In today’s society, pretty much everything revolves around survival and one of the only ways people know how to survive is with money. In some countries money is very scarce and people have to resort to participating in acts that may be viewed as wrong. Some people put aside the idea that what they are doing for their families isn’t right. The economy can get tough and people sometimes feel obligated to do whatever they have to that helps their family survive.
Poverty stricken countries participate in child sex tourism in order to help with their financial problems. Child sex tourism is when someone travels to a foreign country to be sexual involved with a child. Families use this act to their advantage in a time of need. The children don’t have much say on whether or not they want to participate. Their families tell them that this is the only way the family can eat and they start to feel guilty if they refuse to do it.
Not only are the families the ones encouraging Child Sex Tourism, but the Government sometimes also encourages this. Like said before, money is a powerful tool in todays economy. Governments in countries such as, Thailand and Cambodia, turn their eyes away when it comes to child sex tourism. They see the tourism as a good thing for the country as a whole, regardless of the fact that it endangers children.
Fear, Guilt, and Desperate times all come to mind when deciding whether or not to participate in this act. The fear that your family will not survive, the guilt you feel when your siblings can’t eat for days, and the times where you are desperate for money to help your sick mother. These are all thoughts that enter the mind of the 14 year old Cambodian girl before she gets into bed with the 61 year old wealthy American man.
Fear, Guilt, and Desperate times all come to mind when deciding whether or not to participate in this act. The fear that your family will not survive, the guilt you feel when your siblings can’t eat for days, and the times where you are desperate for money to help your sick mother. These are all thoughts that enter the mind of the 14 year old Cambodian girl before she gets into bed with the 61 year old wealthy American man.
It is interesting to think that in many cases the kids are forced into the industry by their parents. Is there a statistic that tells how many kids are kidnapped and taken into the industry versus the ones pressured by their families?
ReplyDeleteChildren should not feel the weight of their family well being relying on them. Parents who force their children into sex tourism are selfish and wrong. Each families situation is different but I believe if you can force your child into to do sexual acts then you can force yourself. Adults need to take more responsibility, they made a family they should find a way to sustain it as well. The child's time has not come yet.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Taylor 100%!!! How on earth can a parent force their child to sell themselves as a sex toy?! When I read things like this I feel like the parents are being lazy since they are not out soliciting themselves. They are older and have lived their lives, let the children stay innocent and enjoy theirs. There are other ways to make money, selling your child should never be an option.
ReplyDeleteps. I was upset to learn that the website in the clip is no longer available. It's up for sale. I really hope that they created a new website.
I think Molly asks an important question -- what evidence do we have that parents are involved in this? How often is that the case? What research do we have to back up these claims? And what evidence do we have that governments are involved in child tourism other than that they don't enforce laws? Early on, you claim that they are directly involved. In what way?
ReplyDeleteThe project in Thailand was very informative and active. Are there other groups like this helping children and preventing enslavement? Prevention is much more affective then acting after captivity but is is not always an option. Maybe the answer is more welfare programs so that families don't have to resort to selling their children. How can a child psychologically recover from this kind of trauma if ever?
ReplyDelete