The Pitfalls of Migration for Sex Work to Thailand
Trafficking vs Voluntary Migration
Two diametrically opposite views exist regarding the question of whether prostitution is voluntary or not. The first view, known as the abolitionist perspective, deems all prostitution to be exploitation of women and advocates for its criminalisation and abolishment. The second view came from the sex workers’ rights movement. It seeks to create a distinction between those who were coerced or tricked into the sex industry and those who voluntarily chose it as a profession. Voluntary prostitution or sex work is viewed as a labour practice where women use their own bodies as a source of income. There was a general idea that forced prostitution or trafficking was declining in Turkey and was being replaced by women who worked as independent agents in control of their own resources. Focus on the voluntary sex work versus forced prostitution debate moves the discussion away from sex workers’ rights to self-determination and proper working and living conditions.
A tendency exists to equate all migration for sex work with trafficking while ignoring women’s voluntary involvement in the sex industry. It has been noted that the international definition of trafficking does not encompass the varied experiences of all sex workers which fall along a continuum with differing degrees of choice or coercion. Focusing all attention on whether or not women fulfil the definition of being trafficked takes away attention from the need to improve the working conditions of sex workers.
The conditions and reasons for entering sex work exist on a spectrum ranging from abduction and coercion to a voluntarily chosen work strategy. In a study of migrant escorts in London, it was found that the proportion of them being forced into the industry was declining. Many of them fell into the category of ‘opportunists’ who were desirous of making a lot of money quickly in order to fund higher education, buy houses, support their family, improve their lifestyles.
Disappearing of a Migrant Group
A preoccupation with trafficking in public forums, media and academic writing disregards the role of human agency in undertaking migrations. It denies migrant women of the capability to take risks and make decisions regarding migration. The experiences of women migrants not engaged in sex work also tends to become missing from discourses.
Women migrants working in the sex industry tend to be erased from migration studies only to be included in criminological or feminist studies where they are considered victims of trafficking and exploitation. Male, transgender and transsexual migrants who sell sex are even more invisible since trafficking is often considered to happen only to women and thus these migrants appear neither in migration research nor in any other. Since the sex sector is largely unrecognised in official statistics, no reliable data exist on the number of migrants employed in this sector. This reason has been cited by researchers to either completely omit or give limited importance to migrants selling sex. The author proposes that the taboo on sexual topics should be lessened and this category of migrants should be examined in migration studies as well as in diaspora studies and transnationalism.
Prior Knowledge
A well-established migration stream has been found to exist from the southern provinces of Vietnam to Svay Pak in Cambodia. A majority of women in the study had received information from relatives, friends or other community members about the sex industry in Svay Pak. Financially successful sex workers returning to the village and resuming improved lifestyles motivated others to follow the same path. However, it was noted that the women who had partaken in return migration after repaying their debt usually focused more on the positives of working in the sex industry and did not emphasise the negatives and so the information received by the prospective migrants was not complete.
Migrant sex workers in Switzerland have discussed that entering this field was a personal decision based on prior information. However, the real conditions of work were not always known. Many of the migrant escorts in London themselves took the initiative to join the sex industry while some of them received guidance from women in their origin country who had also been a part of this industry.
Reasons for Migration
Globalisation and global capital have been noted to disturb the traditional economic patterns of survival in developing countries, causing a rise in unemployment, rural to urban migration and international out-migration.
As highlighted by the author, the negative impacts of development have affected women more than men. Thailand’s efforts for development have focused on industry and tourism at the expense of agriculture. In many societies it is common for men to migrate in search for work when the rural economy fails to provide adequate livelihood. However, Thailand’s social structure is such that the economic responsibility of the family rests on the woman. Rural poverty caused by environmental degradation, deforestation, loss of farmland has prompted many rural women to migrate to urban areas in search of employment. Jobs for women in factories or in the service sector provide much lower wages as compared to the entertainment sector and sex work. Most women send remittances back home to help their families. Under Theravada Buddhism, prostitutes who fulfil the traditional role of being a ‘good’ daughter by supporting the family, donating to temples and so on are considered to be justified. These tolerant attitudes towards sex work in Thailand play a part in women’s decision to opt for this profession.
Turkey’s sex industry has received migrants from countries of the former Soviet Union and eastern Europe. The fall of communism in these countries led to many women losing their jobs. On the other hand, shift to a free market economy facilitated travel to other countries. The need to access new economic opportunities was one of the main reasons that led women to migrate. Turkey’s geographic proximity to the origin countries of the migrants enables periodic migration between the origin and destination countries. Other reasons for migrating include search for new experiences, financial autonomy, wanting to see the world. Sex work was preferred as it provided better wages than other jobs available to the migrants and also offered flexible working hours.
A study of sex workers in London noted that around 63% of them were likely to be migrants, especially from Eastern Europe or the states of the erstwhile Soviet Union. Closure of state industries, ending of food subsidies, declining welfare provision were the result of the rise of capitalism in these countries. Women were impacted by rising gender inequalities in post-communist Eastern Europe and trade in sex was chosen as a temporary or medium-term survival strategy out of poverty.
