Facing Facts about Asia's Sex Trade
SCARY FIGURES. Sadly, no government in the region is really serious about stamping out the region's vast "adult-entertainment" industry. You could argue that a crackdown might make conditions even worse for those women that earn a living from it. I'm not interested into jumping into age-old morality debates about whether prostitution is an outright evil or essentially a "victimless crime" between two consenting adults (when both partners are adults).
What's undeniable is that a lot of young girls, by dint of necessity or under coercion, are getting swept up into this maw and are often having sex without protection. The World Health Organization, in a 2001 report entitled "Sex Work in Asia," came up with some startling finds:
• The premium age for sex workers in the region is from 12 to 16, and in Thailand one-third of foreign sex workers are less than 18.
• In India, 40% of female sex workers get in before 18, and in Nepal, 35% enter sex work before 15.
• In Sri Lanka, about 30% of all sex workers have been trafficked around the region
What's undeniable is that a lot of young girls, by dint of necessity or under coercion, are getting swept up into this maw and are often having sex without protection. The World Health Organization, in a 2001 report entitled "Sex Work in Asia," came up with some startling finds:
• The premium age for sex workers in the region is from 12 to 16, and in Thailand one-third of foreign sex workers are less than 18.
• In India, 40% of female sex workers get in before 18, and in Nepal, 35% enter sex work before 15.
• In Sri Lanka, about 30% of all sex workers have been trafficked around the region
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