I'm living in Bucharest, Romania, and I can confirm this part. A few years ago I used to live in a somewhat less respectable part of the city (not a ghetto by a

I'm living in Bucharest, Romania, and I can confirm this part. A few years ago I used to live in a somewhat less respectable part of the city (not a ghetto by any means, the communists made sure we don't have those, just closer to the periphery and poorer). For some reason it use to be a stop point in girl trafficking - lots of young girls worked at the corner of the street for a few weeks at a time. Many of them from Moldavia, and I presume going further west. At one time I was actually offered a woman for around $200. A few points: - Most girls were not slaves per se, kidnapped and hold by force. All, as far as I can tell, were driven to this by poverty, lack of any prospects in the village of birth or both. - I am not against prostitution as a job, especially since I've seen it done successfully and with quite a bit of entrepreneurial spirit. But in some conditions it can be worst then anything you can imagine. I am especially suspicious of anything that looks organized. I'd guess this is a direct consequence of it being illegal - Amsterdam seems to have managed to make it both organized and civilized. - I'd have liked to make some comments about corruption, politicians and the way things seem to be "settling in" in the last years, but it's all speculation so I'll abstain.