In-depth News Report

Introduction

The subject of sex tourism is a comparatively fresh phenomenon and a sphere that attracted special interest only in the last century in the tourism sociology. This paper provided the in-depth news report concerning the issue of sex tourism in China. The paper touched upon the matter of child sex tourism, the reasons of this type of tourism’s popularity, the new variation of Internet sex tourism, and the diseases transmitted during the unprotected intercourse with an escort.

China - Outbound and Inbound Tourists

China is widely forecasted to go beyond Germany and the USA to become the international largest resource of outbound tourists by the finale of the year 2012 (Fitzgerald, 1996). For the last few years, this nation has been leading in this tendency, and the latest figures verify the dramatic increase of China as a resource for outbound tourism (Xinhua, 2012).

Chinese provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions obtained the total of 80.3919 million inbound travelers, a rise of 7.2 percent from the preceding year (Inbound Tourism). There were 25 administrative districts, which received over five hundred thousand tourists, counting Jiangsu, Shanghai, Beijing, Zhejiang, Hunan, Fujian, Henan, Tianjin, Hubei, Hebei, Shanxi, Chongqing, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Shandong, Liaoning, Yunnan, Guangdong,  Shaanxi, Guangxi, Anhui,  Heilongjiang, Jilin, and Hainan. Guangdong hosted 280000 million travelers, leading over all other provinces and regions (Inbound Tourism). However, in spite of the fact that international tourists are extremely advantageous for the nations, there are some challenges China faces nowadays.

Magnetism of China Sex Tourism

China is one of the major and most beautiful nations in the globe, and, having seen huge economic development in recent decades, it has become an extremely popular place for travelers from around the globe. Today, China is also becoming a very popular spot for sex tourism, which has to be looked at in details.

There are lots of grounds why China’s sex tourism sphere has seen the massive boom lately. Actually, millions of males and females travel to China annually to participate in local sex tourism. So what attracts sex travelers to this nation?

One of the major grounds is that the price for sex services is much cheaper than in lots of western states, for instance, the USA. At the same time, girls look really nice (ABC News, 2008). Accommodation, products, and other necessities are also commonly far cheaper. In spite of the prostitution being against the law in China, it is not so heavily regulated as in other nations.

China is also far more tolerant to the homosexuality than many other nations. It is not highly accepted within the country; however, there are many gay scenes in the main cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou. Males, females, gays, and lesbians participate in China’s sex tourism sphere, and visitors come here from around the globe (Moxley, 2008).

Popular Destinations

China is extremely vast nation; so, naturally, there are some admired sex tourism spots. Often, sex tourism places are located around the major cities in the well-known red-light districts. The major red-light areas of China are in Shanghai and Beijing. Beijing’s red-light area is placed in the area of Dashilan, and Shanghai’s in Simalu. In Hong Kong, the most famous red-light district is a Portland Street.

Laws Surrounding China’s Sex Tourism

Prostitution is totally unlawful in China. An extremely crucial law to remember is the age of consent for taking part in sexual tourism in China. An age of consent is fourteen for homosexuals and heterosexuals and sixteen years in Hong Kong for heterosexual and twenty-one years for homosexual people. There are also laws surrounding paying for intimacy with anybody under the age of twenty-four (China Sex Tourism, 2010).

However, due to augment technology, lately escort service and sex sphere in general have become quite difficult to control – largely with the usage of escorts soliciting through the Web and cell phones (China Sex Tourism, 2010).

Even Pay, a researcher in Beijing, thinks sites like “International Sex Guide” are indicative of a major matter in China. “Man expats outnumber women by the decent measure here. Talks run sexual and, without females around, men tell the dirtiest war stories. Like anything forbidden, which has been excused within one’s circle, visiting escorts may become a type of bond” (Haagen, 2008).

Whether or not this is correct for the foreign men’s populace in general, the sex sites and forums definitely offer interesting readymade social circle, which facilitates and even celebrates sex tourism. With the help of the wireless connection, males and females can find a client or a prostitute very easily and quickly (Haagen, 2008).

Child Prostitutes

Prostitution, especially involving young girls, is a serious crime in China. However, all models in the special clubs are available. The youngest girl asks $100 to spend an evening with a them, whilst the older females and young ladies could be purchased for much less (Doyle, 2007).

With father, mother, and young brothers and sisters to support, one of escorts Lin assets prostitution is not such a complex choice. "At times, I can earn $40 from one client," - she clarifies, speaking in good English (Doyle, 2007). In many cases, prostitution is a night job. All girls and young females may be studying at the university, school, or have a usual day work (Doyle, 2007).

Action to Oppose Child Sex Tourism

The Eastern nations have demonstrated the willpower to crack down on the sphere of child sex tourism by enhancing the related legislative framework and capability. Despite the positive influences of the thriving tourism sphere, China experiences more and more serious child sex tourism trouble. Sexual violence against youngsters accounted for 61%. According to American Department's Trafficking in Person Report 2012, China is the destination for child sexual tourism with males coming from Japan, the UK, South Korea, Taiwan, Australia, Europe, and the USA (Vietnamnews).

