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This global quest to access the exotic, can in its extreme lead to the unchecked of
exploitation of women and sexual abuse of children as attested to by the following
organisational resources.
(http://www.arches.uga.edu/~haneydaw/twwh/traf.html,
http://www.ecpat.net/eng/index.asp
http://www.unicef.org/protection/index_exploitation.html,
EDRD 4010: Tourism and Prostitution Student: James Mardall – 0285981
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http://www.worldvision.org/worldvision/wvususfo.nsf/stable/globalissues_stp?
Open&lid=sex_tourism&lpos=sub3photo), (See Appendix 2 – Reports of Sexual
Abuse – Child Abuse – Prosecution of International Sex Offenders).
Although the term Sex Worker applies to any individual who uses their person to
provide sexual services as a livelihood strategy. This term is gender and age
neutral and disguises the fact that a substantial number of sex workers worldwide
are exploited for commercial gain, particularly the young and vulnerable. The
individual reasons for entering sex work are complicated and can be discussed at
length, as in the papers Gulcur, L. Ilkkaracan, P. (2002) The ‘‘Natasha’’
experience: Migrant Sex Workers from the former Soviet Union and Eastern
Europe in Turkey, Klain E, J. (1999), Prostitution of Children and Child-Sex
Tourism: An Analysis of Domestic and International Responses, McDonald, L.
Moore, B. Timoshkina, N. (2000). Migrant Sex Workers from Eastern Europe and
the Former Soviet Union [computer file]: The Canadian Case and
http://www.links.net/vita/swat/course/prosthai.html. Prostitution in Thailand and
Southeast Asia.
For the general purposes of this paper, reasons for those entering sex work which
can lead to eventual exploitation can be summarized as follows; Individuals could
be coerced, young, homeless, disempowered, poor, poorly educated, societally
neglected, psychologically traumatized, victimized, substance abusers, searching
for a better life or just trying to survive. (Klain E, J. (1999), Prostitution of
EDRD 4010: Tourism and Prostitution Student: James Mardall – 0285981
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This paper will attempt to remain impartial with regard to the global sex industry,
while the author examines tourism’s impact on prostitution in the less developed
countries. This paper will also highlight the ways in which the sex industry is open
to abuse, particularly when examined as a relationship between individuals from
wealthy developed countries and poorer less developed countries. This paper will
provide a brief overview of the sex tourism industry in less developed countries
before establishing a position, by using the following points as a guide:
If one defines tourism as, “travel for the purpose of recreation”, the consensus of
both the course guide and numerous EDRD 4010 web conversations. Then the
link between tourism and prostitution would be encompassed by the idea of,
travel for the partial / sole purpose of engaging in recreational sex, in foreign
destinations.
For the traveler, the reasons for traveling to a foreign destination in order to
engage in recreational sex are as numerous, as the various web pages that
EDRD 4010: Tourism and Prostitution Student: James Mardall – 0285981
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The author of this paper was surprised to find that although male heterosexuals
seemed to be the most prevalently targeted group, many travel references exist
for both female heterosexuals and homosexuals. For instance, references to male
travel prostitution found at
(http://www.youthsuicide.com/gaybisexual/links6.htm) as well as
(http://www.newint.org/issue252/miches.htm) which alludes to the authors
homosexual orientation enabling his desire to access global travel.
For an individual wishing to travel to a foreign destination for sex, it seems there
are many resources available to assist him/her in locating the ideal destination
compatible with every pocket, sexual orientation and desire.
In order to try and perceive the issue from the perspective of a sex traveler
the author began to search the internet as if he were attempting to select a
location for sex travel. The internet has become a powerful tool for sex
tourism, it enables countries to be directly or indirectly marketed through
numerous websites offering sex travel (See Appendix 1; References - Tourism
and Prostitution – Sites for Sex Tourists). A predominant number of sites
related to sex and tourism were directed at heterosexual males in developed
countries (See Appendix 1 for a few examples). A search, using Google
without a filter returned 7,040,000 websites related to the search subject
“sex” AND “Tourism”. (http://www.google.ca/search?
hl=en&q=sex+tourism&btnG=Google+Search&meta=.)
These websites market destinations in the Far East, particularly Thailand, the
Philippines and Cambodia. However Brazil, Costa Rica, Cuba, The Caribbean
Islands, Eastern Europe, South and North Africa are also amongst those less
developed areas marketed to the sex traveler
(http://www.worldsexguide.org/WSGArchiveIndex.html).
