Development of Sex Tourism - Essay Example

Introduction Sexual relations can be defined as the engagement in any reproductive act of two or more living organisms. It can be between a male anda female, both males and both females. Sexual relations between males is called homosexuality, between females is lesbianism and between a human and an animal it is referred to as bestiality. On the other hand, tourism can be defined as the recreational act of travelling from one place to another for the sake of seeking pleasure and leisure. Sex tourism therefore is said to be engagement in sexual activities with prostitutes by tourists. A person travels to another country for leisure but at the same time gets sexual satisfaction from prostitutes in that specific country. There is always payment for sexual engagement. Sexual tourism takes place internationally and it is mainly done by wealthy tourists (Cliff, 1999, pp.275-277). Sex tourism has been a great concern world wide. The World Tourism Organisation which is a sector of the U.N. opposes sex tourism because of its consequences on culture, social and health matters of a people. Its main concern is the impact of sex tourism on sexual exploitation of individuals in reference to social, gender, economic and age inequality. To understand sex tourism, it is important to know what it includes and what it excludes. This will help to make meaning of what the act really means. There must be reasons for engagement in this activity and they will be highlighted in the paper. Various countries have made laws against sex tourism but some laws on the contrary encourage the act. Lastly, it will be important to look at impacts of sex tourism on both the actors and the country. It is important to look at both the positive and negative impacts of the act to ensure that the decisions made either against or for it are justified (Josiam, 1998, pp.501-513) What does sex tourism include and exclude Some scholars say that sex tourism can be divided in female, adult and child sex tourism. Female sex tourism involves the movement of women from one place to another in search of pleasure, leisure and sex. There is great difference between female and sex tourism in that the women do not visit strip clubs, they do not go to sex shows and tours that are organised. Such trips to engage in sex by women are also known as romance tourism. Women engage in sexual relations with the local people of the destined country. Countries such as Italy, turkey, Thailand, Dominican Republic and so on are known for female sex tourism (Nash,2000, pp.653-664). Very many western women travel to countries such as Jamaica, Dominican Republic and Thailand to seek sexual satisfaction. There is lesbian sex tourism in this act. Women can travel all the way to seek other women for sexual satisfaction. It is mostly practised in Greece a place called Lesbos. The women seek male prostitutes who have different names in every country for example in Greece they are known as Kamakia and in Bali they are Kuta Cowboys. A general term used for male prostitutes is beach boys (Oppermann, 1999, pp.251-266). The late 1840's saw the emergence of female sex tourism in Rome. Independence of women to travel had just been introduced and this highly encouraged female sex tourism. That was the first wave of the act; the second wave gained popularity in Europe and America. This was because there was a shortage of men in Europe; Victorian shortage. This shortage encouraged women to seek sexual intercourse from other countries. It has now become very popular as such women seek sexual relations without any strings attached. There main drive is sexual satisfaction and not love or any long lasting relationships. Another encouragement of this activity was the pop culture. Women were involved in music, film and video making that encouraged women to express themselves freely by encouraging feminism. The male prostitutes mainly do it for money though some can be just sex or other reasons personally known to them (Herold, 2001, pp.978-997). Adult sex tourism When an adult travels to get sexual relations by consenting with another adult in the destined country of travel, then it can be referred to as adult sex tourism. In this activity there is no forcing someone in prostitution or trafficking of sex, the adults generally agree on the terms. A person travels for sex to a foreign land because it is illegal to engage in sex tourism in his or her original home town. For instance one will travel to Nevada where sex tourism is legal from California where it is illegal. International adult sex tourism occurs when one travels to another country. There must be crossing of the border (Johnston, 2001, pp. 180-201). Adult sex tourism brings a lot of money in the economy and it is a multibillion dollar industry. It is an advantage to the hotel industries, taxi, restaurants and airlines. Adult sex tourism has been in existence from time in memorial. It is a promotion to prostitution because it involves consenting adults and agreements on the amount of pay for sex. It is done in strip clubs where one gives money to the stripers to show off their private parts. Some can allow sexual intimacy but the pay is usually higher. In the same strip joints, one can find rooms where sexual intimacy can be carried out. Brothels are places where such sex tourists visit. They have the mandate to choose partners to engage in the action. The pay depends on the number of hours and partners one wants to have. It also involves visiting of sex shows where people are taught how to make love and one pays to have a partner (Holcomb, 1996, pp. 711-713). Child sex tourism Child sex tourism is criminal. It is a criminal industry and the most amazing thing is that it makes a lot of money. It is a multibillion industry. It is illegal because it involves using minors for sex. A minor is defined as any individual who is under eighteen years of