Sex Tourism in Cambodia
Author: Alex Beard
2 Commentries
Conference Paper
Abstract
Many of the countries in the third world are getting involved in tourism industry, in order to develop local economy and increase employment opportunities for its local residents. The tourism industry was the first to try and combat the poor quality of life that the third world was facing. The type of tourism that did this was sex tourism, whereby the role of women is to entertain the tourists and or the local people with sexual pleasures. Thus sex tourism in one of the most important topics in tourism literature. This paper will introduce the general view on the sex tourism industry, covering the importance of prostitution as a mean for economical development in Third World countries. Also will look at Cambodia as an example of how sex tourism has caused major problems for them as a country and destination.
Key words: Sex Tourism, prostitution, Cambodia
Sex tourism in one of the most emotive and sensationalised issues in the study of tourism (Hall 1996: 265). Although it exists all over the world, sex tourism is generally said to be associated with the Western society, usually undertaken by males who tend to exploit residents in Third World countries. Countries in the developing world try to promote tourism as the main generator of foreign currency, but because of lack of governmental control and necessary investment tools, tourism leads to number of serious problems and one of them is prostitution and sex tourism.
Usually sex tourism in the developing countries suggests, the image of men, often older and in less than perfect shape, travelling for sexual pleasure generally not available in their home country for at least the same price (O'Connell, Davidson 1996). Therefore sex tourism creates a location for men to have somewhat of a overriding position over women. The exchange of money for sexual activity is commonly considered the most important characteristic of prostitute-customer relationships and, therefore, of prostitute-sex tourist relationships. Prostitutes contribute sexual services, mainly for men, but they also contribute to the global production of the tourism industry. Generally sex tourism is seen as immoral and a exploitative industry, because women have to prostitute themselves in order to sell their bodies in ways they cannot refuse, as their livelihood depends upon it. However sex tourism is an important means of achieving a variety of positive goals, including combating poverty in developing countries. Some women enter the sex industry just because they think it is better-paid work in local or foreign country and they think by doing it they will help better the lives of their family. Children also take part in sex tourism and the age at which they start is unreal. Therefore it should be noted, that child prostitution provides us with a number of negative consequences such as abuse, exploitation, unwanted pregnancies and sexual transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS should be related to tourism industry as a result.
The sex tourism industries are seen to be negative and that is often a misleading statement as sex is a natural part of a person's life and can be a happy thing, but the sex tourism industry is known to have a dark side and thus, this is the side that academics tend to focus on more.
Cambodia
Majority of academics studies have covered the relationship between sex industry and tourism sector in South-East Asian countries and Cambodia is no exception. Cambodia is one of the poorest countries and in addition to this it has the lowest standard of health. This is due to the long decades of civil war that they had faced, which then had damaging effects on the economy and social and moral infrastructure. 'The society is devitalised to such an extent that development seems to be impossible.' (Bauer, & McKercher; 2003)
Prostitution in Cambodia is illegal but is huge in size. Figures and statistics show us that there is no official number of how many sex workers there are in Cambodia, but it can vary from 50,000 up to 500,000. This figure would then mean that around 8% of the female population is working in the sex industry.
What's more tourism, as a means for economic development 'has in turn, facilitated prostitution.' (Lin: 1998) Sex tourism can be seen from two sides - political and ethical. On one hand we can assume that enhancing the body as a sexual tool could be a good thing and that we should only control those aspects of it that are illegal or disregarding human rights. On the other hand we supposedly cannot recognise the problems of sex industry, such as paedophilia, trafficking, sexual abuse and violence, and of course the spread of HIV/AIDS worldwide, although the point is that people do not want to believe that it is happening. If we were to end the sexual exploitation, trafficking and prostitution then this will provide a new chapter in building legal sexual relationships between humans, however sex trade is the oldest profession and to achieve this will take a much longer time. If new laws and regulations were introduced then maybe this could be the start of the new beginning.
References
Bauer, T. G & McKercher, B (2003) Sex and Tourism; Journeys of Romance, Love and Lust. Haworth, New York. Pg 181.
Lin, L. L (1998) The Sex Sector: The economic & social bases of prostitution in South-East Asia, International Labour Office, Geneva.
O'Connell Davidson, J (1996) Sex Tourism in Cuba. Race & Class. Vol 38. Issue 1. Pg 39-48.
