Sex Tourism and Sex Trafficking
Sex tourism arises when a person or tourist travels from their country with the intention of practicing commercial sex with residents of their destination. Sex trafficking, on the other hand, is exploitative human trafficking that borders on sexual slavery. Various factors may drive these practices. They include cheap costs of sexual services in some countries, favorable weather conditions, a temporary break from one's social cycle, the legality of the sex practice, and child prostitution among other reasons (Miller, 2017). Further, some tourists consider sex tourism as an inseparable part of their annual vacation. However, it is worth noting that these practices open a canon of worms for social problems and flowers a negative reputation to the countries which legalize them. Briefly, sex tourism is the practice of moving within or without the boundaries of one's states to achieve sexual pleasures with the residents of the specific destination while sex trafficking is an illegal acquisition, movement, and exploitation of humans for sexual purposes.
How Internet Facilitates Sex Tourism and Sex Trafficking
The internet facilitates sex tourism and trafficking in some ways.
First, it creates web-based prostitution sites and enriches them with relevant demographic data of every country. In these sites, sex tourists and traffickers exchange original pictures and make contacts with potential victims directly through online chart forums such as grooming, or through intermediaries, or through video sharing, instant messaging, and social networks (Miller, 2017). Further, internet cafes provide cybersex markets and other vulnerable spots where webcams are traded, and sexual chat rooms among tourists and locals are offered. Lastly, social websites such as Facebook and Myspace are conduits through which sex offenders indulge in sexual exchanges with local women and children. In summary, the internet facilitates sexual communication and provides relevant demographic data between sex tourists and traffickers and domestic sex workers.
How to Combat Sex Tourism and Sex Trafficking
The first step towards combating sex tourism and sex trafficking is through the implementation of global preventive action plans. These initiatives should involve awareness creation and increasing knowledge against acts of sexual relationships with tourists and traffickers. Such measures should help build capacity among tourism professionals and security forces in the government, to assist in implementing preventive strategies against any of these practices. Most importantly, efforts should be made to improve laws and policies that enhance the prevention of sex tourism and trafficking in various tourist destinations across the globe (Miller, 2017). To this end, countries should create standardized legislative frameworks that can be adopted by all nations while developing programs and interventions against all forms of sexual exploitation. Among such measures should be a centralized information gathering system that reports any sexually offending behavior among tourists and potential traffickers. In a nutshell, sex tourism and trafficking can be tackled by implementing preventive actions among tourism professionals and security forces and by developing global legislative frameworks against these vices.
References
Miller, L. (2017). Child Sex Tourism and Its Relationship to Global Human Trafficking. The University of St. Thomas Journal of Law and Public Policy, 12(1), 1.
