Asia's Dirty Secret: Prostitution and Sex Trafficking in Southeast Asia
Author(s): MICHELLE KUO
Source: Harvard International Review , SUMMER 2000, Vol. 22, No. 2 (SUMMER 2000), pp.
42-45
Published by: Harvard International Review
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Asia's Dirty Secret
Prostitution and Sex Trafficking in Southeast Asia
1 y / hile prostitution has an ancient history , the globalization of the sex trade is an
' A / unprecedented phenomenon. Despite recent exposure of the brutalities of prosti-
y Y tution and sex trafficking and the accompanying flurry of international and
domestic resolutions , the sex industry in Southeast Asia remains a hugely profitable and
deeply entrenched enterprise that thrives on the exploitation of women and children.
For Asian countries intent on reach- In Thailand, approximately over 1.5was left with the challenge of replacing
ing the developed world's level ofmillion women are afflicted with the capital garnered from the brothels
prosperity, the sex industry has pro- HIV. The UNAIDS Programme,
surrounding the military bases. Part of
vided a disturbingly steady flow of warning that half of the HIV infections
the development strategy became a race
capital. Approximately 60 percent ofin Asia occur in people under the age of
among governments to utilize the most
Thailand's tourists visit solely for 25, argues that the AIDS epidemic in profitable resources they had to offer:
sexual purposes, for example. The Southeast Asia will soon rival the situ-young rural women desperate to raise
transnationalization of the sex trade ation in sub-Saharan Africa. money for their families. Women who
can be seen easily in the countless The United States has played a cru- escape sexual slavery or coercion may
travel brochures and websites de- cial role in the growth of the Southeast still choose prostitution because jobs
voted to prostitution and sex traffick-
Asian sex sector. Although prostitution for women are scarce and low-pay-
ing; these advertisements, urging in a the region certainly existed before, ing. This scarcity of other high-pay-
global clientele to explore Asia, boast
US presence in Korea and Vietnam pro- ing alternatives forces many of these
of the submissiveness of Asian prosti-pelled the explosion of large-scale, for- women into a cycle of exploitation
malized businesses oriented specifi-
tutes, perpetuating stereotypes that and susceptibility to sexually trans-
enhance the trade. cally toward sex. The sex industry cre- mitted diseases.
Female prostitutes, many of ated during the Vietnam War grossed Southeast Asian government poli-
them children, often begin in rural US$16 million for the Thai economy. cies concerning the sex sector are often
communities in Malaysia and are co- Between 1957 and 1964, when the US characterized by ambiguity. They offi-
erced into urbanized industries in the established seven bases in the country, cially prohibit prostitution, yet ac-
United States or Japan. Child prostitu- the number of prostitutes rose from knowledge and legitimize its existence.
tion in Southeast Asia continues to 20,000 to an astonishing 400,000. At In many cases, the police and local of-
increase at 20 percent a year. One- the time, one South Vietnamese ex- ficials' corruption, bribery, and active
fifth of prostitutes in Thailand begin plained, "The Americans need girls; we participation as customers guarantee
their work between the age of 13 and need dollars. Why should we refrain the abuse of prostitutes will go un-
15. The increases in prostitution andfrom the exchange? It's an inexhaust- punished, hence eliminating any hope
trafficking also partially explain theible source of US dollars for the state." for the enforcement of legislation. The
dramatic rise in sexually transmitted Following the war, the Thai gov- refusal of Asian governments to declare
diseases, particularly HIV infections.ernment, like other Asian governments, the sex industry an economic institu-
MICHELLE KU0, Staff Writer, Harvard International Review
[T2] HARVARD INTERNATIONAL REVIEW • Summer 2000
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tion has pushed the sector underground. Many tourists and local visitors of Women from destitute agricultural
While prostitutes are vulnerable to brothels, mistakenly believing that families are often coerced or sold by
battery as well as criminal arrest, an younger prostitutes are less likely to be their families into sexual slavery, es-
unstated code of immunity protects infected with HIV, have increasingly tablishing a migratory pattern from the
the brothel owners, abusive clientele, sought child prostitutes. Ironically, be- impoverished rural communities to the
and pimps from government reproof. cause of this large demand, child prosti- urban centers of the sex sector, often
tutes are actually more likely to be located in Japan or in the United States.
