem and so naive as to think slavery was a thing of the past. I read the interviews and additional information on your website as well, and I commend people at organizations like Poppy that work to support the victims of these crimes against humanity. I would also like to respond to the criticism from other viewers of the producers of the film for not doing more to help the people who participated as subjects in the film. Journalism is and always has been capable of providing a unique form of service to society -- that of raising awareness. One of the things reporters have done, for as long as there have been reporters, is work to expose crime across the world. Their work has often been the missing link that brought the attention needed to help bring an end to all kinds of crimes. Rather than judging their actions, we should be grateful we have been made aware of the problem and focus on how we can now help the victims as much as we are capable.

L T

Dear FRONTLINE,

The existence of great global imbalances in resources. along with disparities between women's and men's political power, lies behind trafficking in people. Because of straitened economic conditions, women are susceptible. Strict international prohibitions against human trafficking could seriously undermine the spread of AIDS and other STDs. For this reason, but also for moral reasons, the international community should establish a zero tolerance position against sexual slavery.

Mpls, MN

Dear FRONTLINE,

I viewed Sex Slaves on PBS tonight for the first time and do admit that I was angry for the greater part of the show. The stories were horrific though they are repeated day in and day out around the world. Sex slaves have been in around for thousands of years. The difference this show made for me was the up close and personal nature of it, seeing and getting to know the girls who's lives have been stolen from them. I tried to imagine how I would feel if I were in the place of Katia's husband. To think someone would sell your wife is so beyond belief and the devestation of the rape and torture that was so evident in Katia. I'm sorry but a sentence of probation for the person who sold Katia is beyond belief.

David Armstrong
Turtle Lake, WI

Dear FRONTLINE,

I cannot believe that this is going on. In a so called "civilized" society, civility seems nowhere to be found. Why doesn't someone crack down on those that traffic the women and start prosecuting them? Why doesn't a government body do something about the obvious corruption in the police system. The women reported to the police that they had been sold and the police returned them! Why did the crew let Tania go back to Turkey, but they would not let Katia's husband use the tape against Maria out of the fear that he might put himself in danger? How is it that not enough people care about this, but the general public can't get enough of celebrities and their lives.

Brian Hughes
Jackson, Mississippi

Dear FRONTLINE,

It is incomprehensible to me that some would have so little regard for these women that they'd be willing to sell them as if they were mere objects with no sense of self. We can waste billions of dollars sending a rocket on a useless trip to the moon, but we can't do anything about slavery? I was shocked to learn of the horrors that the sold women were forced to endure on a daily basis. Dear God, even dogs that are bought and sold are treated with more respect and dignity. Arresting the pimps is only part of the solution. The clients have to be brought to justice as well and given long prison terms for raping and torturing these women. If not for the clients' perversions, there would be no slave trade. Man's inhumanity is beyond words.

M. M.
Philadelphia, PA

Dear FRONTLINE,

Anger, frustration, being let down; the feelings We all felt as humans while watching this program. The constituition of that man with his wife missing, Katia, was amazing. I was very relieved to hear she got back into safty.

This plague should be taken care of in the same means that terrorism is taken care of, because it is terrorism. This is not taught in schools, or in the news paper, it has just reached TV only a month ago with any sort of impact. What happens now? What happens to the children, daughters, mothers out there being abused at this very mommeny? No President has addressed this with any seriousnous. What shall we do to help the ones still missing? People are people, and deserve freedom from this. Who will give it to them if we keep turning a blind eye.

Indifference as shown in very documentary is on the same level as the crime itself. We scoffed at the citizens of Auschwitz for saying they didn't know about the Death Camps miles from there town. This should be dealt with by every means possible.

Mark P
New York City, New York

Dear FRONTLINE,

I was frustrated at the end of the documentary because the desperate plight of these people who have been severely abused and misused was only reported. There was no presentation of how to help or how to make a change. There are amazing organizations around the world who feed children, offer assistance for hurricane victims etc who have organized a way to help and to change people's lives. Giving a tear-jerking story is a wonderful way to recruit many to join in and help make things better, but just telling us about a horrific practice and then leaving us with no outlet to make a difference is depressing and a real waste. What can people do other than pray?

Laurel McNatt
Jacksonville, FL

FRONTLINE's editors respond:

This Web site's homepage lists a section, "Estimating the Numbers," that contains links to the Web sites of organizations at the forefront of addressing this problem.

Dear FRONTLINE,

The show helped to bring this issue into the public eye again however, what is equally disturbing as the abuse these women suffered, is the indifference some governments show towards the trafficers and pimps themselves.

If there is no natural consequence for forcing these women into slavery, then there is no motivation to avod future kidnappings and extortions.

Omaha, NE

Dear FRONTLINE,

Having been to Odessa, and other CIS cities and countries, I can tell you that every facet of post Soviet life is in shambles.

You cannot expect people who live in dire poverty to be able to think like we do in the affluent West. I have been in cities of 1 million inhabitants that only have running water three hours a day. Just surviving to the next day is a challenge. Did anyone notice the pitiful house that girl and her sister and brother lived in? Do you think that moral values are at the top of the agenda when there is no money for anything?I understand quite pefectly why she returned to Turkey. In the same situation there is no one posting letters to this site who would not do the same. Poverty makes people do whatever it takes to survive.

G W
Dallas , TX

Dear FRONTLINE,

I'm afraid I have to join my voice to those shocked by the apparent unwillingness of the producers, of this otherwise excellent piece of work, to help the subject of their documentary. If indeed they had the opportunity to help these women rather than merely documenting their suffering, then they are to be condemned.

If those of us who were reminded of these crimes - and who among us is not aware by now that such crimes take place - continue remain complacent and do nothing, then we deserve to be condemned. Its true that anyone of us could sell everything, change ourlives completely and devote ourselves to preventing suffering, and still diminish relatively little of the world's suffering - but to do nothing is not forgiveable. I'm a middle-aged student living on loans, and if I don't cough something up, I don't think I can feel much self-respect, not after the slap in the face of this program.

D. Sherter
Chicago, IL

Dear FRONTLINE,

While I can not agree with the way Tania's situation was handled, (I like many others feel that Frontline was obligated to help that family in return for recording their plight) - I am so very grateful that you put this program together. As painful and horrific it was to watch, the awareness it has created is direly needed in our world, especially in our beloved U.S. As citizens of the world, it's our duty to give our attention to these cries for help. I hope and pray that we will all find room in our hearts to care for these women and their families, and to help them. Thank you for your work.

Julia Claire
Bryan, Tx