The global culture we now share is a product of generations of journeys facilitated by the travel industry and international transportation systems. However, this ease of travel, a symbol of progress and connectivity, has inadvertently paved the way for a disturbing underbelly of our globalized society.
Role of Governments
In the words of Adam Smith, the pioneer of modern economics, the market economy is best left to individuals pursuing their self-interest. Smith envisioned a limited role for government—focused on law, order, public works, and education. However, our reality tells a different story.
When we turn our attention to the hospitality, travel, and tourism industry and its complicity in the sexual exploitation and prostitution of children for forced prostitution—we find a reprehensible manifestation of the darker side of globalization. Adam Smith’s ideas, meant to empower individuals and promote societal well-being, have been perverted in this marketplace of childhood prostitution.
We Have Seen the Enemy. It is Us
Within this distressing market of child sex tourism, children become commodities, and the sellers range from families to pimps, law enforcement officials, and even foreign governments. The buyers, primarily from Western European countries, the United States, New Zealand, and Australia, engage in this despicable trade, which is subject to sex tourism laws and federal prosecution. Male sex tourists, including those from Great Britain, Japan, Sweden, Germany, and Taiwan, further perpetuate this deplorable industry, often in violation of extraterritorial jurisdiction against sexual tourism laws, trafficking in persons, and child sexual abuse.
The buyers embark on journeys from industrialized nations, seeking out the “exotic orient” to fulfill their perverse desires.
As Polis (1995) starkly points out, the demand for women’s bodies sustains the prostitution industry. Without the backdrop of international tourism, an extensive network of industries—ranging from transportation and accommodation to entertainment and souvenirs—facilitating child sex tourism, it would crumble.
More Than Economics
“As a society’s economic base expands, prostitution becomes increasingly legitimized and regulated, with the state effectively serving the role of the pimp” (Polis, 1995). Shockingly, international tourism has been endorsed by prominent organizations such as UNESCO, the United Nations, the World Tourism Organization, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank (Belk & Costa, 1995).
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, these influential bodies encouraged countries to exploit their natural resources through tourism development, inadvertently ushering in a dark era where sex became a commodity within package tours. The terminology may vary—be it “entertainment girls,” “hospitality girls,” “prostitutes,” or “mail-order brides”—but the reality remains grim.
Waking Up. Taking Action
Throughout the world, women and children are tragically treated as commodities within the multi-billion-dollar transnational industry of sex trafficking and child trafficking. It is imperative for us to confront this disturbing reality of sexual exploitation, including the prostitution of children and childhood prostitution. Only through heightened awareness of child sexual abuse and united collective action can we aspire to dismantle the chains that ensnare the innocent in this abhorrent trade, thereby advancing child protection and upholding children’s rights.
© Dr. Elinor Garely. This copyright article, including photos, may not be reproduced without written permission from the author.
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