Log out of mainstream media
... victims of trafficking? The west continues to go nuts over this.
wander, you've lived here. you KNOW that the complex realities of life in Asia don't fit into soundbites.
it's not "the west" hyperventilating over human trafficking, it's the western MEDIA. turn off CNN/BBC, start reading The Economist/Guardian/Washington Post or some other media with a more balanced view.
whenever you have economic disparities (gender- or tribal-based, many other variables), you will find people willing to better their situation. this is hardly new: the USA was colonized in part by people willing to trade seven years of "indentured servitude" for passage to the New World. things in Europe sucked, so they were happy to trade a specific portion of their lives for the opportunity to have a better life--or so they thought at the time.
is this any different from a woman from Russia (where guys aren't always gentlemen, let's put it that way) seeking to become a mail-order bride in a Western country? a Romanian woman working at an FKK in Germany? a Vietnamese woman doing freelance sex work in Phnom Penh or Bangkok? these are the specific examples--you don't hear about, say, Burmese nationals working illegally at low-skilled jobs in Thailand, but there are far more of those than women in the P4P industry. keep it in perspective, bro! 
of course women want the disproportionate wages offered by sex work--it's not the most desired profession, but the pay scale is so high relative to other work, and education/experience requirements are minimal compared to just about any other job. this situation, combined with legal issues, make this sector a prime target for traffickers. of course it happens. do women still sign up voluntarily? of course they do: for the economic reasons cited above. are they often tricked by promises of high pay in another profession, then bullied/mistreated by traffickers? of course. how many honestly believe some of these shady characters offering high-paying jobs will deliver, and how many suspect that the deal is too good to be true? unknown.
in Hong Kong alone, there are multiple shades of grey. our greatest immigrant group is of course mainlanders--some are legal, some not. some do sex work, some not. then we have SE Asian domestic helpers--some do sex work, some not. if you're an attractive Filipina or Indonesian woman, and you've got Sundays off, maybe you're inclined to seek the company of a local or Western guy, assuming you're treated with a minimum of respect, you'll end up with a cash bonus equivalent to a week's pay (i'm guessing) and you might even find a (relatively) wealthy boyfriend or even husband out of the deal. again, it's a complex web of nationalities, legalities, and the age-old man/woman thing with all its lusts, desires, and ego-strokes.
does this fit on the CNN masthead? HELLSno. but "OMG human trafficking victims!!" does.
think about it.
JtB |