The reason why there are so many references to sex travel is that it is not
value free and the reason why these organisations are pertinent, are directly
related to core issues surrounding sex travel. The predominant issues pertain
to the types of exploitation that occur within this industry, due to the complex
nature of the inequalities inherent in the power dynamics of the industry.
These are the issues that will be more fully explored in the following section.
Thailand is seen as the archetypal sex travel destination and reference is made to
this region in many of the sources in Appendix 1. For this reason Thailand is used
as a prime example of a sex travel destination albeit not the only destination, as
evident on the website http://www.worldsexguide.org/WSGArchiveIndex.html.
To answer the question are Thai sex workers viewed as a resource and is this
resource a necessary part of the Thai economy? It is hard to conclude that this is
not the case. Even though the sex industry is not decriminalized in Thailand, the
authorities do not actively discourage sex work. Allusions are in fact made to the
effect that the authorities condone the sex industry and that corruption may be
one of the reasons why the industry is able to continue in a comparatively
unrestricted manner. The following quote provides some illumination with respect
to the question asked earlier;
On the one hand therefore, there are travelers from developed countries who
have money and want to have sex and on the other hand there are poor
individuals from less developed countries who are prepared to exchange sex for
money. Not only are these individuals dependant on the individual income earned
from the sale of their person, but the countries, particularly less developed
countries are dependant on the collective income from the sex industry as a
means of deriving foreign exchange and boosting tourism revenues and their
GDP. This is not only the case in Thailand but literary evidence suggests that
similar dynamics exist in many of the countries that tolerate the practice of
prostitution. (http://sisyphe.org/article.php3?id_article=965,
http://www.ilo.org/public/english/bureau/inf/magazine/26/sex.htm))
It is also suggested that the global sex industry can be considered an integral
part of the global economy and capitalism and that without it, many of the less
developed countries development goals may not as easily be met.
(http://sisyphe.org/article.php3?id_article=965,
http://www.ilo.org/public/english/bureau/inf/magazine/26/sex.htm). The sex
sector -according to the ILO report sited above- is not recognized in official
statistics, government budgets or development plans. But, the study further goes
on to highlight that 2 – 14% of the GDP of four countries studied – Indonesia,
Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand can be accredited to the sex sector. It can
therefore be suggested that the core issues of tourism and prostitution are social
and economic.
But, if sex tourism is such a large contributor to the national GDP’s of less
developed countries and if at least on the surface, people seem willing to engage
in the activity either as sex purchasers or sex sellers. What are the reasons for
the social stigma and reticence to accept sex work as a legitimate form of
employment? On the surface at least, sex work seems to function as a voluntary
form of wealth redistribution from the developed countries to the less developed
countries?
http://www.vachss.com/help_text/reports/future
s_1.html
As mentioned earlier, sex travel is not value free, the predominant issues relate
to money and people and the complex nature of the inequalities inherent in the
power dynamics of the sex industry. These inequalities and the increasing
demand for young and fresh new faces for the sex industry have led to the global
exploitation of children for sex. As attested to by the photograph above, girls as
young as thirteen are forced into prostitution due to their household livelihood
strategies. (http://www.vachss.com/help_text/reports/futures_1.html)
According to ECPAT in 1996 over 1million children were working in the sex
industry in Asia alone. In an earlier report released in 1994 ECPAT does not single
out Asia alone but also mentions both less developed and developed countries as
At the same time the sex industry -or as the International Labour Organisation
(ILO) refer to it – the sex sector, is responsible for a substantial portion of many
of the less developed countries GDP. In the case of Thailand for example, during
the 1993 – 1995 period, prostitution was responsible for an estimated annual
income of between 22.5 – 27 Billion US Dollars. The ILO also notes that the
remittances to rural families from urban sex workers were close to 300 million US
Dollars a year during the same period, an amount that exceeded the Thai
governments rural development allocations during the same period.
