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  • Essay / The challenges of sex tourism in Brazil

    Table of contentsIntroductionOverview of sex tourism in BrazilLiterature reviewCurrent responsesWhat can be doneConclusion“We say that slavery has disappeared from European civilization, but that is not not true. Slavery still exists, but it no longer applies only to women and its name is prostitution. » Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essayIntroductionAlthough the quote above is not entirely accurate or particularly contemporary, as far as prostitution applies also to men and children, it nevertheless underlines an important point: prostitution can be a form of slavery if circumstances permit. This is particularly true for sex tourism target countries, as demand there is high and there is little desire to make political or social changes in this area. Because participants in sex tourism are unlikely to stay put, the social tendency of sex tourism is to meet the demand of foreign tourists without regard for the implications for the host community, society, and country. One case in particular that highlights this point is that of sex tourism which exploded during the 2014 World Cup in Rio de Janeiro and is expected to increase during the next Olympics in the same city. Sex tourism has long been part of Brazil's tourism industry, but sporting events in recent years have apparently only served to expand this type of tourism in the city and its surrounding areas. This article examines this claim in the context of academic research on sex tourism in Brazil as a whole, its relevance to sporting events, and particular statistics that show the increase in sex tourism. Given that one of the most important issues concerns sex tourism and child slavery, the newspaper also discusses the importance of monitoring this issue following the two major sporting events Rio has hosted in recent years. After this overview, the paper turns to an examination of what is currently being done on the issue from a law enforcement and policy perspective. Finally, the paper examines what can be done about this problem, including what has worked and what policies need to change. While certainly not an exhaustive account of sex tourism as a whole, nor of the ethical issues in tourism that Brazil faces, this article shows that the city of Rio faces a unique problem in tourism issue that needs to be resolved. Janeiro, one of Brazil's largest cities, is considered "one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world", not only because of its urban beaches and vibrant music scene, but also because of sex (Kugel, 2009, np). The country – and Rio in particular – certainly has a reputation around the world as being a hotspot for sex tourism in the city's many brothels. As one report states: "Each week, specialist holiday operators bring thousands of European singles on charter flights in search of cheap sex", and Brazil is even overtaking Thailand as the one of the most popular sex tourism destinations in the world (Rogers, 2010). , np). Additionally, a 2010 BBC report indicated that “young children are meeting a growing demand from foreign tourists traveling to Brazil for sex holidays” (Rogers, 2010, np). According to the information cited above, the demographics are quite simple:tourists from the United States and Europe, as well as the occasional Brazilian businessman, take advantage of the city's bustling prostitution industry. This has been the case for years, but only in recent years have links been made to sports prostitution and child prostitution. For example, some news sources reported that the city hosted more than 250,000 children and adolescents lured into prostitution and sexually exploited in the months leading up to the 2014 World Cup (Blanchette and Silva, 2016, 3). Therefore, the link between sports sex tourism and child prostitution is quite clear in the case of Rio de Janeiro. In this sense, this article is not only about sex tourism in Brazil. Instead, two main questions are at stake in relation to this overarching topic: the way in which sporting events tend to stimulate sex tourism and the role that child prostitution has played in the case of Brazil in recent years. Discussion of these two topics in particular is relevant to our class because they not only deal with sex tourism, but also with the ethics of tourism and international travel as a whole. Issues such as child prostitution and the sports-related sex industry tend to be sidelined, firstly because the host country wishes to keep the tourism industry thriving and, secondly, because the countries of origin have no particular interest in promoting it. a stop. While sex tourism is certainly controversial, and child sex tourism even more so, the larger controversy is that nothing is being done about it. This is why football matches and sporting events in Brazil are relevant for this class. several publications dealing specifically with sex tourism and prostitution in Brazil. First, it is worth discussing the current body of academic research on sex tourism. The key to understanding sex tourism is understanding the role it plays in society. As one current class source states: “Sex tourism engages liminal people; that is to say, people occupying a space on the margins of society. By simply existing, sex tourism denies and plays with concepts such as monogamy within marriage, reinforces notions of hedonism in its most basic form, and offers insight into exploitations based on attitudes towards women , child labor and homosexuality” (Ryan, 2001, 385). Clearly, sex tourism is not a topic to be taken lightly, as it interacts with many other aspects of society, politics and even culture. Additionally, it is important to understand that sex tourism is neither isolated nor rare. As the academic above points out, there is a “strong historical relationship” between “tourism and the sex industry” (Ryan, 2001, 386). Far from being a modern adaptation of the sex industry, sex tourism emerged almost at the same time as the concept of vacations, in the years following the industrial revolution. Today, sex tourism is “a niche market in the global tourism industry” (Chow-White, 2006: 884). The prostitution and sexual slavery of children observed today in Brazil and more particularly in Rio de Janeiro are only a modern iteration of a historical process. It is also crucial to understand that sex tourism does not always result in direct, paid prostitution. Instead, it can take several different forms. Ryan (2001) identifies several different ways of identifying sex tourism when it isplaced in a continuum: first, “whether the relationship formed was voluntary or exploitative”. The second was whether the relationship was commercial or non-commercial and the third was whether the relationship confirmed or denied a sense of integrity or self-worth” (388). Sex tourism can therefore take many different forms, as has been the case in Rio in recent years. This idea of ​​sex tourism is confirmed by another researcher, who states that in the context of heterosexual sex tourism in Fortalez, Brazil, "notions of sexuality, race, class and gender create a complex discursive framework for encounters crucial to understanding the participation of local populations. women from different social strata” (Piscitelli, 2015, 499). In other words, sex tourism includes both commodified sex and other types of sexual encounters. This article deals primarily with the commodified variety, but it's worth noting that more casual encounters can be just as concerning. But what does the academic literature say specifically about sex tourism in Brazil and as it relates to global sporting events? First and foremost, it is important to realize that there are few empirical and quantitative studies on the topic of sex trafficking in relation to sporting events, as one study notes (Finkel & Finkel, 2015, 17). As the study concludes, “human trafficking for sexual exploitation is a hidden, visible global problem” (Finkel & Finkel, 2015, 17). However, more recent studies have addressed the subject, particularly in light of the World Cup and the upcoming Olympic Games in Brazil. An interesting finding is that many of the efforts to “clean the streets” in Rio before these major sporting events may have had the opposite impact. As Gregory Mitchell (2016) states: “By destroying safe and legal places for sex work, [neoliberal agents, state forces and non-governmental organizations] have created precisely the exploitation they claim prevent” (325). In other words, efforts to clean up Rio in the years and months leading up to the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Summer Olympics may have only pushed the sex industry, and particularly the sexual exploitation of children, to hide even more. Another study confirms this, identifying sexual exploitation as one of the negative impacts of the World Cup on Brazil (Rodriguez et al., 2016, 1). Another source supports this assertion, stating that everything indicates that the sexual exploitation of children does indeed exist in Rio de Janeiro (Blanchette, 2016). In this way, the literature clearly shows that sex tourism in general is an important problem to address in Brazil. Not only that, but the literature also highlights how major global sporting events further exacerbate the problems associated with sex tourism, particularly those related to the sexual exploitation of children. Now that this has been established, the paper can look at what is currently being done on the issue of these sporting events and the sexual exploitation of children, as well as policy, development, law enforcement measures and linked to the policies that can be taken. the future.Current Responses Fortunately, steps have been taken to address the problem of sex tourism in Rio de Janeiro, particularly regarding the massive influx of sex tourists around global sporting events in recent years and the sexual exploitation of children in particular. For example, in Rio de Janeiro and similar cities, which host sporting events.