- Big Apple Oriental Tours
Big Apple Oriental Tours is a travel agency based in
New York that is at the center of a campaign againstsex tourism operators in theUnited States .The company was founded in
1993 and offers all-inclusive trips toThailand , thePhilippines andCambodia "for the single male.” Their advertising brochures highlight the erotic atmosphere and easy availability of women in these regions. Tour guides would meet the men upon arrival, explain everything, and transport them to the local bars and brothels.Since
1996 , the New York based human rights and feminist groupEquality Now has lobbied the local District Attorney to take action against the company, complaining about promotion of prostitution and possible exploitation of minors. The District Attorney declined to prosecute in2000 , stating that the alleged acts did not occur in New York and were thus beyond the reach of state law. Supported byGloria Steinem and CongresswomanCarolyn B. Maloney , Equality Now then contacted State Attorney GeneralEliot Spitzer in2002 .In response to lobbying by these groups, the first legal action in the U.S. against a business of this type was initiated: Spitzer filed a civil suit against Big Apple Oriental Tours and obtained a restraining order in July
2003 , in effect preventing the company from advertising.Spitzer then made two unsuccessful attempts to charge owners Norman Barabash and Douglas Allen with promoting prostitution. (New York state penal code 230.25(1) defines promotion of prostitution, in part, as running a business that involves prostitution activity by two or more prostitutes [http://wings.buffalo.edu/law/bclc/web/NewYork/ny3(a)(2).htm] .) The Attorney General's office obtained the first indictment of Barabash and Allen in February
2004 . The case was dismissed in August 2004, because thegrand jury had been presented with hearsay evidence and because the judge did not find the law applicable. The dismissal was upheld on appeal based on the hearsay argument. The case was returned to the grand jury and Barabash and Allen were indicted for the same crime again in October2005 . These charges were dismissed in January,2006 . The court held that according to the evidence, "What the tour customer did when he arrived at the location is not part of the Big Apple Oriental Tours enterprise."References
* [http://www.recordonline.com/archive/2006/01/14/news-omspitzerloses-01-14.html "Sex tour charges tossed by judge"] , "
Times Herald-Record ", January 14, 2006External links
* Press releases by Equality Now:
** [http://www.equalitynow.org/english/actions/action_1202_en.html March 2004]
** [http://www.equalitynow.org/english/actions/action_1203_en.html October 2005]
* [http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1862&dept_id=152512&newsid=12730982&PAG=461&rfi=9 Queens Chronicle, 19 August 2004]
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