Supply and Demand infected with HIV than adult prosti- Yet, this "planned strategy" of de-
The growth of the sex industry in tutes. The World Health Organization velopment extends far beyond Asia's
Southeast Asia is not an accidental warns that child prostitution threatens borders. The transnationalization of
by-product of poverty. Rather, thepublic health because children possess the sex trade is a unique phenomenon
increase in prostitution and traffick- an "increased biological vulnerability that highlights the sustained power of
ing is a result of a systematic strategyto STDs," and lack the "power in ne- this enterprise and the extent to which
of economic development. Asian gov- gotiating safe sexual behavior." women have been commodified. More-
ernments, conscious of the influential The notion that poverty alone over, the globalization of the sex trade
role the sex sector plays within thecauses prostitution ignores the ways is legitimized by the developed world's
larger economy, neglect to enact spe- in which globalization and economic encouragement of Asia's so-called
cific policies to halt its growth. Of-development have shaped the growth "tourism centers." In the 1970s the
ten policemen and government officialsof the sex sector. If widespread pov- World Bank, the International Mon-
are themselves customers wanting erty were truly the cause of prostitu- etary Fund, and the UN Development
sexual favors; thus protecting and up-tion and trafficking, then the expansion Program began approving substantial
holding the economic bases of prosti- of the sex sector should not occur in loans to Asian countries, urging them
tution and trafficking. countries that are experiencing rapid to raise capital by expanding their tour-
More disturbing is the growth of economic growth. Rapid urban devel- ism and entertainment industries.
demand for younger women and childopment and reduced agricultural em- Tourism became the most significant strat-
prostitutes. A 1996 UN report esti-ployment, results of industrialization, egy of development. In Manila, for in-
mated that over one million children have left rural dwellers with diminished stance, the number of "hospitality
in Asia are victims of the sex trade. local opportunities for subsistence. women" issued with health certificates
Hooded child
prostitutes,
allegedly victims
of pedophiles,
picket the
Congress
building in
Quezon City,
Phlippines.
AP Photo/Ernie Villaflor Summer 2000* HARVARD INTERNATIONAL REVIEW [«]
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rose from 1,700 in 1981 to over 7,000 cycle of prostitution by refusing to The "liberatory" approach, though,
in 1986. Unfortunately, part of the clarify their stance. Though prostitu- views sex work as a form of liberation
development of Asia's tourist industry has tion is illegal in all Southeast Asian for women and a contract between two
been the growth of prostitution. countries, local governments often li- consenting individuals. This frame-
cense establishments such as massage work neglects to acknowledge that
Permanent Industry parlors that are widely known to be "consent" is a foreign term for women
The demand for prostitution in fronts for prostitution. This pattern of and children first deceived and then
Asia originated largely in the US mili- declaring prostitution illegal while enslaved into prostitution and traffick-
tary establishment. Until 1955, pros- implicitly acknowledging its existence ing. By glorifying the women's "choice"
titution was mostly concentrated in is pervasive throughout Southeast Asia. to work in the sex sector, this frame-
rural areas. However, with the onset In the Philippines, for example, the work fails to see the ways in which pov-
of the Korean and Vietnam Wars, the government provides colored cards for erty and sexism condition their roles and
United States helped establish the women choosing to travel abroad to in which abuse and exploitation can
infamously brutal "Rest and Recre- work as entertainers as proof that they characterize their experience.
ation" facilities to sustain the morale are not infected with STDs. Such in- Another perspective that is gain-
of American soldiers. Sexual exploi- consistent policies magnify the diffi- ing ground in international diplomatic
tation of women from rural areas be- culty in monitoring the underground circles condemns all prostitution as
came rampant in "R and R." Extraor- sector. While criminalizing the prosti- sexual exploitation of women. This
dinary numbers of brothels and sex- tutes, the government absolves the traf- "radical feminist" framework identifies
entertainment centers originated fickers, clients, and establishment own- sexual objectification as the basis of
from the demands of the military ers of guilt. Such policies devalue the patriarchy, and hence prostitution and
bases. Yet the end of military conflict status of women and implicitly per- trafficking are seen in the same light as
in Asia failed to end sexual exploita- mit officials and police to harass the domestic violence, rape, sexual ha-
tion. Rather, the profits the sex indus- prostitutes. By lumping women into rassment, or pornography. Kathleen
try reaped during the wars couple one conglomerate group of criminals, Barry, the founder of the Coalition
with the ease of luring or sometimes the governments perpetuate the stig- Against Trafficking of Women, ar-
coercing women into the business so- matization of women while failing to gues that the supposed free will exer-
lidified the sector's position. address the more likely suspects: the cised by the prostitute illustrates "deca-
The "rest and recreation" previ- men who create the burgeoning de- dence that elevates individual choice
ously provided solely for American sol- mand for this multimillion dollar in- above the common good." Hence, ad-
diers has been taken to a global scale. dustry. vocates of this approach do not see vol-
The clientele base reaches far beyond untary prostitution as a form of work.
soldiers seeking refuge from the mili- Lenses on Prostitution Rather, their overriding goal, the im-
tary aggression of the war. Economic Controversy over the highly pub- mediate abolition of all forms of prosti-
progress cannot eradicate the existence licized attempts of lobbyists to legalizetution, is consistent with their inter-
Many rural families, stripped of economic sustenance as a result of
urbanization, depend on their daughters' work for their livelihood.
of trafficking and prostitution. It merely prostitution continues to paralyze gov-pretation of other forms of sexual ob-
increases the standards of "service" to ernment policy. Rather than risk deal-jectification such as rape or domestic
accommodate higher living standards. ing with highly polarized views, gov- violence.
