International marriage brokers leave little doubt about what they're selling. ''Her life is centered around her family, her husband and children (similar to American women from generations past). These women would rather compliment her man than compete with him,” reads the ad on the Web site of TLC Worldwide, a Houston marriage broker. For decades foreign mail-order brides have been marketed as quiet, submissive and easily controlled. Such women have also frequently fallen prey to serial abusers who relied on an unregulated industry to secure a continuous supply of women. While there are no firm figures on how many women in brokered marriages wind up abused, a 2003 survey of 175 legal service providers by The Tahirih Justice Center indicated that more than 50 percent were serving or had served women who met their spouses through a broker.