Trafficking Of Women And Girls Into Thailand example essay topic

"Trafficking is the recruitment and or the transportation of persons by others using violence or the threat of violence, abuse of authority or dominant position... for the purpose of exploiting them sexually or economically for the profit or advantage of others, such as recruiters, traffickers, brothel owners and customers". (unknown author, "What is Trafficking?" ) Trafficking in women and girls has become one of the fastest growing criminal enterprises in the world. An estimate of one to two million women and girls are trafficked around the world, annually, 10,000 to 100,000 of which are trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation. (International Women's Issues, "Trafficking in Women and Girls-An International Human Rights Violation") Women migrate to cities or across international borders to support families, and they usually migrate alone. Traffickers in women lure victims with advertisements and false promises of jobs as waitresses, sales clerks, nannies and models. In Thailand and South Africa, women and girls, especially those who are poor, are vulnerable to exploitation and trafficking, and often times it is the only option open for them. The following is an experience of a Burmese girl caught in the trafficking of women and girls into Thailand.

When "Lin Lin" was thirteen years old, shortly after her mother's death and her father's remarriage, she was taken by her father from their village of Whom D tong to Mae Sai. At the job placement agency in Mae Sai, her father was given 12,000 baht ($480) from an agent who assured him he could find a job for Lin Lin in Thailand. Lin Lin was sent on a bus to Bangkok, the capital of Thailand. The agent from Mae Sai met her at a hotel in Bangkok and took Lin Lin to Kanchanaburi, a city west of Bangkok. She was brought to the Ran Dee Prom brothel and on the third day was told to work. Lin Lin was complete unaware of what kind of work was in store for her.

She did not know what was going on until the man started touching her body. He took her to a room, told her to take off her clothes, then forced her to have sex. Lin Lin was kept in Kanchanaburi to work for one month, then sent to Korat, a city northeast of Bangkok, to a brothel owned by the sister of the Ran Dee Prom brothel owner. She stayed in Korat for nine months, then was sent to another brothel in Kanchanaburi, owned by another relative, for three months.

In Kanchanaburi, there were over one hundred girls, of whom over half were from Burma and about twenty were less than sixteen years old. In Korat, there were approximately sixty girls, ten of whom were from Burma and twenty were under sixteen years of age. In each brothel Lin Lin was sent to, the arrangement was the same. The owner provided room and food, but everything else was added to her "debt". She was allowed only to keep her tips, and forty percent of the amount each client paid was taken away from her "debt". In all three brothels, Lin Lin sat in a room with a number and the clients paid the owner 100 baht ($4) per hour for the number they wanted.

The clients could also take a girl out all night for 800 baht ($30) by leaving an identity card or their passport at the brothel. During the weekdays, she had six or seven clients a day, but the number rose to fourteen to fifteen a day on weekends. After thirteen months in Kanchanaburi and Korat, Lin Lin agreed to a loan of 5,000 baht ($200) to return to Mae Sai for a visit. The loan was for the bus ticket and escort; she never received any cash.

When she arrived in Mae Sai, she did not have enough money to get all the way home. A couple came up to her, asked her name and told her they would help her get home. She was driven back into Thailand with four other girls. Later, two more girls were added, and they were all driven to Klong Yai. In Klong Yai, Lin Lin worked in a restaurant and the men picked out which girl they wanted. She saw the owner and pimps slap the girls often, and she herself was slapped in the face and was warned to do whatever the clients wanted.

She had to work everyday with the exception of two days a month when she had her period. Lin Lin was never allowed to refuse a client. If she tried, the owner and pimps would tell her, "If you don't pay back your debt, you can stay here forever". She would be beaten if she came out of the room before her client. She never tried to run away for fear of the owner following her and her family because she had not finished paying her debt.

On January 18, 1993, the Crime Suppression Division (CSD) raided the brothel. The Crime Suppression Division (CSD) arrested about twenty-seven girls, but no owners or pimps. Since November 1992, the brothels had been closed by order of the government authorities. The police came to the houses where the women and girls were staying and arrested them. They were not allowed to get any of their belongings.

