The Natashas: Inside the New Global Sex Trade

curiously bloodless 2009-09-28

Reviewer: C. P. Anderson

First of all, this is a very important subject. The number of women being trafficked for sexual purposes (most from the former Soviet bloc - hence the title) is really shocking. Malarek does a real service by shedding light on this typically hidden topic.

At the same time, though, I'm surprised at how bland this offering was. Yes, he does get quite worked up about the topic, which he should. (He also does a good job explaining how it all works.)

What's missing, though, is any in-depth work with the women themselves. All I can recall is a very brief conversation with one of these women in court and a few pages from some others. It's hard to imagine writing a book like this - or thinking it would have any real impact - without spending a lot of time with, and focusing the book directly on, these women.

What we get instead is portraits of the villains, the bureaucrats, and police involved. They all play a role, and it's important to show what role they play. But, frankly, with so few portraits of the women, this is all very secondary.

Finally, some of the portraits that are there are seem a little pointless. For example, the story of the UN forces, DynCorp, and the local police in Bosnia was incredibly long and really hard to follow. Yes, it's important to point out the complicity of these groups, but couldn't this have been done in a more direct way? My guess is this is in here primarily for Malarek's starring role in this particular incident.

Malarek's book The Johns: Sex for Sale and the Men Who Buy It does a much better job of this, with lots of interviews of and Internet postings from the main characters, the men who support this industry.

trust me "trust me" 2009-04-24

Reviewer: trust me

Compelling yet sad. The world needs to become more aware of the plight of these young women and the unconscionable acts of those that exploit them. A must read!

Very Dry 2009-03-25

Reviewer: Kayla Covington

Surprising info but very Dry Easy to undrstand but hard to keep interest. Too many fact with not enough story to hold ya. I still haven't finished it and I believe it's been over a year since I started. ugh

Outstanding, Important, Urgent 2009-02-12

Reviewer: Daniel Raphael

Reading this book inspired me to do further research and write an article years ago about the subject of the sexual enslavement of women and children. I especially appreciate that Malarek's book--unlike one that just came out by another author--does not turn away from political allies of the US in reporting exploitation of women. Specifically, South Korea and Israel both complained about being (correctly) rated as high on the State Department's tiers for sex trafficking, resulting in their ratings being downleveled. This, Mr. Malarek comments, is an example of "crocodile tiers" in evaluating and reporting the sexual exploitation of women and children by these nations.

Integrity is the foremost quality in dealing with this horrific problem, and Mr. Malarek does an impeccable job. We need more light shone on this situation, and hopefully the US State Department won't continue to softpedal the routine rape, torture, and enslavement of millions of people--most women, and too many of them, children--across the world.

The book that started my research 2008-06-26

Reviewer: Jodi E. Bronchtein

Victor Malarek's book, "The Natashas: Inside the New Global Sex Trade" is to date the most compelling, readable book on trafficking that I have come across. While other books on trafficking focus on statistics (or lack of), policy, and Tier rankings, Malarek goes deeper. His book actually explains the above things and for good measure, he actually goes to different trafficking spots and reports on corrupt police, women jumping off balconies onto tanks to escape, and how contractors and "peacekeeping forces" are implicit in the traffic.

His account of the DynCorp issue and the subsequent...nothing that resulted after the Army investigated remain some of the most solid evidence to show that there is something desperately wrong ...and that there are Americans going unpunished. Men buying women ("She can't be a day over twelve")and keeping them as slaves in their rooms while working for DynCorp abroad is worth the price of the book alone.

Eyeopening and opinionated, I trust this author. He went out and got the information himself instead of rehashing the same questionable statistics over again (14,500-17,500 people are estimated to be trafficked into the U.S. per year - empirical data-based or imaginary State Department number?) Additionally, he was raised in group-home settings in Canada, which gives him street cred in my eyes.