age. It is usually regarded as child abuse. There have been numerous campaigns against child sex tourism because it involves sex trafficking. Very many children are abducted and used for sex. It involves child trafficking and these children are confined in homes then used for sex. It also involves people who travel from countries or areas to seek sex with minors. Such individuals are regarded as perverts. It is an illegal act because minors are considered as not mature enough to make certain decisions thus should be secured from some things like sex until they are mature enough. Many governments have enacted laws that are against such acts to protect children (Pritchard, 1998, pp. 273-282). Sex tourism does not include lasting romance. Many people engage in it for money and sexual benefits and not for romance. Though there have been case of people who end up marrying in such conditions, it is not the main aim of the business. It should be noted that there is domestic sex tourism that involves on travelling in another part of his or her home country in search of sexual relation for pleasure. It is different from international sex tourism that involves the crossing of national borders (Pritchard, 2000, pp.884-905). Reasons for sex tourism Individuals engage in sex tourism for reasons such as monetary values, sexual satisfaction and curiosity. The main reason is because of its monetary benefits. This industry has been known because of its great monetary benefit to the actors. Very many tourists are motivated by the fact that they are able to access sexual benefits when they are in a foreign country. The poor in such countries where sex tourism is practised are motivated by the fact that they will make money to earn them a livelihood. The rates of sex with tourists are very high (Pritchard, 2000, pp.884-905). Some prostitutes work under organisations like brothels, strip joints and sex show places. These activities are advertised for the customers to have an idea of the services they offer and where to find them. Some prostitutes do not work for any organisation; they are usually on their own. The prostitutes are normally situated nears hotels, restaurants, clubs, bars and casinos. Some prostitutes are found inside the hotels and other joints while some are employees in those particular industries. The hotel industry is known to provide these services. It should be understood that it is not part of the hotel policy but the employees can always identify someone who requires such services and offer them for personal benefit and not the hotel. Pornography is together with sex tourism. Some tourists do not come to have sex but come to get women and men of different countries to perform in front of cameras then they go back to their home towns and sell the material. It makes money because the materials usually show the country in which the video was shot. These is a clear marketing strategy that attracts people who are curious to know how people of different countries look like and how they carry out their sexual activities. The actors of the pornographic movies are usually given a very large amount of money. The tourists always target individuals who are vulnerable that is those people who are very poor and they know that they will definitely accept the money. These materials can be found in the internet. Sex tourism encourages child pornography because some children who are from poor backgrounds end up being victims' pornography when they are offered money. Some parents actually sell their own children to these tourists to earn a living (Raymond, 2002, pp. 491-502). In countries where prostitution is legal, sex tourism is rampant. This is so because people are not afraid of being charged for engaging in sex tourism. Such countries tax prostitutes because they realised the industry has a lot of money that can pull up the economy. In countries where prostitution is illegal, sex tourism is usually practised in hiding. The prostitutes are usually at a risk of being jailed for engaging in such acts (Ryan, 1996, pp. 507-518). Sexual satisfaction and curiosity is another major reason one can engage in sex tourism. Some people complain that their married partners are not satisfying them sexually, thus one can decide to travel all the way to another country to gain that sexual satisfaction. This is because they are certain that their spouses will never discover thus do not break their families. Some engage in such an act because of socialization. May be such people grew up in areas where it was very normal to have sexual intimacies with strangers. For example in Thailand, it is expected of the children to freely engage in prostitution and sex tourism because it is a legally accepted act. Due to such rules, people grow up seeing the act as normal. Some people can find out that they are not very good in sex thus need to learn some of the styles thus go to certain places where they have heard that individuals are taught to have sex. They visit particular countries to learn the arts of sex by visiting sex show places (Salandha, 2002, pp. 43-62). Some engage in this act because of curiosity. People can be curious to sleep around with people from various places. The different propaganda that women or men of a particular place are very good in sex can lead someone to hunt for such pleasure. Some do it so that they can gain popularity among their peers. As mentioned earlier, curiosity can be brought about by watching pornographic movies that are shot and sold over the internet and markets. Advertising is another source of curiosity. When the brothels and strip joints advertise on the services they offer over the internet, then it is certain that some people will be curious of what goes on in those places. So when one visits a particular country, they are bound to visit such places and most certainly engage in sex tourism. In general, some people just want to engage in sexual acts