Lin Lin was first brought to the Klong Yai police station then transferred the same day to a police station in Bangkok. She was released the next day to the Non-governmental Organization (NGO) shelter with eleven others under the age of sixteen. (Asia Watch and The Women's Rights Project, p. 38-41) The story of Lin Lin is an example of girls who are sold by their parents to bring in more money for the family. Many women and girls who are trafficked are unaware of what is going on and do not know that they have been sold as prostitutes until they arrive at the brothels; by that time, they have no way of getting out of the situation; they are tied to the owner and are indebted and the only way for them to pay off their "debt" is to work as a prostitute. In Japan, the brothel owners and pimps prevent women from escaping by putting them under surveillance. They are confined to an apartment or a bar and are forced to take many "customers" every day.

If they try to escape, they are imposed with violence or rape as punishment. "Some kill themselves in desperation and others are being murdered in process". (Yayori, pg. 1) Recent surveys show that the majority of Asian women who now work as prostitutes first entered the sex trade unwillingly. One survey found that: o 3% were sold by a boyfriend o 4% were raped and sold o 5% were raped by a stepfather and sold o 32% were tricked and sold by non-family o 8% were sold by parents to pay off debts o 4% went to the city to find a job and were then sold. (unknown author, "Fact Sheet on Trafficking of Women and Children") These women had absolutely no choice; either they could try to escape and risk being caught and punished, even risking their own lives, or they could pay off their "debts" by selling their bodies. The sex industry in Japan is expanding, but because the number of women willing to work is falling short, women from other Asian countries are brought to Japan to fill this gap; "they are cheap, plenty, and profitable" (Yayori, pg. 2). Some brokers make millions of yen (the currency of Japan) every year using a few women as prostitutes.

Currently, every year, over 100,000 women, mostly from the Philippines and Thailand are sexually exploited all over Japan. The women from Thailand are in a more vulnerable situation than women from the Philippines for a couple of reasons: 1) Unlike the Filipinos who have entertainer's visas, most Thai women come with tourist visas and therefore are illegal workers and 2) most Thai women are from rural areas and are not able to communicate in English, whereas the women from the Philippines have English capability because it is widely spoken in their home. The economic difference between Japan and other Asian countries plays a large role in the increasing number of trafficked women in Japan. Because the yen is strong, the average wage in Japan is 10 to 20 times higher than in other Asian countries.

Because of this vast difference, Asian people, especially those in poor rural areas of the country, are drawn to Japan. One of the causes of the increase in international trafficking and prostitution in women is the economic development in Asian countries. In Thailand, economic development has been remarkable since the late 1980's; Bangkok, the capital of Thailand, is showing prosperity. On the other hand, the rural areas have fallen behind in development, or rather, have been victimized. Forests have been destroyed and farmers are indebted and suffer from poverty.

Economic development in Thailand has only benefited the rich in Thailand. The rapid growth of the economy has led to consumerism, but unfortunately, for the people in the poor rural areas of the country, the only commodity they can offer for cash is their daughters. "Thus, the trafficking in women accelerates". (Yayori, pg. 3) The sex industry in South Africa has existed for thousands of years; the city of Cape Town has more than 100 brothels with 5 to 25 employees each. The flourishing prostitution industry is still illegal, as in Thailand, but the city draws many tourists from around the world, more than any other place in the world. (Cauvin, pg. 1) The main cities and towns attract thousands of illegal immigrants from Africa and the rest of the world.

(PANA, pg. 1) South Africa is on its way to developing a child-sex tourism trade. Children as young as eight can be bought in the Cape, for as little as food for their family, and little is being done to stop it. The sex industry in Cape Town is extremely organized, with children, both girls and boys, being taken away from their families and forced into prostitution or exploited by their parents to earn income for their families. The issue of "survival sex" was recently researched in the Western Cape. The research showed that children were being prostituted by their families or as a result of being left on the streets with no source of income.

