NCJ Number
198333
Journal
Journal of Sexual Aggression Volume: 6 Issue: 1/2 Dated: Winter 2000 Pages: 1-23
Date Published
2000
Length
23 pages
Annotation
Focusing on the global sex industry, this paper discusses trafficking in women and children and the Internet sex industry in Southeast Asia.
Abstract
Focusing on the case of an Internet Web site entitled “The Rape Camp” the author discusses the October 1999 addition of a live bondage sex show to a pornography Web site developed by an American living in Cambodia. Arguing that pornographic Web sites actively encourage viewers to “humiliate Asian sex slaves,” the author maintains that while the site’s developer faced up to 5 years in jail for violating Cambodian laws on human trafficking and sexual exploitation, new methods of reducing the exploitation of women and children must be implemented. Following a discussion of the ways that prostitution and pornography are being increasingly tolerated, normalized, and legitimized, resulting in the expansion of sex industries all over the world, this paper addresses prostitution in the Mekong sub-region of southeast Asia, comprising Cambodia, China, Lao PDR, Burma, Thailand, and Vietnam. Arguing that accommodating the sex industries of Southeast Asia requires the trafficking of women and girls from the Mekong sub-region, the author states that one-third of the women and girls engaging in prostitution in Cambodia are originally from Vietnam. Focusing on the sex industry’s proliferation in the United States, the author claims that a lack of governmental regulations, laws of supply and demand, and lax United States business laws have all enabled the Internet sex industry to flourish in the United States. Addressing males’ perspectives concerning the trade in women and children, the author argues that the buying of women and children in prostitution is widely accepted because of misogynistic and violent tendencies on the parts of some high-ranking male officials. Discussing women’s and children’s experiences of sexual exploitation and its effects, the author describes how AIDS/HIV has turned prostitution into a death sentence for many women. Concluding with a discussion on law enforcement and legalization, the author contends that foreign nationals often bribe officials in order to be cleared of sex related charges and that much work needs to be done in order to discuss ways to better control prostitution and protect the rights of women. References