for curiosity (Raymond, 2002, pp. 491-502). Laws against sex tourism In some countries, sex tourism is illegal given the fact that prostitution is not allowed at all. Such countries where sex tourism is illegal try to keep their cultural values thus the refusal of legalising prostitution. In other countries, sex tourism is legal given the fact that prostitution is legal. In such countries, prostitutes must have a licence in order to pay tax to the government. A prostitute is entitled to being jailed if they do not pay taxes. Countries have places where the prostitutes can be found. The brothels and strip joints are also licensed and they are well known by the public. Asia, south and Central America are the common places one will find child sex tourism being practised (Holcomb, 1996, pp. 711-713). Though sex tourism is allowed in such countries, it also has its limits. The laws do not permit child sex tourism. It does not permit any acts of prostitution that promote any kind of abuse. Child sex tourism is a very big form of abuse. It mainly deals with child trafficking that is highly illegal. Child trafficking involves abducting children from a country and taking them to another country for money. Such children are used for prostitution and drug trafficking. The cases of child abuse have increased globally and it has become a great concern for very many countries to eradicate not only child sex tourism but also any kind of child abuse. As discussed earlier, governments discourage child sex tourism because children can not make their own decisions due to immaturity. Children need care and security from any economic, social, political and cultural danger. Child sex tourism can be encouraged by parents themselves as they involve their children in prostitution. Some parents sell their own children to tourists to make money. They encourage them to participate in child pornography to earn them a ransom of money. Child pornography has become very rampant in the society today. The materials, are selling in the streets and in the internet. Such things promote child sex tourism. Very many people take vocational tours to other countries to go and have sexual relations with children as young as five years. Some children and parents are very innocent but they find themselves in the ordeal of sex tourism and child pornography. Since the act is illegal, some companies or people cheat that children are needed for commercials or modelling, then when they are posing, they are asked to do some sexual movements that are photographed. These photos are sold to various people for the sake of advertising for the services such companies offer (Pritchard, 2000, pp.884-905). It is very difficult to eradicate child sex tourism because some of the people who are controlling such businesses are in the government or have some government connections that they can not be prosecuted. This is a very big problem in countries that experience high rates of poverty. Corruption has become a major hindrance in fighting child sex tourism. Due to the ransom of money one can get, it is easy to pay a fee to keep cases closed and the business continues. Some high ranked officers allow child sex traffickers to get away with children in borders. They do not even arrest people who are notoriously known for child sex tourism. They are simply bribed and they allow such individuals to get away with crime. Another hindrance is the fact that such activities are carried out within households. In some cases where parents use their children for monetary benefits becomes very hard for the legal sector to identify the exact places where such activities take place. Impacts of sex tourism Though sex tourism is considered to be a multibillion dollar activity, it has very many disadvantages to the countries and individuals who practise it. First of all, it increases the spread of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and HIV/AIDS. As the world is trying to fight such diseases, the practise of sex tourism is quite a set back because it increases the number of infections making such efforts useless. There have been campaigns for prostitutes to use condoms or other protective devices to reduce the chances of infections but the use is minimal. Moreover, it increases the rates of drug trafficking and drug abuse. This is a major set back to many economies because drug trafficking is done in black market which does not earn countries any revenues. Moreover, it makes people become useless reducing the number of working citizens but increasing the dependency levels. Child sex tourism is a major way of ensuring drug trafficking takes place smoothly, because as children are passed by the borders, they usually pass with drugs. Children who are exposed to sex tourism are forced to use drugs so that they can carry out such activities. Lastly, sex tourism leads to moral and cultural decay of a place. This is because tourists come with information that distorts the beliefs and way of living of a people (Raymond, 2002, pp. 491-502). Conclusion Sex tourism is a popular case but it does not actually have numerous benefits to countries especially in terms of morality and culture. The allowance of adult, female sex tourism and prostitution, has highly contributed to child sex tourism. This makes it very difficult to fight child sex tourism. References Bishop, P., 2001. "Voyages and Visions: Towards a Cultural History of Travel & Pleasure and Guilt on the Grand Tour: Travel Writing and Imaginative Geography 1600-1830", Journal of Historical Geography, Vol. 27, pp. 275-277. Clift, S and Carter, S., 2000. Tourism and sex: Culture, commerce and coercion. Continuum, London. Clift, S. and Forrest, S., 1999. "Gay men and tourism: destinations and holiday motivations". Tourism Management. Vol. 20, pp. 615-625. Coleman, S. and Crang, M., 2001. Tourism: Between place and performance. 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