Women In Sex Tourism

The reverse of traditional roles in the Bali sex tourism industry raises this debate over whether it is sexual exploitation or romance tourism. Sheila Jeffreys argues that romance tourism is a more suitable term to define the behaviour of women participating in sex tourism in Bali. She argues that these women engage in liaisons that “are constructed through a discourse of romance and long-term relationship, an emotional involvement usually not present in sex tourism”. In relation, the male prostitutes, called Kuta Cowboys, are suggested to be considered ‘romantic entrepreneurs’. This is a stark contrast to the dubbed commercial ‘prostitution tourism’ that men are viewed to engage in when they vacation for the purpose of sex. There is a dramatic

Arguments and academic literature have long discussed prostitution as global inequalities that have been generated by the international neoliberal market. The international sex market is underpinned by this international neoliberal market and commodified bodies that are arranged into both a gendered and racial hierarchies. Both men and women are exploited within this market where privileged, Western tourists can travel abroad to experience sexual or romantic encounters with prostitutes in foreign countries. These ‘foreign’ prostitutes are structurally at a disadvantage within these relationships with sex tourists or human traffickers. Literature discussing prostitution has more often than not challenged “whether prostitution is an example, or emblematic, of women’s oppression” and “whether it is a form of economic exploitation.” However, male prostitute has largely been absent from that discussion. Furthermore, global migration is increasingly becoming feminised through the production and consumption of the international sex market. Women are involved in the tourism industry through various service jobs from hotel staff to sex workers. There are many factors that have pushed women to be migratory in work, among them are poverty, barriers to employment in their home country, decreasing socio-economic conditions of certain countries, and gendered ideas over what types of work women can participate in. However, these factors are not experienced by women along, men in vulnerable positions are increasingly having similar experiences. Ultimately, the global sex market will continue to grow as both the production of sexual services through human trafficking and the consumption through sex tourism are both significantly increasing alongside the global tourism industry.