Sex and tourism, the ins and outs!!
I was in shock there are so many countries that participated in this industry. A short list of participating countries are: Thailand, Estonia, Philippines, Costa Rica, The Dominican Republic, Kenya, Netherlands, Austria, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Switzerland, Turkey, Mexico, Panama, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela. Some of these countries, such as Germany, and Switzerland, have a website that promotes sex tourism as an economic boost. One country, that I knew had high sex tourism, is Amsterdam, but I didn’t know the details about how it all worked. After researching some of these countries, I found out the details of this form of prostitution. This type of tourism left me with many questions. Here are a couple of my questions: Is it taxed, is it legal, and how much do they get paid, etc.? I chose to narrow my focus on three different countries: Amsterdam, Thailand and Brazil.
The trip advisor website, for Amsterdam, answers many of my questions. Amsterdam has one of the best ran Red Light Districts in the world. It has been around since the mid 1800’s. Right when the page pops up it says that prostitution is legal there and it is taxed. Even though they pay taxes, they have a hard time getting bank loans and insurance because it isn’t considered a real job. While these girls/women make decent money, it is strange to me that they have trouble getting a bank loan. It costs about 50 Euros for 15-20 minutes of sex and 30 Euros for oral sex. 50 Euros is equivalent to 67 U.S Dollars and 30 Euros is about 43 U.S Dollars. In Holland, very few of the girls are forced into it. While on the other hand, some of the girls have their boyfriends’ pushing them into it and taking their money. There are two types of districts in Amsterdam; the commonly heard of, Red Light District, and the one that few have heard of, the Blue Light District. The Blue Light District appeals to the LBGT community. The blue light indicated that the women there were not naturally born women; the women are either transvestite or transgender. On the other side of the continent there isn’t a Blue Light District. I think that it is wonderful for individuals that want to explore other sexual adventures.
In Thailand, there are prostitutes everywhere according to Thailand A Go-Go. It is very clear if they want to hook up with you because the ladies will just come on over to you. To able to be a prostitute women must get an STI test every two years and have to get checked every two months. While reading about the women in Thailand, it says you don’t even have to buy them a drink. 1500 Baht will get you an hour and a half bubble bath scrub down and sex. 1500 Baht is about 47 U.S Dollars. Sex tourism is a big part of the economy and “60% of the country’s National Income comes from tourism, and sex tourism encompasses a large part of Thailand’s tourism industry”(Bangkok Post). The interesting part is that prostitution is a big thing in Thailand even though it is illegal. Not only is prostitution illegal so is pimping, and owning a brothel. Despite these laws people accept it and tolerate it. Many of the young girls are forced into it to help support their family. For example a 12 year-old girl went to Bangkok to work at a restaurant and ended up working in prostitution (Wong, Wilfred). Sex tourism bring is about 3 percent of the nations economy, which is approximately 4.3 billion U.S dollars. Something that is different than Amsterdam, in Thailand men can “rent” the women per week or just have them for a session. It is common to see men, young and old, walking around with a 14-year-old girl. The penalty under the Prevention and Suppression of Prostitution Act of 1996 for soliciting yourself or being caught in the act of participating in prostitution, one can be fined for 2 months to 6 years in prison and/or 10-40 thousand Baht. If the girl is between the ages of 15 and 18 the offender can be tried for 5-15 years in jail and anywhere from 100-300 thousand Baht. Approximately the same jail time is the same in Brazil for the same offence.
In Brazil prostitution is legal, while on the other hand owning a brothel and pimping is illegal. Brazil has recently received press attention regarding sex tourism. During the World Cup 2014 there were at least two minors reported of being forced into sex tourism/slavery. Unfortunately one little girl didn’t get the chance to see tomorrow and she was killed because the man refused to pay her. In the 2006 and the 2010 Olympics child explosion went up 30 to 40 percent. In Brazil woman over the age of 18 can be a prostitute, and in the city of Rio around 120,000 women are prostitutes. It was hard to find information on sex tourism for Brazil because it isn’t as advertised as much as Thailand or Amsterdam.
There are many countries in the world that have sex tourism and it is a vital part of their economy. Many girls and women choose to have this profession because the money is good. On the other hand many younger girls are forced into in because they need to finically support their family. With the money being good there are downsides. For example, STI’s are common, many young girls never return and are sold into sex trafficking. The top 5 counties for sex tourism are: Thailand, Costa Rica, Kenya, Japan, and Amsterdam.
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