For instance, Malaysia and Thailand, ernments instead have generally main- A third point of view, often called
both of which are experiencing rapid tained ambivalent policies. the "human-rights approach" or liberal
economic growth, are moving away The lines between prostitution and feminist view, posits that prostitution
from brothels and massage parlors and trafficking and voluntary and involun-should be recognized as work. How-
instead are developing private clubs tary prostitution often become blurredever, this framework distinguishes vol-
with more luxurious environments bet- during the debate over legalization anduntary prostitution from other sectors
ter suited to the growing middle class. decriminalization. Most policy sugges-within the sex industry such as traffick-
Asian governments perpetuate the tions simply refuse to draw distinctions.ing and coercion. Outlawing coercive
[44] HA R VA R D INTERNATIONAL REVIEW •Summer2000
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forms of prostitution, eliminating es- be an admirable long-term goal, itsties and increased education within ru-
tablishments that promote trafficking, practicality in the short-term is ques- ral areas concerning the deceptive tac-
and cleansing the government of cor- tionable. tics of the sex industry are necessary.
ruption can ensure that women's rights Within the legal realm, the de-
as voluntary workers are guaranteed. A Human-Rights View criminalization of prostitution is the
This approach decriminalizes prosti- The profitability of sexual abuse most crucial route to ending sexual
tutes and shifts the blame on to the vio- and the controversy over legalization abuse and dismantling the under-
lators of human rights who have ex- explain the lack of coherence within aground structures. The decriminaliza-
ploited the women's work. By recog- government's policy. It is crucial thattion of prostitution should not be con-
nizing voluntary prostitution as work, policymakers address the different tiersfused with the decriminalization of the
By lumping women into one conglomerate group of criminals, the
governments perpetuate the stigmatization of women while failing to ad-
dress the more likely suspects: the men who create the burgeoning demand
for this multi-million dollar industry.
the human-rights framework calls for of the sex industry separately. First, pro-institutions that perpetuate it. Rather,
an improvement of workers' conditions gressive policies should make the dis- the decriminalization of prostitution
and governmental guarantees of labor tinction between child and adult pros- would end the targeting of women as
rights. titution. The issue of child prostitutionthe offenders of the law and shift the
The radical feminist view criticizes is more clear-cut because few would blame to the exploitative traffickers and
the idea of "sex as work" as a legiti- claim that "voluntary child prostitu- establishments. The fear of criminal
mization of sexual exploitation. By ban- tion" exists. The World Congress arrest needlessly pushes many abused
ning only coercive forms of prostitu- against the Commercial Sexual Exploi- women to the underground sector,
tion, the government is essentially nor- tation of Children declared in 1 996 that where the cycle of abuse is even more
malizing a less explicit but equally bru- child prostitution "constitutes a form unaccountable and hence even more
tal form of sexual exploitation. Yet, this of coercion and violence against chil- brutal. Studies have found a direct cor-
perspective fails to understand the sex dren, and amounts to forced labor and relation between the extent of violence
sector in the context of globalization. a contemporary form of slavery." against the prostitutes and the level of
Many rural families, stripped of eco- Second, policies should also dis- illegality of the work. Prostitutes in na-
nomic sustenance as a result of urban- tinguish prostitutes who work volun- tions with less restrictive policies such
ization, depend on their daughters' tarily from those who are coerced or as Sweden and the Netherlands are
work for their livelihood. Moreover, the deceived into working. For the pros- more likely to report battery and vio-
radical feminist view denies women the titutes who freely choose their occupa- lence. Conversely, the more prohibi-
ability to exercise their freedom. Many tion, guaranteeing them the right to tory and stigmatizing policies of the
voluntary prostitutes perceive them- organize collectively and safeguarding United States or Southeast Asia inten-
selves not as victims, but as workers their labor rights represent the begin- sify women's fears of arrest, compel-
seeking to improve their economic con- nings of political change. For those ling them to silence and invisibility.
ditions. Adopting a human-rights coerced into prostitution or deceived Prohibition also poses a public health
framework toward the sex trade is not into trafficking, policies should focus threat because prostitutes, fearing ar-
an encouragement of "sex as work," on criminalizing the abusers rather rest, often choose not to access sexual
rather, it merely hopes to protect than the women and on reintegrating education and health services. Govern-
women's rights in the short-term while these victims into society. Of course, a ment policies should eliminate the fo-
the government encourages more high- clear line between volunteerism and cus on prostitutes as the disseminators
paying jobs and offers better education coercion is difficult to draw. An adult of disease. The human-rights frame-
to women. Eventually, the necessity of can choose to be a prostitute because work allows for a realistic solution that
prostitution can be eradicated. The sex of desperate impoverishment or famil- decriminalizes the prostitutes while
sector remains well-entrenched in the ial obligation, or because few economic providing a mechanism for monitor-
economic bases of Asia. While the opportunities exist Hence, government ing the activities of clients, owners, and
complete abolition of prostitution mayattention to impoverished communi- partners of establishments. Q]
Summer 2000* HARVARD INTERNATIONAL REVIEW [45]
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