prostitution1

Sex Tourism

Sex tourism is a very lucrative industry that spans the globe. In 1998, the International
Labour Organization reported its calculations that 2-14% of the gross domestic product of
Indonesia, Malaysia, the Phillipines, and Thailand derives from sex tourism. In addition,
while Asian countries, including Thailand, India, and the Phillipines, have long been prime
destinations for child-sex tourists, in recent years, tourists have increasingly traveled to
Mexico and Central America for their sexual exploits as well.

Child sex tourists are individuals that travel to foreign countries to engage in sexual activity
with children. The non-profit organization End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography, and
the Trafficking of Children (ECPAT) estimates that more than one million children worldwide
are drawn into the sex trade each year.

Factors Supporting the Child Sex Trade

The most significant societal factor that pushes children into prostitution is poverty. Many
nations with thriving sex tourism industries are nations that suffer from widespread poverty
resulting from turbulent politics and unstable economies. Poverty often correlates with
illiteracy, limited employment opportunities, and bleak financial circumstances for families.
Children in these families become easy targets for procurement agents in search of young
children. They are lured away from broken homes by "recruiters" who promise them jobs in
a city and then force the children into prostitution. Some poor families themselves prostitute
their children or sell their children into the sex trade to obtain desperately needed money.
Gender discrimination also works in tandem with poverty; in many countries, female
children have fewer educational opportunities or prospects for substantial employment.
Consequently, they must find other means of earning a living.

The Internet has also facilitated the recent rise in child sex tourism by providing a
convenient marketing channel. Websites provide potential child sex tourists with
pornographic accounts written by other child sex tourists. These websites detail sexual
exploits with children and supply information on sex establishments and prices in various
destinations, including information on how to specifically procure child prostitutes.
Additionally, sex tour travel agents may publish brochures and guides on the Internet that
cater to child sex tourists. In 1995, there were over twenty-five businesses in the United
States that offered and arranged sex tours. One particular website promised nights of sex
"with two young Thai girls for the price of a tank of gas." The easy availability of this
information on the Internet generates interest in child sex tourism and facilitates child sex
abusers in making their travel plans.

Finally, actions by foreign governments may directly or indirectly encourage child sex
tourism. National governments in countries which are struggling economically have become
increasingly tourist-oriented in their search for profitable sources of income. These
governments sometimes turn a blind eye to the sex tourism industry, thus allowing the
industry to perpetuate sexual exploitation upon children in order to encourage tourism in
their country in general.

Victims of Child Sex Tourism

Child sex tourism makes its profits from the exploitation of child prostitutes in developing
countries. Many children are trafficked into the sex trade. In Thailand, for example,
Burmese girls as young as thirteen are illegally trafficked across the border by recruiters
and sold to brothel owners.

The lives of child prostitutes are almost too appalling to confront. Studies indicate that child
prostitutes serve between two and thirty clients per week, leading to a shocking estimated
base of anywhere between 100 to 1500 clients per year, per child. Younger children, many
below the age of 10, have been increasingly drawn into serving tourists.

Child prostitutes live in constant fear; they live in fear of sadistic acts by clients, fear of
being beaten by pimps who control the sex trade, and fear of being apprehended by the
police. It comes as no surprise that victims often suffer from depression, low self-esteem,
and feelings of hopelessness.

Many victims of child sexual exploitation also suffer from physical ailments, including
tuberculosis, exhaustion, infections, and physical injuries resulting from violence inflicted
upon them. Venereal diseases run rampant among these children and they rarely receive
medical treatment until they are seriously or terminally ill. Living conditions are poor and
meals are inadequate and irregular. Many children that fail to earn enough money are
punished severely, often through beatings and starvation. Sadly, drug use and suicide are
all too common for victims of child sexual exploitation.

Child Sex Tourists

Child sex tourists are typically males and come from all income brackets. Perpetrators
usually hail from nations in Western European nations and North America.

While some tourists are pedophiles that preferentially seek out children for sexual
relationships, many child sex tourists are "situational abusers." These are individuals who
do not consistently seek out children as sexual partners, but who do occasionally engage
in sexual acts with children when the opportunity presents itself.

The distorted and disheartening rationales for child sex tourism are numerous.
Some perpetrators rationalize their sexual encounters with children with the idea that they
are helping the children financially better themselves and their families. Paying a child for
his or her services allows a tourist to avoid guilt by convincing himself he is helping the
child and the child's family to escape economic hardship. Others try to justify their behavior
by believing that children in foreign countries are less "sexually inhibited" and by believing
their destination country does not have the same social taboos against having sex with
children. Still other perpetrators are drawn towards child sex while abroad because they
enjoy the anonymity that comes with being in a foreign land. This anonymity provides the
child sex tourist with freedom from the moral restraints that govern behavior in his home
country. Consequently, some tourists feel that they can discard their moral values when
traveling and avoid accountability for their behavior and its consequences. Finally, some
sex tourists are fueled by racism and view the welfare of children of third world countries as
unimportant.

International Response to Child Sex Tourism

The response of destination countries to the epidemic of child sex tourism has been
ineffective. Although many of these countries have passed legislation that criminalizes
sexual exploitation of children, these laws often remain unenforced against tourists. Efforts
to combat child sexual exploitation often run into conflict with foreign governments' efforts
to promote the international tourism industry. Police corruption is common. In Thailand and
the Philippines, police have been known to guard brothels and even procure children for
prostitution. Some police in destination countries directly exploit children themselves. Thus
far, the international community has not been able to rely on destination countries to
adequately protect the rights and well-being of child victims.

The United States has risen to take legislative action against the growing evils of child sex
tourism. In 1994, Congress established 18 U.S.C. § 2423(b), which is aimed towards
prosecution of child sex tourists. Section 2423(b) criminalizes traveling abroad for the
purpose of engaging in illegal sexual activity with a minor. Currently, successful prosecution
under § 2423(b) requires the government to prove that an alleged child sex tourist from the
United States formed the intent to engage in sexual activity with a child prior to meeting the
child and initiating sexual contact. In other words, a defendant is only punishable under §
2423(b) if he has the intent, while traveling, to engage in sexual activity with minors. The
federal government has successfully utilized § 2423(b) to target several child sex tourists.
Current proposals to eliminate the intent requirement may broaden the government's
prosecutorial power by allowing the government to prosecute United States citizens who
engage in sexual acts with children while abroad, regardless of when they formed the intent
to do so.
Child sex tourism grows at an alarming rate and inflicts devastating consequences on
millions of children around the globe. As a global leader, the United States is committed to
using its power to reform and eradicate child sex tourism industry.