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Sex tourism

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Sex tourism is travel to engage in sexual intercourse or sexual activity with prostitutes, and is typically undertaken internationally by tourists from wealthier countries whose payment for services may then be rendered either in cash or in kind.

The World Tourism Organization, a specialized agency of the United Nations, defines sex tourism as "trips organized from within the tourism sector, or from outside this sector but using its structures and networks, with the primary purpose of effecting a commercial sexual relationship by the tourist with residents at the destination".[1] The U.N. opposes sex tourism citing health, social and cultural consequences for both tourist home countries and destination countries, especially in situations exploiting gender, age, social and economic inequalities in sex tourism destinations.[1][2][3]

Attractions for sex tourists can include reduced costs for services in the destination country, and (in order of increasing potential criminality):

Destinations

Further information: Prostitution § Legality of selling sex

National destinations for sex tourists include Thailand[4], Brazil[5][6], Dominican Republic[7][8], Costa Rica[9][10], and Cuba[11][12].

An individual city or region can have a particular reputation as a sex tourist destination. Many of these coincide with major red-light districts, and include Amsterdam in the Netherlands; Bangkok, Pattaya and Phuket in Thailand; and Angeles City[13], the site of a former United States military base in the province of Pampanga, Philippines.

In the United States, prostitution is largely illegal, with the exception of rural areas of the state of Nevada; these have become a sex tourist destination for some Americans. To a lesser extent, several other large cities in the U.S. are also domestic sex tourist destinations despite legal sanctions on prostitution.

Conversely, prostitution is a legal activity in a growing list of other nations worldwide including in many of these destinations.

Female Sex Tourism Destinations

Main article: Female sex tourism

The primary destinations for female sex tourism are Southern Europe (mainly Italy, former Yugoslavia, Turkey, Greece and Spain), the Caribbean (led by Jamaica, Barbados and the Dominican Republic), parts of Africa, Pattaya or Phuket in Thailand. Lesser destinations include Nepal, Morocco, Fiji, Ecuador and Costa Rica. Female sex tourism differs from male sex tourism, in that women do not usually go to specific bars. Women usually give clothes, meals, cash and gifts to their prostitutes, but not all (especially in Southern Europe) expect compensation.

Criminality and controversy

Tourism involving sex with minors

Main article: Prostitution of children

Child Wise defines child sex tourism as "the commercial sexual exploitation of children by foreigners",[14] usually referring to:

  • travel to other countries to engage in sexual acts with children, or
  • foreigners engaging in sexual activity with children while overseas

While most sex tourists only engage in this activity with other adults, some actively look for child prostitutes, while others are not very selective either way regarding age.[15][16] The WTO makes a distinction between "sex tourism" and "child sex tourism."[1] A tourist who has sex with a child prostitute offends the spirit of the international Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Optional protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, and, in addition to breaking the law in the host country, might well also be doing so in the country the tourist is a national of. A growing number of countries are enacting laws with extra-territorial reach in order to meet their obligations under the covenants above, and consequently punishing citizens who engage in sex with minors whilst overseas. But being difficult to police and enforce these crimes continue nonetheless.

The term "child" is often used as defined by the international conventions above and refers to any person below the age of consent. Many countries have signed the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 and implemented domestic law making having sex with child prostitutes a criminal offence for their nationals or inhabitants including when practised abroad regardless of whether it is forbidden by the laws of the destination country. Singapore has been criticized for having no such law, in spite of being adjacent to the sex tourism destination of Batam in Indonesia, which has many underage sex workers, many of whom have been forced into prostitution.[17]

In 2004 Canada started to prosecute individuals under the sex tourism law. The first individual charged in Canada under this law was Donald Bakker. Australia has long done so: with a conviction in 1996 after enactment of legislation in 1994.[18] Its Government has, for example, caused an international political incident in pressing for the extradition of suspended Solomon Islands Attorney-General Julian Moti, an Australian citizen, to face possible charges over alleged offences dating back to 1997.

According to the Cambodia minister for Woman's Affairs, it is not tourists who are the prime culprits of pedophilia in her country, but the locals.[19]

Federal law (see PROTECT Act of 2003) prohibits United States citizens or permanent residents to engage in international travel with the purpose or effect of having commercial sex with a person under the age of 18, or any sex with a person under the age of 16; facilitating such travel is also illegal. Arrests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement are becoming common, however prosecutions under this law are still very rare.[20]

As of 2005, there has been one effort to prosecute a sex tour operator: Big Apple Oriental Tours of New York was prosecuted for "promotion of prostitution" by the New York State Attorney General after lobbying by feminist human rights groups, however the case has been thrown out twice. HR 972, the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2005 reauthorizes the 2000 law, but it also gives U.S. law enforcement better tools to study human trafficking within the United States and to prosecute those who purchase sex acts. The measure authorizes $50 million for grants to state and local law enforcement to investigate and prosecute persons who engage in the purchase of commercial sex acts.[21]

Servaty scandal

In 2005 it was reported that Philippe Servaty, a newspaper columnist for Le Soir, traveled to Morocco where he persuaded women to engage in sexual activity by promising to marry and bring them to Belgium. He then posted photos online to boast of his conquests, but when his explicit materials were circulated back to Morocco many of the women were arrested, had their lives ruined, committed suicide or disappeared.[22]

Academic study

University of Leicester sociologists studied this subject as part of a research project for the Economic and Social Research Council and End Child Prostitution and Trafficking campaign. The study included interviews with over 250 Carribean sex tourists.[23][24] Among their findings:

  • Preconceptions about race and gender influenced their opinions.
  • Economically underdeveloped tourist-receiving countries are promoted as being culturally different so that (in the Western tourist's understanding) prostitution and traditional male domination of women have less stigma than similar practices might have in their home countries.