Abstract
Many of the countries in the third world are getting involved in tourism industry, in order to develop local economy and increase employment opportunities for its local residents. The tourism industry was the first to try and combat the poor quality of life that the third world was facing. The type of tourism that did this was sex tourism, whereby the role of women is to entertain the tourists and or the local people with sexual pleasures. Thus sex tourism in one of the most important topics in tourism literature. This paper will introduce the general view on the sex tourism industry, covering the importance of prostitution as a mean for economical development in Third World countries. Also will look at Cambodia as an example of how sex tourism has caused major problems for them as a country and destination.
Key words: Sex Tourism, prostitution, Cambodia
Sex tourism in one of the most emotive and sensationalised issues in the study of tourism (Hall 1996: 265). Although it exists all over the world, sex tourism is generally said to be associated with the Western society, usually undertaken by males who tend to exploit residents in Third World countries. Countries in the developing world try to promote tourism as the main generator of foreign currency, but because of lack of governmental control and necessary investment tools, tourism leads to number of serious problems and one of them is prostitution and sex tourism.
Usually sex tourism in the developing countries suggests, the image of men, often older and in less than perfect shape, travelling for sexual pleasure generally not available in their home country for at least the same price (O'Connell, Davidson 1996). Therefore sex tourism creates a location for men to have somewhat of a overriding position over women. The exchange of money for sexual activity is commonly considered the most important characteristic of prostitute-customer relationships and, therefore, of prostitute-sex tourist relationships. Prostitutes contribute sexual services, mainly for men, but they also contribute to the global production of the tourism industry. Generally sex tourism is seen as immoral and a exploitative industry, because women have to prostitute themselves in order to sell their bodies in ways they cannot refuse, as their livelihood depends upon it. However sex tourism is an important means of achieving a variety of positive goals, including combating poverty in developing countries. Some women enter the sex industry just because they think it is better-paid work in local or foreign country and they think by doing it they will help better the lives of their family. Children also take part in sex tourism and the age at which they start is unreal. Therefore it should be noted, that child prostitution provides us with a number of negative consequences such as abuse, exploitation, unwanted pregnancies and sexual transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS should be related to tourism industry as a result.
The sex tourism industries are seen to be negative and that is often a misleading statement as sex is a natural part of a person's life and can be a happy thing, but the sex tourism industry is known to have a dark side and thus, this is the side that academics tend to focus on more.
Cambodia
Majority of academics studies have covered the relationship between sex industry and tourism sector in South-East Asian countries and Cambodia is no exception. Cambodia is one of the poorest countries and in addition to this it has the lowest standard of health. This is due to the long decades of civil war that they had faced, which then had damaging effects on the economy and social and moral infrastructure. 'The society is devitalised to such an extent that development seems to be impossible.' (Bauer, & McKercher; 2003)
Prostitution in Cambodia is illegal but is huge in size. Figures and statistics show us that there is no official number of how many sex workers there are in Cambodia, but it can vary from 50,000 up to 500,000. This figure would then mean that around 8% of the female population is working in the sex industry.
What's more tourism, as a means for economic development 'has in turn, facilitated prostitution.' (Lin: 1998) Sex tourism can be seen from two sides - political and ethical. On one hand we can assume that enhancing the body as a sexual tool could be a good thing and that we should only control those aspects of it that are illegal or disregarding human rights. On the other hand we supposedly cannot recognise the problems of sex industry, such as paedophilia, trafficking, sexual abuse and violence, and of course the spread of HIV/AIDS worldwide, although the point is that people do not want to believe that it is happening. If we were to end the sexual exploitation, trafficking and prostitution then this will provide a new chapter in building legal sexual relationships between humans, however sex trade is the oldest profession and to achieve this will take a much longer time. If new laws and regulations were introduced then maybe this could be the start of the new beginning.
References
Bauer, T. G & McKercher, B (2003) Sex and Tourism; Journeys of Romance, Love and Lust. Haworth, New York. Pg 181.
Lin, L. L (1998) The Sex Sector: The economic & social bases of prostitution in South-East Asia, International Labour Office, Geneva.
O'Connell Davidson, J (1996) Sex Tourism in Cuba. Race & Class. Vol 38. Issue 1. Pg 39-48.