Sex tourism

Encyclopedia : S : SE : SEX : Sex tourism

Sex tourism is tourism, partially or fully for the purpose of having sex. Sex tourism is legal in any country in the world where prostitution is also legal. A sex tourist is usually defined as an adult who travels in order to have legal consensual sexual relations with another adult often for the exchange of money or presents.

Often the term "sex tourism" is wrongly interchanged with the term "child sex tourism". A tourist who is having sex with a child is almost always committing criminal offences in the host country, and possibly the country that the tourist is a citizen of. (See: Prostitution of children)

Contents

1 Destinations
2 Terms used for sex tourists
3 Crime and controversy

3.1 Tourism involving sex with minors
3.2 Legal issues in the United States
3.3 Servaty Scandal

4 References
5 See also
6 External links

Destinations

Popular national destinations for sex tourists include The Netherlands, Brazil, Dominican Republic, Germany, Costa Rica, Cuba and several countries in Southeast Asia (including Thailand and Cambodia.) Since the collapse of the Iron Curtain, Russia, Hungary, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Poland and the Czech Republic have also become popular destinations for sex tourists. In many of those destinations, sex tourism is still only a small percentage of overall prostitution, with most prostitutes serving local men; however, in Cuba, because of economic issues, sex workers usually serve only foreign tourists, and very few of them consent to work with nationals.

Individual cities or states/regions 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 and Pattaya in Thailand and Angeles City in the Philippines.

One special case worth noting is the United States, where 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.

The primary destinations for female sex tourism are Southern Europe (mainly Greece and Spain), the Caribbean (led by Jamaica, Barbados and the Dominican Republic), the Gambia and Kenya in Africa, and Bali and Phuket in Thailand. Lesser destinations include Nepal, Morocco, Fiji, Ecuador and Costa Rica. Female sex or romance tourism differs from male sex tourism, in that women do not need to sign up for tours or go to specific bars. Women sometimes give clothes, meals, cash and gifts to their holiday boyfriends, but not all (especially in Southern Europe) expect compensation.

Terms used for sex tourists

A term that sex tourists oftentimes use to describe themselves is "mongerers," and traveling for sex as "mongering." This apparently derives from the word "warmonger" or "whoremongerer."

One term sometimes used for a sex tourist is "sexpat". Its derivation is from expat (expatriate) and did not originally refer to tourists per se, but rather those with similar motivations who have actually relocated to such a location, either as workers or as retirees. The word has since come to be used, at least loosely, in both contexts.

Crime and controversy

Tourism involving sex with minors

While most sex tourists only engage in this activity with other adults, a small percentage actively look for adolescent or even younger prostitutes, while others are not very selective either way, regarding age[link]. Several countries have severe laws making sex with children (see child sexual abuse) a serious offense, for their nationals or inhabitants even if practiced abroad and even if it is not forbidden by the laws of the foreign country. See also Universal Jurisdiction.

Singapore has been criticised 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, some of whom have been tricked or forced into prostitution, according to media reports.

In 2004 Canada started to prosecute individuals under the sex tourism law. The first individual charged in Canada under this law was Donald Bakker.

Legal issues in the United States

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; the age of consent in the target country is irrelevant. Facilitating such travel is also illegal. Prosecutions under this law are very rare.

As of 2005, there has been one effort to go after 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. The case was thrown out twice.

HR 972, the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2005. A full copy of HR 972 can be found at [link] HR 972 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.

Servaty Scandal

In 2005 it was reported that Philippe Servaty, a newspaper columnist for Le Soir, traveled to Morocco where he persuaded women to do degrading things 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 simply disappeared. [Avenging Muslims Seek to Kill Belgian Journalist], The Brussels Journal, 13 July 2005

References

External links

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