Prostitution in China

Nowadays, prostitution is unlawful in the country, but is relegated to the position of the misdemeanor unless people know about “serious venereal illness”, physical violence, harm, or minor child abuse under the age of 14 (Prostitution in China). It is theoretically liable to be punished with a warning, the fine up to five thousand yuan, a name on "statement of the repentance," "re-education through labor," or fifteen days in jail. Still, due to the comparatively high degree of joblessness and the absence of meaningful social welfare organization, it is - as a matter of practice - explicitly tolerated barring infrequent politically-motivated police sweeps (Prostitution in China).

Some scholars have estimated that there are ten million active escort females in China at any provided time who contribute 5% to the nation’s yearly GDP as most of the obtained profits, though not taxed, moves back to economy through the consumption (Dougherty, 2006).

Social organization of the prostitution in China is quite multifaceted counting seven and more tiers, which have strong ties to the cultural and historical antecedents (Baker, 1979). These tiers vary from the continuance of long-lasting second wives and provisional “indentured wives,” at the highest end, to the prostitutes who first and foremost service poor immigrant employees at the lowest end (Prostitution in China).

In general, foreign educators in China will have access first and foremost to those escorts who include the mid- to lower levels unless the Chinese is perfect and they are residing enduringly in the nation (Prostitution in China). The fourth to sixth tiers of escort service, in descending order, comprise: “ding dong” escorts, so called due to the fact that they operate out of hotels and ring the door of hotel patrons, who might be interested in them; “hair salon sisters” or massage ladies who work in storefronts, which appear to be either massage saloons or barber shops, and lastly; streetwalkers who assemble outside of entertainment institutions or in certain districts (Dougherty, 2006). Barring several isolated areas across the nation, street prostitution is often highly controlled, particularly in major cities like Beijing; as it nowadays is in the New York City, for instance (Dougherty, 2006).

By far, the most apparent and plentiful escorts in China are those who include the 5th tier. Most of these prostitutes come from countryside, are very poor and illiterate, and are totally at the mercy of the madams who offer them housing, food, and clothing, as well as the mobile phone and monthly subscription. The monthly payment parallels to that the masseuse would obtain in that particular district (commonly 600-1500 yuan). They are permitted to keep tips they may obtain, but as tipping is not usual in China, that tends to be an insignificant sum. Practically none of them has a boyfriend, and they are, for all aims, not marriageable for the rest of the life in the state, which highly values the significance and main social role of the marriage and family (Prostitution in China).

While it is the precise fact that this sort of work provides some means of self-support, which would not otherwise be accessible to the crucial percent of the populace, it seems to come at an extremely high personal cost (Hong et al., 2007). Though there are tiny pockets or sub-groups of freelance escorts in the country, who may precisely be depicted as having made a choice, girls in the lower levels of escort services are doing it only to escape starvation and homelessness. The psychological harm incurred from long-lasting "forced choice" prostitution is documented by psychologists in Chinese and Western research literature (Hong et al., 2007). The usual argument, if not rationalization, is that escort services are victimless crime, which is merely not borne out by the findings (Prostitution in China).

Renting and Purchasing "Wives"

There are at least two reports of foreigners in China who rent a "wife." Rent refers to the procedure of retaining the total time services of prostitute: she works as domestic helper and concubine. In two cases, one in Shenyang, Liaoning province, and another one in Rizhao, Shandong province, the fee for engaging these services was approximately 4,000 yuan in a month. One foreign educator was even approached by "broker" who was attempting to sell a bride for 10,000 yuan (Prostitution in China).

Of course, it is highly unlawful to sell and purchase females in China. The majority of women have been kidnapped from the poor provinces. They are totally unwilling casualties. It is recognized that nearly 30 females looking for work disappear each day from the Nine Eye Bridge employment market, and that is only one instance of what is taking place in almost epidemic scopes throughout the nation (Adler, 2008).

In the majority of cases, females are unofficially sold by own poor families, particularly in the northwest and west of China. In negotiating this social trouble with Chinese academicians, it is possible to find out that, usually, the purchased "wife" is just a part of a scam. She will escape and return to own family as soon as possible to be purchased again (Zhenfu, 2005). In other cases, the unlawful sales were intended as ultimate: young females are merely terribly unfortunate casualties of circumstance and will often attempt to murder themselves as soon as no one is watching, by ingesting pesticide. Actually, consistent with World Health Organization, one female murders herself every five minutes in the country (Allen, 2006). No decent traveler should ever purchase a wife in China. Apart from the serious legal and moral matters included, it makes no sense in context of millions of girls who are really seeking for husbands (Prostitution in China).

Though engaging services of a “wife” escort are no more unlawful than engaging girl for an hour, and, once again, for a moment setting aside the legal and moral matters, the arrangement is completely risky one. These girls too often steal the men blind. One day, the unsuspicious person returns home to find an empty bank account and empty flat. However, this is not the worse present a man can get from the Chinese prostitute (Prostitution in China).

