The recent scandal involving U.S. Secret Service agents and military personnel in Cartagena, Columbia, who hired prostitutes, reveals a seamier side of U.S. expatriate life. As one who worked overseas with American citizens, I occasionally dealt with Americans of questionable virtue who formed unwise relationships with locals. Thankfully, the countries where I worked did not encourage what is called “the sex trade.”

My colleagues assigned to those countries had to deal more often with the problems caused by U.S. citizens traveling abroad solely for promiscuous purposes. Taxpayer-funded employees should understand that these activities are off-limits for them. Period.

Trafficking of human beings for immoral purposes is not confined solely to foreign countries. Albert Mohler has written in the Christian Post of issues involved both in the U.S. and in other countries by this trafficking. He rightly calls on the United States to insure that the representatives the U.S. sends abroad do not in any way abet the industry that feeds on the vulnerable.

At the same time, we should demand zero tolerance for such activities in this country. We should offer safe refuges for those who want to escape and prosecution for those who force victims, often quite young, into prostitution. We should bring all the pressure allowed on publications that advertise such activities.

Our connected world demands a higher awareness of the good, the bad, and the ugly that this connectedness makes possible.