(http://www.ilo.org/public/english/bureau/inf/magazine/26/sex.htm)
The sex sector is thus an important source of revenue for the rural families who
have sacrificed a family member to the sex sector as an offering to a capitalist
system. Perhaps this greater good could be more easily condoned if it did not
have negative consequences associated with it. However it is difficult to see the
fairness or justice in the swap of a life for material gain, however badly it is
needed to support a livelihood. But then as with the attempt to try and
understand the mindset of a sex traveler, the author is equally at a loss to try
and fully comprehend the desperation of absolute poverty in a less developed
country. Perhaps though the failing is not on the part of the individual entering
into the sex industry, as much as it is the failing of a global society in which we
can allow one another to be commodified.
It is evident from the literature and electronic resources that were reviewed that
some less developed countries view sex tourism as a means of boosting tourism
income (i.e. Thailand). (http://sisyphe.org/article.php3?id_article=965,
http://www.ilo.org/public/english/bureau/inf/magazine/26/sex.htm)
It is also evident that there are nefarious individuals in developed countries who
import sex workers to boost their own income. Papers from Canada and Israel
suggest that this is an ongoing activity involving young impoverished women
from the former Soviet Union. They are attracted by the false promises of high
earnings in a safe environment in a developed country, only to find that they are
no better off then slaves once they arrive. Unfortunately this trade is not
restricted to those individuals that are considered to be of a consensual age and
child trafficking has also proliferated. (Gulcur, L. Ilkkaracan, P. (2002), Amnesty
International. (2000))
For this reason, the author feels that it is not possible to advocate a position in
which sex tourism is entirely outlawed. Even in developed countries in which this
is the case, police and the legal systems commonly tolerate sex workers. Due to
the unequal nature of the relationship between developed and less developed
countries, the unequal access to resources and the prevalence of the blind eye of
justice. Any attempt to curtail the sex work industry, which is not implemented
on a universal basis, will probably lead to a skewing of the sex industry to those
areas that are less able to ignore the financial benefits of not doing so.
In line with the suggestions made by Klain E, J. (1999) from pp 45 – 49, the
author feels that many of the suggestions made reflect a positive solution to the
prevention of the exploitation of underage individuals by the sex trade and sex
travelers.
Legislation enacted in many developed countries has been used to litigate sex
offenders in their developed countries of origin (See Appendix 2). And a global
name and shame strategy has been used to track the whereabouts of known sex
offenders. These efforts are particularly effective in the developed countries
where some of these sex offenders and child exploiters reside.
The author also feels however, that the less developed countries are for reasons
previously discussed not as capable of enacting and following through with similar
strategies as in developed countries. For this reason the author has to agree with
the attempts that are being made by sex workers to empower themselves
through a legitimization process. (http://www.iusw.org/start/index.html,
http://www.bayswan.org/manifest.html) Perhaps by using a holistic and
integrated approach to the global sex trade, the levels of exploitation enabled by
the shame and stigma of the sex trade will be minimized and the rights of
individuals will be more fully established. There are however those who believe
that the legitimisation of the sex trade will lead to greater exploitation of
vulnerable individuals, and any attempts to assist in this regard should always
bear this fact in mind. Perhaps then, as in any process, progress in this regard
should be monitored on an ongoing basis not only by outside organisations but by
those who see the sex trade as a viable livelihood alternative as well.
• How knowing about this issue will change the way the author travels
to less developed areas in the future?
The author of this paper attempts always to be mindful of the impact that he has
when traveling, not only when in less developed areas, but also when in
developed areas.
Reid, D G and Mair, H. (2003). Tourism Planning in the Less Developed World:
EDRD*4010 DE Course Manual. University of Guelph.
Electronic References:
http://www.google.ca/search?
hl=en&q=sex+tourism&btnG=Google+Search&meta=. Results 1 - 10 of about
7,040,000 for sex tourism. Site accessed – 26 October 2004.
http://www.hangoverguide.com/over/factbook/th_sexindustry.html.
GlobalHangoverGuide ®,Thailand and the Sex Industry. Site Accessed – 26
October 2004.
http://www.ilo.org/public/english/bureau/inf/magazine/26/sex.htm. International
Labour Organisation. No. 26, September / October 1998. The economics of sex.
Sex as a sector: Economic incentives and hardships fuel growth. Site accessed –
1 November 2004
http://www.worldvision.org/worldvision/wvususfo.nsf/stable/globalissues_stp?
Open&lid=sex_tourism&lpos=sub3photo. World Vision - Child Sex Tourism
Prevention Project, Site accessed – 24 October 2004.