Sex Tourism in the Philippines and the Effects on the Community There have been reports that traffickers target these young girls, either kidnapping them or with promise of shelter, food and a better life in the city.
The Philippines is hit with frequent natural disasters, often leaving rural areas in ruins and making many children orphans. This level of poverty means children can be forced to enter the industry at a young age in order to help support their families.Īn even darker side to this story is the children forced away from their rural communities for sex work in the cities. Surveys done of prostitutes working as massage therapists indicated that 34% of women stated they were in the industry to support their poor parents and 8% stated it was to support their siblings. There are entire generations stuck in the sex tourism industry due to poverty. There are a number of reasons children are involved in the industry, with poverty being the largest contributor. Unicef estimates that there are 60,000 to 100,000 children involved in the sex industry in the Philippines, whilst Child Protection in the Philippines estimates that almost half of Filipino prostitutes are underage. Most of the clientele are American or European men. It’s commonplace for the cafes to have private rooms where the girls can work from. Internet cafes meant that women and underage girls everywhere could perform webcam sex with men for money around the world. Sex tourism in the Philippines continued to grow during the 20th century, and then modernised during the 21st century with the birth of the internet and easy access to internet cafes. The Modernisation of Sex Tourism in the Philippines These bases were eventually closed however, this simply shifted the clientele from Soldiers to tourists and the local community. Sex tourism in the Philippines was rife in the 1960s and in to the 1970s with American soldiers stationed their due to the Vietnam war. The largest base, Clark Air Force base, located near Angeles City resulted in the city becoming the “mecca of the sex trade”, often referred to as Sin City. In 1947, Filipino President Roxas signed a military agreement resulting in 22 US military bases being stationed on the Philippines. Being social outcasts on the edge of society meant that this trend continued, the mothers sought sex work in order to survive and often their daughters met the same fate. The sex tourism continued with the American soldiers and several women had children who were then ostracized by the community. The US liberated the country from Japanese rule in 1945. These women were eventually compensated in the 1990s for their suffering and humiliation at the hands of the soldiers.
In the last century, there was a resurgence of sex tourism due to both WWII and the Vietnam war.ĭuring WWII (Specifically 1941-1944) the Japanese Imperial Army forced women to serve as “ comfort girls” to the Japanese soldier stationed in the Philippines. Slavery was outlawed in the Philippines in 1591, however, this did not stop exploitation by the Spanish colonists. It is believed that some Filipino women were sold as “exotic sex objects” for work in European brothels. A prosperous slave trade was established in the late 1500s between the Philippines, Spain, and the Caribbean. There is a long history of sex work and prostitution in the Philippines that goes as far back as the 1500s. Law enforcement turns a blind eye, and often accept bribes from sex workers in the form of sexual favors in order for their continued compliance with the industry.Ī Short History of Prostitution in the Philippines Selling or paying for sex is actually illegal in the Philippines, however sex workers will be employed as a number of different roles that fall under ‘Entertainment’. Sex tourism is mainly clustered around the major cities however, its effects are felt countrywide where women and children are often forced or coerced away from their rural communities to work in the cities. Whilst finding exact numbers can be difficult, most sources estimate that 500,000 to 800,000 men, women and children are working in the sex trade in the Philippines.