Documentaries

Canadian film makers have been active at reporting on sex tourism. Documentary titles include:

  • Falang: Behind Bangkok's Smile by Jordon Clark (2005) (this title at IMDb), set in Thailand
  • the CBC series, the Lens episode "Selling Sex in Heaven" (2005) (this title at IMDb), set in the Philippines.
  • Channel 4 Cutting Edge episode "The Child Sex Trade" (2003),[1] set in Romania, Italy

See also

References

Notes

  1. ^ a b c "WTO Statement On The Prevention Of Organized Sex Tourism". Adopted by the General Assembly of the World Tourism Organization at its eleventh session - Cairo (Egypt), 17-22 October 1995 (Resolution A/RES/338 (XI)). Cairo (Egypt): World Tourism Organization. 17–22 October 1995. Retrieved 2006-12-20. {{cite conference}}: Unknown parameter |booktitle= ignored (|book-title= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: date format (link)
  2. ^ U.N. Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women (OSAGI) Gender Mainstreaming Mandates
  3. ^ U.N. Congress On The Prevention Of Crime And The Treatment Of Offenders Press Release New Global Treaty to Combat Sex Slavery of Women and Girls
  4. ^ Cruey, Greg. "Thailand's Sex Industry". About: Asia For Visitors. About, Inc. (The New York Times Co.). Retrieved 2006-12-20. Nowhere else is it so open and prevalent.
  5. ^ "Brazil". The Protection Project. Archived from the original on 2006-12-20. Retrieved 2006-12-20. Brazil is a major sex tourism destination. Foreigners come from Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Latin America, and North America ...
  6. ^ Gentile, Carmen J. (2006-02-02). "Brazil cracks down on child prostitution". San Francisco Chronicle. Chronicle Foreign Service. Retrieved 2006-12-20. ... young prostitutes strut in front of middle-aged American and European tourists ...
  7. ^ "Dominican Republic". The Protection Project. Archived from the original on 2006-12-20. Retrieved 2006-12-20. The Dominican Republic is one of the most popular sex tourism destinations in the world, and it is advertised on the Internet as a "single man's paradise."
  8. ^ Scheeres, Julia (2001-07-07). "The Web, Where 'Pimps' Roam Free". Wired News. CondéNet Inc. Retrieved 2006-12-20.
  9. ^ Kovaleski, Serge F. (2000-01-02). "Child Sex Trade Rises In Central America". Washington Post Foreign Service. Washington Post Foreign Service. Retrieved 2006-12-20. ... "an accelerated increase in child prostitution" in the country ... blamed largely on the unofficial promotion of sex tourism in Costa Rica over the Internet. {{cite news}}: Check |archiveurl= value (help)
  10. ^ "Costa Rica". The Protection Project. Archived from the original on 2006-12-20. Retrieved 2006-12-20. ...has come to rival Thailand and the Philippines as one of the world's leading destinations for sex tourism.
  11. ^ "Cuba". The Protection Project. Archived from the original on 2006-12-20. Retrieved 2006-12-20. Cuba is a popular destination country for sex tourists from Canada, the United States, and Europe.
  12. ^ Zúñiga, Jesús. "Cuba: The Thailand of the Caribbean". The New West Indian. Retrieved 2006-12-20.
  13. ^ Fr. Shay Cullen (2005-03-03). "Sex Tourism Is Big Money for Pimps and Politicians". imc-qc (philapinas). QC Independent Media Centre. Retrieved 2007-04-08. Angeles City, two hours north of Metro Manila, is the home of the most organized sex industry in the Philippines. Thousands of sex tourists from all over the world go there to look for cheap sex, much of it with under age minors.
  14. ^ "Child Sex Tourism". Child Wise - ECPAT in Australia. Child Wise. 2002-11-06. Archived from the original on 2005-06-14. Retrieved 2007-05-18.
  15. ^ Brass, Dr. Martin (2004). "The Modern Scourge of Sex Slavery". Military.com. Soldier of Fortune Magazine. Archived from the original on 2004-09-11. As Interpol's Agnes Fournier de Saint Maur, who tracks global child sex trends, says, the demand comes not only from pedophiles but from individuals 'eager to push the envelope of carnal exploration.' {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  16. ^ Sex tourism
  17. ^ "Asia's sex trade is 'slavery'". BBC News, Asia-Pacific. BBC. 2003-02-20. Archived from the original on 2003-04-16. Retrieved 2007-05-18. A combination of poverty, globalisation, organised crime and discrimination against women encouraged the trade.
  18. ^ http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/tandi/ti156.pdf Australian Institute of Criminology, Trends & Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice No. 156, Child Sex Tourism]
  19. ^ Perrin, Andrew (2002-08-26). "Shame". Time. Time, Inc. Archived from the original on 2007-05-18. Retrieved 2007-05-18. 'Foreigners are not the only ones who exploit our children,' says Mu Sochua, Cambodia's Minister for Women's Affairs. 'The real disease comes from within.' Indeed, child protection advocates say locals are the biggest offenders, and the ones least likely to be caught and punished. In Cambodia, the threat of punishment is miniscule, as there is no legislation prohibiting sex with children. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  20. ^ Sex tourist fact sheet
  21. ^ Full copy of HR 972
  22. ^ Avenging Muslims Seek to Kill Belgian Journalist, The Brussels Journal, 13 July 2005
  23. ^ Sex Tourism in the Caribbean by Jacqueline Sanchez Taylor, University of Leicester. Chapter for Tourism, Travel and Sex, eds. Stephen Clift and Simon Carter, 1999
  24. ^ The New West Indian Sex tourists: survey

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