Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
demands of tourists have often occupied the centre stage of the literature and
media coverage on tourism and development (Aaronowitz, 2009; Cebezas,
2009; Khan, 1998; Kempadoo, 2004; Ryan & Hall, 2001; Sanghera, 1998;
Shelley, 2010). In these instances, the common human rights violations vic-
tims experience may include the perpetuation of violence and forced labour
through acts of coercion (Khan, 1998), as well as sexual harassment and low
wages. Slavery and human trafficking occur in both developing and devel-
oped nations. In the developing world, slavery and human trafficking in the
tourism sector often occur in Thailand, India, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Kenya,
Nigeria, Mali and Ghana, among others. Similar practices also occur in devel-
oped nations (e.g. United States, Canada, Australia, United Kingdom, Ger-
many, Italy, Spain, Greece and many other nations across Europe) as well as
in emerging developing nations. However, these practices commonly appear
more in the developing world.
In many nations, prostitution and the sex trade is illegal, even though
laws vary considerably from one nation to another. Some argue that prostitu-
tion is not a by-product of tourism development; nevertheless, the existence
of sex tourism in various nations leads to more complex issues of human
trafficking, slave labour and associated crimes. Today, in many Western
European nations, Canada and some states in Australia, prostitution is legal,
though organised activities like brothels are illegal. Many central European,
Asian and African nations where prostitution is illegal have become sex tour-
ism destinations. For instance, as considerable research has shown (e.g. Barry,
1995) both Thailand and the Philippines are known as sex tourist destina-
tions, yet prostitution is illegal in both countries. Instead, 'entertainment' is
legal and sex workers are registered as 'entertainers' and the owners of the
'entertainment' establishments pay permit/license fees to authorities. Sex
workers are often coerced by deception, or trafficked into the sex trades. In
some cases, extreme poverty forces parents and guardians of the young to
sell them into sex trades. Some young people in extreme poverty, out of the
sense of filial duty to their family, seek jobs in bars and nightclubs, thus
becoming engaged in prostitution. Due to the high demand from clients,
underage children are also found in sex trades. Women and children are traf-
ficked across borders and once in brothels, they are frequently kept on the
premises under deplorable conditions, physically restrained, controlled by
fear and threats, or drugged so they cannot flee (Perrin, 2010; Skinner, 2008;
UNFPA, 2002; UNODC, n.d.).
Inhumane treatment is not only seen in sex trades in tourism. Workers
toiling in sweatshop conditions (see www.tourismconcern.org.uk/campaigns.
html) at hotels, shops and restaurants are largely unreported. Forced child
labour, such as carrying out hazardous work without proper protection (e.g.
working in quarries, building roads and tourist facilities), or working in the
informal economy (e.g. souvenir production and peddling, shoe polishing
and tending the shop) and sexual exploitation, is common in tourism
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