Сексуальный туризм: глобальная проблема эксплуатации и торговли людьми.

Travel to engage in sexual activity

Sex tourism is the practice of traveling to foreign countries, often on a different continent, with the intention of engaging in sexual activity or relationships in exchange for money or lifestyle support. This practice predominantly operates in countries where sex work is legal. The World Tourism Organization of the United Nations has acknowledged about this industry is organized both within and outside the structured laws and networks created by them. Sex tourism is commonly regarded as a transnational challenge, as it can be seen to target marginalised demographics in developing nations, such as countries in the Americas or Southeast Asia. The chief ethical concerns arise from: the economic gap between tourists and residents, the sexual trafficking of children and women and the parties taking advantage of the ability to engage with minors. These groups and individuals are subject to the foreign prostitution laws of the destination's jurisdiction, often resulting in exploitation and abuse. Sexual activities that involve minors are almost universally non consensual and illegal. Sex tourism is known as a multibillion dollar industry that globally supports a workforce estimated in the millions, with service industries such as the airline, taxi, restaurant and hotel industries profiting. The bulk of sex tourism involves males traveling from countries in the Global North to countries in the Global South, such as in East and Southeast Asia and Latin America. Although much rarer, female sex tourism also exists.

This particular industry of sex work is a predominant reason for world travel and is extremely profitable. The market can become exceedingly exploitative and unethically abused as tourists are motivated to engage in sexual conduct due to the untraceable nature and lack of law enforcement control, especially with accessibility to minors. Individuals are not exempt from prosecution. Sex tourism as recognised by the CDC supports human trafficking and slavery. Even if prostitution is legal in a country or region, human trafficking, sexual encounters with a minor, and child pornography are almost universally criminal in nature and individuals caught breaking these laws can be prosecuted. Citizens of any foreign country must abide by the laws of the country in which they hold citizenship in addition to the local laws of the country they are visiting, including laws regarding consent.

Demographics include: female sex tourism (women seeking men), men seeking men, adults seeking children, and men seeking women. Sex tourism spans almost the entire globe with approximately 250,000 travelling internationally to engage in sex tourism with children and youth alone. This part of the industry generates over $20 billion in revenue. Challenges in gathering data has made it hard to find out the exact number of people who work in the sex tourism industry. Estimates show 24.9 million victims that are trapped in modern day slavery, 4.8 million (about 19%) were sexually exploited. It is estimated that about 21% of the total victims of commercial sexual exploitation are children, with the US Department of State estimating that over one million children are trafficked for sex throughout the world. The sex tourism industry often preys on those that are the most vulnerable, potentially explaining why children and women are more likely to be forced into the industry.

Globally, cultural attitudes towards sex tourism can be seen to be different. In less developed countries for example, families in poor rural areas may sell their children to human traffickers, who will take the children to major cities to work in the sex industry. In Thailand for example, women will support their husbands by becoming sex workers. Male tourists, sometimes known as sexpats (expatriate + sex tourist), join online communities in which they share advice on destinations and, although it is not among the most common cases, there is the category of "girlfriend experience" which, in some cases, evolves into an emotional relationship. General attitudes towards sex work are complex and often regarded as controversial. Often the men who travel seeking to pay for sex may do so because it is much harder to engage in sex work in their home countries. Furthermore, in some countries, such as Cambodia and Thailand, this practice is considered commonplace, and men who do not engage in commercial sex may be considered unusual by their peers. Amongst their findings were:
Preconceptions about race and gender influenced the tourist's opinions. Underdeveloped countries are considered culturally different, so in Western tourist's understanding, the exploitation or male domination of women is without consequence or stigma of that found in their home countries. Despite a great deal of interest in sexual tourism amongst theorists, detailed studies of cultural attitude are rare, regardless of the increasing accessibility of group studies in the past three decades.

Sex tourism has implications for all nations involved. This in turn creates ethical and policy implications, as colonial and traditional attitudes reinforce inequality between the groups. Young girls and adolescent women are some of the most common to be sold into slavery or transported across national borders to work in the commercial sex industry. These studies suggest, "leisure activities and holidays have a particular significance for gay men, as they provide an opportunity for constructing, confirming and/or changing their sexual identity." Popular gay sex tourism markets can be found in Gran Canaria, Ibiza, Sardinia, Sicily and Fire Island. Similar to heterosexual sex tourism markets, some arrangements may be monetary and others may not. Different places have different ways of identifying their interest in such arrangements. For example, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, gay sex tourism has become a popular niche hosting a racially diverse market. The workers there are called "Michês" and stand out by wearing bright blue towels and often work in saunas.

Over recent years, adult only sex resorts have become a popular alternative for travellers wanting to experience consensual sex abroad whilst avoiding the ethical issues of paid sexual activity. Those resorts can be characterised as safe, consensual spaces, and sexually positive nature, where all expressions of gender, orientation, and relationships are free of any pressure. These resorts largely occur in Mexico and the Caribbean. Certain establishments will be clothing optional resorts, where travellers can meet and make use of "playrooms". Thailand is considered to have the worst child sex trafficking record, followed closely by Brazil. "Child sex tourists may not have a specific preference for children as sexual partners but take advantage of a situation in which children are made available to them for sexual exploitation. It is often the case that these people have travelled from a wealthier country (or a richer town or region within a country) to a less developed destination, where poorer economic conditions, favourable exchange rates for the traveller and relative anonymity are key factors conditioning their behaviour and sex tourism." In an effort to eradicate the practice, many countries have enacted laws that allow the prosecution of their citizens for child abuse that occurs outside their home country, even if it is not against the law in the country where the incident took place. This is evident in America, under the United States Protect Act. In the United Kingdom, the Sexual Offences Act 2003 allows for prosecution in British criminal courts of British citizens who commit sexual offences against children while traveling abroad; this legislation was used to prosecute Richard Huckle in 2016. In Ireland, the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 2017 gives worldwide jurisdiction to prosecutors for sexual offences committed against children outside the state, and was used to prosecute Kieran Creaven for sexual acts with a child and producing child pornography in The Philippines in 2021. The Code of Conduct for the Sexual Exploitation of Children in Travel and Tourism is an international organisation composed of members of the tourism industry and children's rights experts with the purpose to eradicate the practice of child sex tourism. UNICEF notes that sexual activity is often seen as a private matter, making communities reluctant to act and intervene in cases of sexual exploitation. As of 2009, sex tourism and human trafficking remain fast growing industries. For example, in the Netherlands, sex workers have access to unlimited free STI testing. Developed nations with more conservative views of sexuality can provide a steady stream of tourists who feed the sex tourism industry. The United Nations Global Report on Trafficking in Persons states that women "comprise the vast majority" of human trafficking victims for sexual exploitation across the world. It can be seen that women who become involved in human trafficking were once victims of sex trafficking and sexual exploitation themselves. It can be argued that through the growing international porn industry, indicate a normalisation of prostitution and an increase in the exploitation of women.