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Sex Tourism occurs when an individual travels to a
foreign destination for the primary or secondary purpose
of engaging in sexual activity with a prostitute. Typically,
the sex tourist is from a wealthy nation, while the
country of destination is relatively impoverished. The
driving force behind sex can be thought of as a collective
insensitivity towards the basic human rights of women
and children in the under-developed nation. The sex
tourist exploits the social and economic vulnerabilities
of their victims, while hiding behind the anonymity
that comes with being in a foreign country.
The consequences of sexual tourism are diverse and
numerous. The damage to the social and culture fabric
of societies known as “destination” countries
cannot be overstated. Health consequences such as increased
risk of HIV and STD’s are felt in both the “destination”
country and the tourist’s native land. The global
movement of novel infectious disease pathogens has been
in large part due to the international commercial sex
industry. Sex tourism also furthers gender inequalities
and promotes violence towards women. The practice has
no redeeming social benefits, and should be considered
a deplorable action, undertaken by narcissistic, ignorant,
and / or severely misinformed individuals.
Child sex tourism is a form of sex tourism with an
expanded degree of social wrongdoing. Travelers who
engage in sexual activity with children offend the spirit
of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the
Child, which stipulates that children should be free
from abuse and exploitation. In addition to often engaging
in a criminal activity in the host country, the child
sex tourist may also be breaking laws in their native
land. Numerous countries have adopted extraterritorial
prosecution legislation making it a criminal offence
for their nationals to engage in sex with a minor whether
at home or abroad. The criminal laws are often binding
regardless of whether the offence is considered a crime
in the destination country.
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