Children in rural areas are sent to shebeens (an unlicensed or illegally operated drinking establishment), labor hotels and to farm workers who pay in cash or with food. "Research indicates that this is a common reality in poverty-stricken communities in this country. A case was reported to us of an eight-year-old boy prostituted by his family as their only source of income", said Bernadette van Vuuren of the children's rights organization Resources Aimed at the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (RAP CAN). South Africa is a wealthy country, but its wealth is not being distributed evenly. "In South Africa, income poverty goes together with a level of inequality which is among the worst in the world. The richest 20% of South African households have 65% of all income.

The poorest 20% have only 3%". (Baden, Hassin, Meintjes, p. 17) Having a job is one way for people to get out of poverty, but the South African economy is not creating jobs. Generally, people with a higher education level earn more than those who are uneducated. In South Africa, more women have very little formal education than men.

In 1995, 23% of African women age 25 and older had no formal education at all, compared to 16% of men. Passing grade 5 is often used as a measure of literacy. Over one quarter (28%) of women in Africa had not passed grade 5 compared to 21% of African men. South Africa has one of the highest rates of HIV / AIDS infection in the world. "Sixteen in every hundred women visiting antenatal clinics in South Africa during 1997 were HIV positive".

(Baden, Hassin, Meintjes, p. 20) More women than men are likely to be HIV positive; poverty increases the danger of HIV infection as women feel forced to become prostitutes to earn money. Most women and children who become prostitutes or victims of exploitation in South Africa are from poverty-stricken communities with no other option to earn money; for children who are abandoned on the streets with no source of income, prostitution is the only way they can survive; for women, because the illiteracy rate is much higher than that of men, and therefore cannot find decent-paying jobs, they are forced to sell their bodies to earn enough money for their families. In both Thailand and South Africa, prostitution has existed for thousands of years, as in many other countries around the world; and in both countries, poverty played a role in promoting prostitution of women. The HIV infection rates are high in both countries as a result of many young girls and women having to sell sex for money without protection from Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD's).

Although the issue of trafficking in women does exist in South Africa, the problem is not as wide-spread and serious as it is in Thailand or many of the countries surrounding it. The reason for this is because of the "Thai government's unwillingness to enforce even the most straightforward provisions, such as prohibition against trafficking in women and girls". (unknown author, "Thai Legal Context"). Worse still, not only has the government failed to protect trafficking victims, but its agents are guilty of directly violating many of the human rights of many trafficked girls and women. Women and young girls in Thailand and South Africa are in a very vulnerable position, especially those who are poor, to trafficking and exploitation; and because they are poor and have very few resources, they have no other choice but to face and accept the only option given to them: to work as a prostitute to earn money or pay off their "debt". The future I see for these young girls and women, and many more to come, is not a bright one. The world does not care enough about them, nor the conditions in which they live their lives, let alone their own government.

We all need to open our eyes, to take notice and possibly take action for their justice, for their right to be treated as human beings.

Bibliography

Asia Watch and The Women's Rights Project. A Modern Form of Slavery: Trafficking of Burmese Women and Girls into Brothels in Thailand. Human Rights Watch, 1993 Baden, Sally;
Hassin, Shire en; Meintjes, Sheila. "Country Gender Profile: South Africa". 1999 available online at: womens net.
org. za / links /gender pr. htm#GENDER, INEQUALITY, POVERTY AND VULNERABILITY Cauvin, Henri e "For Red Light District's Best Brothels, Gold Stars". The New York Times November 2, 1999 International Women's Issues.
Trafficking in Women and Girls - An International Human Rights Violation. Available online at: web Labor News. "Child Sex Industry Booms in South Africa". 1996 available online at: web Pan african News Agency (PANA).
South Africa: Upmarket brothel forced to close its doors". 2/7/00 available online at: web Unknown author. "Fact Sheet on Trafficking of Women and Children". Available online at: web Unknown author. "Thai Legal Context". "What is Trafficking?" available online at: web Yayori, Matsui. "Eliminating Trafficking in Asian Women". 1996 available online at: web.