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Sex Tourism
Your chance to have your say about sex tourism
The issues:
What is sex tourism?
Travelling to a foreign country with the express intention of having sex with local prostitutes, usually involving the handing over of money or gifts in return. In many of these destination countries prostitution is legal, so there's no law preventing specialist resorts and 'hotels' from openly advertising the 'services' on offer on the internet. Figures of Western adults travelling with the explicit purpose of having sex with consenting adults in their destination country do not exist.
Is sex tourism new?
Although with the increased ease and decreased cost of international travel, the scale of sex tourism currently seen is unlike anything ever seen before, the actual notion of travelling to foreign countries for sex is far from new. Some point all the way back to Christopher Columbus and his crew who brought syphilis to the New World in the 16th century. Perhaps the key turning point, however, was the Vietnam War, in which thousands of American GIs would use their 'R&R' time to travel to brothels in neighbouring Thailand. There's no doubting that sex tourism is now a veritable industry for many countries, most notably in the Far East and Central America. The appeals for tourists are obvious – reduced costs, along with either legal prostitution or indifferent law enforcement, and access to children. In June this year young Latvians staged a revolt against an influx of so-called 'sex terrorists' who they claim have turned Riga into the 'Bangkok of the Baltic'. The capital has become increasingly popular with British stag parties looking for cheap alcohol and casual sex, with the number of visitors rising by 54% since 2004.
How can it be justified?
Like prostitution, which has been made legal in several Western countries, there is an argument that any adult's body is his or hers to do with as she pleases, including selling it for sex. Fidel Castro even gave a speech to the National Assembly of the People's Government in 2002 saying: 'There are no women forced to sell themselves to a man, to a foreigner, to a tourist. Those who do so do it on their own, voluntarily, and without any need for it.' In countries where the average yearly wage can be just a few hundred dollars, to earn $80 a day to be a 'paid girlfriend' of a Western tourist has an obvious appeal. Many would argue that to deny a woman this right would in many ways deny her fundamental basic freedoms that could be seen as tantamount or worse than other forms of slavery. If, like several of the women featured in both of the Channel 4 shows, they are using prostitution and the money Western men bring with them as a 'passport' out of poverty, or to fund them or their families into a better quality of life, is this not their choice? But do Western men not fuel the fire of economic inequality and exacerbate the problems in these countries? Without there seeming to be any monitoring and regulation of the conditions and practices of the 'industry', the health, wealth and welfare of these women would appear to be at the mercy of the owners of these specialist resorts. 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'.
Is anyone doing anything to stop it?
Adults travelling specifically to have sex with other consenting (if paid) adults in foreign countries are not seemingly monitored or controlled by any country. So, will sex tourism ever be dealt with as long as there are economic disparities between countries and people have undeniable and unquenchable urges to have sex? Should we not be looking at our own societies for an answer rather than all-too-easily pointing the finger of blame at paedophiles and lonely middle-aged men?
What happens when children are involved?
The US Department of State estimates that over 1 million children are exploited in the global commercial sex trade each year – it's in this field that the majority of international outrage and on-going legislation change is understandably focused.
UK citizens
Enshrined in the Sexual Offences Act 2003 was the power to bring Britons to trial in the UK for alleged sex offences committed abroad – but only if they are also considered crimes in that country, a loophole that the NSPCC wants to see closed. Aid agency World Vision says there have only been four cases – and three convictions – brought under these rules in that time. In February 2005 British police visited Thailand to train local officers in methods of combating sex offending, while in November that year it was announced that British police would be working with Cambodian authorities to track down sex tourists who travel from the UK to abuse children. There's also a soon-to-be-launched Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre, which will see specialist law enforcement officers brought together with lawyers and charities to fight paedophiles. Police also hope a new G8 initiative for a shared computer database of sex abuse images will help the international effort. But is just three convictions enough to send out the right signals? How can we still allow paedophiles who have had underage sex abroad to remain free in this country?
International action
With those that can be proven to be seeking sex with children, the international community has made significant inroads in recent years. At least 32 countries now have extraterritorial laws that allow the prosecution of their citizens for Child Sex Tourism crimes committed abroad. In response to the phenomenon of CST, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), the tourism industry, and governments have begun to address the issue. The World Tourism Organization (WTO) established a task force to combat CST. The WTO, the NGO End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes (ECPAT), and Nordic tour operators created a global Code of Conduct for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation in Travel and Tourism in 1999. As of June 2005, 200 travel companies from 21 countries had signed the code (www.thecode.org).
What do you think?
You've read some of the issues, so here's your chance to let us know what you think about sex tourism:
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