Sex Tourism is Booming
Read about the booming sex tourism and learn about the things you didn't know before.
Thailand has become an increasingly more popular destination among men and women due to sex tourism.
When I first saw the book Platform, by the French author Michel Houellebecq, on a bookshelf in a library, I didn’t even imagine that there's aphenomenon called sex tourism. The main character of the novel is Michel, an employee of the ministry of culture, who treats himself to a holiday in Thailand with the inheritance after the death of his father. On the holiday generally intended for sex tourism he meets Valérie, a young and successful woman, who turns from a casual aquaintance into the love of his life.
Definition of sex tourism
It’s not clear whether people decide to visit foreign continents because they want to explore the natural landscape and the unknown, or they decide on that because they want, above all, to explore sex life outside the national borders. And the latter is the definition of sex tourism. An individual is interested in sexual adventures, but the person is not necessarily attracted to geographical characteristics of the area visited. This is therefore a visit with the purpose of having sexual encounters – with people below the age of 18 as well, which is intolerable from the western moral and legal point of view, but it turns out to be a market niche abroad. The legislation in the USA strictly bans this type of tourism, and if a citizen of the USA is caught having sex with teenagers, they will of course have to face prosecution and most likely jail time.
It seems that governments are very well aware of all the usual problems resulting from sex tourism.
In the book, the author describes what is going on in Thailand. Despite the fact that the book is almost a decade old, today her story has a direct bearing on the wider area of the South East Asia. The state also assists in the whole matter as a supporting member. Difficulties in the economy, civil unrest, poverty and a large number of fugitives additionally increase the expansion of sex tourism. In 1997 UNICEF already made an assessment that more than a million children, mostly girls, are involved in prostitution.
Trafficking people for sex tourism
More and more data show that a certain number of children are transported in the former members of eastern Europe and an important role is played, above all, by foreigners and the members of the healthcare sector. The states often mentioned in connection with that are Poland, the Checz Republic, Russia and Romania. Most governments across the world consider the level of “development” of sex tourism to be an indicator of their economic growth. It is linked to consumers and spending, and even labelled as a luxury service without being aware (or shuting one’s eyes to the truth) that consequently it causes an increase in child abuse.
Sex tourism and sex abuse of children
In my opinion, most people don’t have secret desires for having sexual intercourse with children. Those who are unable to resist the desire do it because of anonymity, accessibility and a relatively easy way to pay for sex because the states don’t provide for target groups, despite being aware of the phenomenon. As there is almost no chance of getting caught, the process continues.
Sex tourism on the dark side of the internet
It’s said that “the Internet brings people closer”. Well, in this case I find this to be a problem. A lot of small traveling agencies offer sex tourism for adults, and at the same time the invisible side of the agency also offers a number of activities banned by the law. Owing to the small extent of business, they are able to evade the law. The activities are widely advertised in various chat rooms, where you can find detailed guidelines to become a member of the banned sex tourism.
The vicious cycle of sex tourism
We have been striving for a reduction in the effects of HIV. But everything is in vain, if people as tourists on the other part of the planet support the activities (i.e. sexual abuse of children), which have a boomerang effect. I approve of 
sex tourism as such, but I’m still interested in the profile of the client. If people have to travel half the planet because they are incapable of getting laid at home, then it’s obvious they have a problem.
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