Prostitution as the Leading Cause of AIDS

In addition and of a serious anxiety to the healthcare employees is that escort service has now substituted the intravenous drug usage as the major cause of AIDS in the country, accounting for fifty-five percent of all novel cases of infection (Prostitution in China). According to the 2008 research conducted by public health bureau, fifty-three percent of Beijing's ninety thousand escort workers admitted they do not utilize protective condoms and that, by the finale of 2007, there were seven hundred thousand humans inflicted with HIV in China (Xinhua, 2008). There is also a huge negative correlation among the tier of escort service occupied by a girl and her hazard of transmitting venereal illness; that is, the lower the tier, the larger the hazard. By contrast, the same researches reported new cases of the disease attributable to the drug usage were no more than 12.8% (China Daily, 2007).

Tourists traveling globally lower own inhibitions and take greater hazards than they would usually in the home cultures. Boredom, loneliness, adventurous nature, and the sense of freedom contribute to the behavioral shift. Certain international tourists travel globally looking for the sexual gratification (Herold & Van Kerkwijk, 1992). This motivation can be actively subconscious or conscious to the tourist. Billed as romantic with the amazing natural beauty, China, Thailand, Kenya Brazil, the Philippines, and the Dominican Republic are the most popular places for tourists looking for sex with women or even children. The Netherlands and countries in Eastern Europe are also quite popular (Herold & Van Kerkwijk, 1992). With most primary cases of HIV infection in Europe having histories of global travelling, mass tourism is a huge aspect in the global transmission of AIDS. Whilst abroad, travelers have sex with many casual partners, escort ladies, sex workers, and/or other tourists. Far from all travelers, nevertheless, carry and consistently utilize condoms with the casual partners. One research discovered that females and non-white tourists are not so likely than white people and males to have condoms. The hazard of HIV infection augments under the conditions where condoms are not easily accessible in the host nation and/or are of a terrible quality (Herold & Van Kerkwijk, 1992). Concerning the actual condom usage, the research discovered merely 34% of sex travelers from Switzerland constantly utilize condoms whilst abroad (Herold & Van Kerkwijk, 1992). Only 28% of males in an STD clinic in Melbourne, reported steady condom usage in sexual relations whilst going to Asia; STDs were recognized in 73% of males checked (Herold & Van Kerkwijk, 1992). The few researches of travelers suggest a huge part engage in risky conduct precisely whilst traveling. HIV prevalence is quickly augmenting in nations recognized as destinations for sex tourism. High infection degrees are particularly evident among teenage sex workers in Thailand and China. Merely documenting the prevalence of risky conduct among sex tourists will not be sufficient. More investigations are required on travelers and AIDS with particular attention on the motivating aspects supporting persistent high-risk conduct (Herold & Van Kerkwijk, 1992).

HIV/AIDS Transmission Prevention

It is not sufficient to discuss multi-billion dollar worth deals in the international travel and tourism sphere annually or about the highest ten places and source markets. Humans have to know the downside of this sphere and human cost involved. Annually, thousands of global tourists visit China. Sex tourism attracts many tourists who travel overseas in order to participate in sex with local people or take pornographic images of locals. This has developed as the well-developed part of the commercial sex exploitation of locals hence the demand to hold the spread of HIV/AIDS through this sphere of tourism.

Female prostitution is a huge trouble in the East. By nightfall, Chinese cities and towns notice the movement of tourists into the streets, hotels, and bars where they go for one or two drinks. Tourists and escorts tend to be the major targets as they are believed to pay more money for sexual services. The presence of a huge amount of individuals with a risky conduct towards HIV, such as prostitutes and their customers, further increases the opportunity of high occurrence rates of the illness among the general populace. Approaches to address this challenge are outlined below.

Conducting Research

In order to get the profound acknowledgment of the trouble, the government should crate the programs aiming at commissioning research initiatives regarding the spread of HIV/AIDS through sex tourism (McGivering, 2009). The findings of the researches may pinpoint on the best ways to arrest scam whilst not affecting the operations of the tourism sphere.

Behavior Change Communication

Behavior change communication may reduce high hazardous conduct by promoting escorts and customers to talk about safer sex, usage of protection, early and effective healing of sexually transmitted diseases and by reduction of shame and discrimination through augmented access to conduct change data. Behavior change communication may be used to encourage vulnerable people to consistently utilize condoms and lessen the general total of partners.

Condom Promotion and Distribution

It is aimed at providing the alternative protective approach for those people, who cannot limit themselves to self-discipline or faithful sexual partnership and those escorts, who cannot quit trade through enhanced accessibility of condoms (McGivering, 2009).

Voluntary Counseling and Testing

Vulnerable individuals should be encouraging to visit the VCT centers to ascertain the HIV status.

Conclusion

Prostitution is performed nearly everywhere in the globe by females, as well as by males, and is commonly recognized as the oldest business. The number of people prostituting themselves in developing nations grows in the same measures as the tourism augments. In most of these nations, same as in China, prostitution is prohibited. However, it is wide-spread in the developing nations. This paper provided the in-depth news report concerning the issue of sex tourism in China. The paper touched upon the matter of child sex tourism, the reasons of this type of tourism’s popularity, the new variation of Internet sex tourism, and the diseases transmitted during the unprotected intercourse with an escort. 

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