A research conducted in Svay Pak in Cambodia observed that economic factors were the main reason that prompted the women to migrate. It was noted that sex work was the most favourable of the limited options available to them. Agricultural work in Vietnam was harder and less paying as compared to sex work. Some of the women had migrated to Svay Pak in the hope of finding other jobs such as in coffee shops or as maids but switched to sex work to earn better. Familial poverty provided the push factor for migration. Although there was a sense of shame associated with sex work, the women felt duty-bound to do it in order to support their families. However, for some women income from sex work provided an opportunity to become financially independent which is what led them to migrate.
Poverty, natural disasters, armed conflicts, changes to the world economy are some of the factors that push out women from their home countries. However, the human characteristic of a desire to travel the world is also one of the reasons that encourage women to migrate. The jobs done by migrants are not their only defining characteristic. Apart from economic reasons, the hopes and dreams of a person also influence their decision to migrate.
The main reasons to migrate are related to economic improvement, financial independence and betterment of living conditions in the destination country. Remittances are sent home to support the family and improve the lives of their children living in the country of origin. Some women migrated to escape gender discrimination and gender inequalities of their home country.
Nature of Jobs for Migrant Women
The majority of jobs available to migrant women who come to Europe from ‘third world’ countries, Central or Eastern Europe or the erstwhile Soviet Union fall under three basic types – domestic work, caring and sex work. It frequently becomes difficult to clearly demarcate domestic and caring work into separate jobs. Although it is rarely discussed, sexual labour is often a component of the above jobs. Leaving out the aspect of sex leads to marginalisation of jobs in the sex industry as well as domestic and caring jobs. Segregating paid sex from other jobs in the service sector is possible only if it is assumed that sexual acts are the only thing being provided by sexual services. In reality, a wide range of sexual services exist which cannot be wholly encompassed by the term ‘prostitution’.
The variety of jobs in the sex industry have increased in terms of profiles, types of setting and services offered. A study has focused on the difference in lifestyle for migrant women working in strip clubs, champagne bars and massage parlours in Switzerland. Migrant women in Switzerland with a long-term residence permit or a renewable short-term permit are allowed to practice prostitution if it is carried out independently. The study has found a strong connection between work venue, residential status and geographical origin of the sex workers. A mixture of legality and illegality have been found in the sex market.
In many cases, the best or only job opportunity for women migrants is sex work. Women do not sell their bodily labour to produce commodities, their bodies itself become commodities to be sold in the market.
Choosing to work in the sex industry is often due to a lack of other opportunities available to migrant women, like even care or domestic work. However, countries where migration through sex work offers legal residency, such as in Switzerland, it can be seen as a gendered opportunity to migrate.
The sex industry is a high-income sector worldwide and many migrant women either do not mind this occupation or prefer it to the alternatives available to them such as domestic or care work which are not as well-paying and do not offer good working conditions.
Immigration
A large portion of the migrant women working in the sex industry in the destination country is composed of illegal immigrants. The largely illegal nature of the sex industry and restrictive immigration policies lead to many migrant women remaining illegally in the host country. However, in certain countries like Switzerland where prostitution is permitted, legal migration is possible through the avenue of sex work.
Networks of informed people, including former and current migrants, exist in the origin and destination countries. These intermediaries have information regarding the demand as well as the supply of migrants. They provide various services to potential migrants, for both legal and illegal modes of entry. As networks become more advanced, the costs and risks associated with migrations diminish.
Demand for Migrant Women in the Labour Market
The dichotomy between productive and unproductive labour assumes significance when trying to understand the work done by women. Reproductive labour is thought to be unproductive and excluded from being counted in official government statistics since no payment is received for it. Societies in which both partners engage in paid work outside the house generate a demand for a third person who is employed to do the housework and caring. There is a widespread belief that women have better knowledge on how to care as compared to men. Women from ‘third world’ countries are stereotyped to be more traditional, caring and domestic than women from European countries. These factors lead to the creation of a demand for migrant women to fulfil the roles that were traditionally assigned to women of the family.
In a globalised world with free markets of advanced capitalism, numerous activities, objects, experiences and services have become consumer products and are easily commercially available. The proliferation of purchasable sexually oriented services is one of the effects of this changing world structure. New kinds of labour and new kinds of consumption have been introduced into the world market leading to the global commodification of primarily male desire and primarily women’s bodies.
The movement of bodies across borders primarily takes two forms – migration and tourism. Migration generally consists of persons moving from less developed and less stable nations to more developed and more stable ones. The reverse pattern of this is observed in the case of tourism where privileged persons from developed nations move to developing nations in search of ‘exotic pleasures’. Global forces and global connections have been thought to shape the production and consumption of sex tourism by guiding the movement of bodies related to tourism and migration. This movement of bodies has been linked to the existence of great inequality among countries due to the concentration and centralisation of wealth. The interaction between the supply and demand curves for sex have created a transnational sex industry with large pools of both potential sex consumers and potential sex workers. Local institutions like the tourism industry, labour markets, localised sex work, law and policy act as mediators between the global and local. Sex tourism has become a substantial market contributing to the national economic development of the country.
