Sex Culture In Bangladesh

The sex trade is not a choice; there many situational factors contributing as to how these women and children got into the sex trade. Most of the women and children who are bought and trafficked into this industry are vulnerable or have a background of abuse and neglect (4425 Hossain). Exploiters use the vulnerability to their advantage by making promises of stability and love to lure their victims in. Many

Women and children who are being sexually exploited are often found in the urban areas of Thailand, but even rural areas have a share of commercial sex workers (Lau, June 2008). The Thai society is extremely male dominated as men are considered superior to women and hold the government and societal power (Vejar & Quach, May 2013). Foreign investors have a great deal of power in Thailand as the country has become more dependent tourism and manufacturing rather than the traditional small farm economy (Geary & Meyer, June 1993).

However a majority of the girls are abducted or forced while many are attracted in other ways. Fake agencies sometimes posing as massage agencies lure in women into the trafficking industry. These women are offered money, free transportation to these agencies to work, with an agreement that the costs will be paid back through the woman’s earnings for her work (Hodge, D. 2008). Other girls are lured in through brothels, escort services, hostess clubs, and strip clubs (Kotrla, K. 2010) where they are abused, manipulated, and have been forced to participate in sexual acts against their will.

On the other hand, the author also says; “… early feminist saw a degrading parallel between marriage and prostitution.” In some cultures of the world, marriage is a certain arrangement between families. This means that parents decide who their children will marry. They have no right to choose their partner. Many Middle Eastern countries carry out this type of arrangement. In most cases, the most affected are women. Her parents force her to marry the husband that they choose. Many weddings are among nine years old or more girls with older men who could be their fathers. Besides the cultural factor, there is also a monetary factor, men buying girls as wives. Even worse still is that their parents allow it. I recently read a story, “The Nuyud Case”, documented by Delphine Minoui, a writer and journalist. The story is about a ten years old Yemeni girl, named Nuyud, who filed for divorce from her husband who is forty years old. Nuyud went to court to apply for divorce claiming that her husband abused her sexually. Thanks to a judge who took pity on her, the divorce was granted. This was a historic event for women in Yemen since this is a country where women have few rights. With the divorce of Nuyud, it was shown that there is hope for women in that country. Nuyud explained that her parents forced

In a review by the New York Times, the author, Stephen Holder, highlights the context surrounding prostitution in each different country. From Thailand having a high end brothel ran by rich Asian men, to Bangladesh full of towering, run down apartments oversaw by madams,

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However, after watching Trade and Born into Brothels it is apparent that these issues occur still.Geographical locations play an important role in understanding why sex trafficking occurs in these regions of the world because it opens up multiple questions about the treatment of women and how well these individuals are educated on protecting themselves during sexual

However if the goal of criminalization is to end prostitution, it is clearly not yielding the desired results. Making the act of selling sex illegal actually causes the sex workers to go further underground, making them more vulnerable to police and poor working conditions. It creates a culture permitting violence against sex workers. In countries such as China, Cambodia and Vietnam where prostitution is also illegal, sex workers are detained in facilities for ‘rehabilitation’ or ‘re-education through labor’. The approach of these facilities is to punish sex workers for engaging in behavior that is regarded as a

America is one of the world’s superpowers. Its citizens enjoy a fairly high standard of living, and it’s melting pot for people from every corner of the globe. On the other hand, Bangladesh is a poor, densely populated country with an ethnically homogenous population. I’m lucky to say that I’ve experienced the best of both worlds, having spent the first five years of my childhood in Bangladesh, and the remainder in America. I’ve experienced the traditional way of life in Bangladesh, the ceremonies, rituals, and familial bond. But I’ve also witnessed the sexism, prejudice and corruption plaguing the country. America seems to be the opposite, but I better understand its strengths and flaws due to my time in Bangladesh.

knows no borders. It is fueled by a global market that dilutes cultural differences and

To begin with, in Cambodia, human trafficking has been a pertinent problem for the past two decades, mainly because of myths, poverty, and traditions. In the country, a tradition often surfaces about men having a great desire to have sexual intercourse with those who are pure and young because it will remove all of their sins. The myth is that when men had sexual relationships with virgins, it would grant them luck and good health. For this reason, an abundance of pedophiles used to visit Cambodia because they knew that the country condoned prostitution (Pesta). Due to the myth and the command of pedophiles for prepubescent girls, brothels are targeting those younger and younger. Children as young as four are being sent into the sex trade, and “prostitution has become a ‘fixture of urban life’ in Cambodia” (“The Face of”). Furthermore, “visiting prostitutes has become a common and accepted male pastime [in the country]” (Sidner). The abundance of people in Cambodia visiting the cities for the sole purpose of sex sullies the reputation of the country, and it puts the

Child brides are a little voiced problem that occur around the world. Fourteen million girls become child brides every year, a number that is increasing due to the growing populations of countries where child marriage is common (Fisher). I chose to focus on child brides specifically in Africa and the Middle East due to the high instances of child marriages in those parts of the world. In my research I also found that child brides are very common in South Asia and South America as well. In Niger, Chad, Mali, Bangladesh, Guinea, Central African Republic, Mozambique, and Nepal over half of girls are married before they turn eighteen (Fisher).This is largely due to traditional tribal practices, cultural norms, and an overall lack of education.

The governments of the developing world encourage and utilize the sex trade industry as a progress strategy to repay millions of dollars of debt to international corporations. There are also economic incentives for the governments of both the exporting and importing countries to ignore the trafficking in women, and the governments are relatively uninterested in the women’s well-being.

Women in Bangladesh have had a long history of exploitation and have faced discrimination due to their gender. Bangladeshi women came to the international attention in the form of cheap and docile labour. Traditionally, the idea of separate spheres, where men are the breadwinners and women look after the household, comprised the typical Bangladeshi household. Due to the impact of globalization, the economic stability of the country has been severely destroyed and has forced many women to work for longer hours that seem not enough to let the ends meet. Bangladesh Nari Progati Sangha (BNPS) is an agency for empowerment of women in Bangladesh and states that the current trend of globalization in Bangladesh, has an exploitative nature which is extreme to women in the society. Rural women have been working quite long in the agricultural sector, but with the commercialization of the agricultural sector, many women have migrated to the city centers such as Dhaka and working for garment or other industries for minimum wage. Women have a limited scope of economic development in a Bangladeshi society and are paid less than the men, due to the socio-political structure, as well as their lack of education, which is governed by the patriarchal ideology. Given that,

The enormously high poverty rate, coupled with the crackdown on pedophilia in the western world makes Cambodia particularly vulnerable and child sex trafficking has become a lucrative way to exploit the country’s natural resources. One of the young girls featured in the film, Da-Lin, tells her story - “I sold my virginity to an old man for $500, I did it to help my family, my parents were sick and my brothers and sisters are young and had to go to school, my virginity was the only thing of value we had” (2:15). Another young girl explains how she suffered a stroke due to the abuse she endured. The stories go on and on, young children sold as child sex workers by their husbands, boyfriends, friends and family members. They cannot seek help from the authorities for fear of imprisonment, and they face exile from their villages due to shame.