Women from the countries of the erstwhile Soviet Union in Turkey were thought to be available and willing to participate in any kinds of sexual acts. The term ‘Natasha’ has been used to describe them which in the Turkish language has come to denote a sex worker from the former Soviet Union. Women from these countries in London were also found to be more likely to offer certain services that were not offered by the local women. Male clients’ preference for migrant women also came out of a desire to seek sex workers with an ethnic, national or class identity that differed from their own.
A study conducted in Svay Pak, an ethnically Vietnamese village near Phnom Penh in Cambodia, found that the brothels in that area were frequented by local Vietnamese and Cambodian men as well as foreign visitors from countries like North America, Europe, Australia, China and Japan. Vietnamese sex workers are popular in Cambodia due to stereotypes that consider Vietnamese women to be sexually adventurous and less deserving of respect as compared to Cambodian women.
Tourism is the single largest source of foreign exchange in Thailand. Men from developed countries often imagine women from developing countries to be more submissive and available than women from their own countries. This has led to the development of ‘sex tourism’ which has created a demand for women in urban areas of Thailand, thereby encouraging them to migrate from rural areas. Thailand’s economy has benefited due to the prostitution of women and their involvement in sex tourism. According to the author, economic development that is not focused on tourism is necessary in order to reduce the negative impacts of development on women.
According to a research, demand for sex work has remained constant in Western Europe whereas the supply has increased due to the opening up of the Eastern European economies. This has led to increased competition among sex workers.
Implications of Anti-trafficking Measures
The emphasis on calculating which group is larger – the forced or the willing – is a part of government efforts to ‘control’ or ‘help’ the migrant women. These western efforts to ‘help’ or ‘save’ migrant women are considered to be problematic.
In a study of Vietnamese sex workers in Cambodia, anti-trafficking measures such as raids by the police and rescue missions by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have been found to be directly linked with increased debt and increased vulnerability to sexually transmitted infections (STIs), among other risks. Most of the adult sex workers in Svay Pak (Cambodia) did not fit the definition of being trafficked yet they were taken into police custody during raids. Bribes were usually required to be paid to be released from custody which increased the debt burden on the sex workers. Police presence at the brothels also had the effect of scaring off customers which resulted in a loss of livelihood. Since the women did not want to risk losing any more clients by insisting on condom use, they felt compelled to partake in unsafe sexual practices which increased the risk of contracting STIs. Thus, over simplistic approaches conflating all migration for sex work with trafficking creates problems in efforts to provide health and social services to sex workers.
Problems
Although sex work is legally permitted in Turkey if the sex worker is registered, Turkish citizenship is required for registration. This implies that migrant women are not allowed to enter the sex industry as professionals. Police harassment, arbitrary detention, threat of violence are some of the issues faced by them. A substantial portion of their income is spent in bribes paid to policemen. Since many of them are illegal migrants, access to basic services such as healthcare, banking also becomes a problem. They are also unable to practice safe sex since majority of the clients are unwilling to use condoms.
Highlighting trafficking takes away attention from other issues affecting migrant sex workers like police persecution and lack of labour protections.
Contractual conditions of employees in establishments like strip clubs or champagne bars in Switzerland reduce the agency of the sex workers. The negotiating power of the sex worker is reduced in these cases. Informality and illegality of certain sectors may lead to absence of legal and social protection, police raids. The legality of working conditions in case of massage parlours offers the migrant women more security and independence as well as allowing them to arrange their work according to their schedule.
Solutions
Some of the suggested solutions to ameliorate the conditions of migrant women working in the sex industry include legalising sex work, establishing standards and policies for safe working conditions, provisions for the protection of the rights of migrants including temporary migrants, proper regulation of the state machinery such as policemen.
Women often choose to remain in the sex industry because of the high income but desire less exploitative working conditions and legalisation. A migration framework is suggested for studying their experiences which takes into account all aspects of people’s lives and travels without restricting them to fixed identities of ‘sex worker’ or ‘victim’.
Legalisation of prostitution and its recognition as ‘sex work’ in the Netherlands has improved the situation of sex workers since they are entitled to health care, social service support and law enforcement protection, benefits that are rarely available to sex workers in other countries. However, the growing presence of migrant sex workers in Amsterdam has increased the negative reaction of the locals to sex work. Immigrant prostitutes charge such low prices that it has led to the lowering of prices for local women. Restrictive policies and regulations have been framed to limit the entry of migrant women in the sex industry. Although some regulations seem to improve the condition of sex workers, it also leads to the creation of a hierarchy between migrant and local sex workers.
