To discuss the impact of globalisation, which has been analysed and defined above, on sex work, the term sex work must be characterized in order to discuss the effect globalisation has had. Sex workers are those individuals working in the sex industry, which is defined thus: ‘sex industry refers to a range of practices involving the exchange of sex and or sexually related goods or services for money. Most of the contributors are current or former strippers, prostitutes, porn actors, writers, producers, professional dominatrixes and phone sex workers’ (Nagle, 1997) These practices which Nagle refers to can be found in a variety of situations related to sexual activities. These include sex tourism, various kinds of porn, sexual performances – strippers, lapdancers etc and sex for money – prostitution and telephone sex. Carol Leigh aka Scarlet Harlot claims to have invented the term of “sex work” in order to ‘create an atmosphere of tolerance within and outside the women’s movement for women working in the sex industry (Leigh, 1997). It acknowledges the work that women and men do rather than defining them by their status. As she states, the concept and the term was taken up with much enthusiasm, health agencies, WHO and various other groups have adopted it, in fact the international union of sex workers proudly refer to themselves by this term (IUSW, 2004)
Now to consider the impact of globalisation on sex work, there are various factors involved in globalisation just as there are various activities involved in sex work. This essay will look at three areas of sex work and how globalisation has impacted on them. The spheres of sex tourism, prostitution and porn will be explored in relation to globalisation as I feel these sectors especially, have escalated beyond recognition and taken on new facets due to globalisation, although it can be said that other areas of sex work have not been untouched by globalisation e.g. lapdancing which is very much a sign of the commodification of sex in the capitalist culture. Lapdancing clubs are big business in metropolitan cities such as London.
Tourism has undergone major changes due to globalisation, and sex tourism signals these changes. Held et al. state that tourism is one of the ‘most obvious forms of globalization (Held et al. 1999; p360). The swift development in information technology such as the world wide web mean tourists have the ability to view information and images of just about every destination across the globe. Tourists therefore, are able to demand greater choice and variety; their decisions are also more informed. Globalized tourism has become fragmented, adaptable and personalised, unlike the old tourism, which involved packaging and standardisation, tourists now flex their power as consumers and no longer want to be treated similarly. (Urry, 1995; p150). ‘Consumers are now able to put together much more flexible packages, a kind of holiday ‘mix ‘n’ match’ or what the industry terms ‘Free and Independent Travel’ or FIT, especially via the internet’ (Urry, 2002; p47). The resorts, which were once popular in the days of mass tourism pre globalization, are seen as clichéd or tired in the globalized world, tourist sites experience rapid turnover because of rapid changes in fashion. The instantaneous nature of globalization means we quickly become bored and so once we have visited one resort we do not need to visit it again. There are fewer repeat visits and there has been an increase in the number of alternative sights and attractions, which are now offered. The three-minute culture, which is a by-product of globalisation, has resulted in tourists switching forms and sites of pleasures. Less satisfaction is gained from continuing to do what they, or more importantly what their family have always done. ‘ Thus, holidays have become less to do with the reinforcing of collective memories and experiences and more to do with immediate pleasure’ (2002; p92). This immediate pleasure, which Urry speaks of, could be argued to be one of the factors involved in sex tourism, which has seen a major increase in the face of globalization. Cabezas points out the link between tourism and sex work and the part globalisation play in this: ‘connect the practices of the local sexual trade, as facilitated by state and capital intervention, to the transnational sex industry linking various regions of the globe. Under global economic restructuring, sex work is organised within the service sector…sex work appears, therefore, as a strategy for many women to cope with the painful economic consequences of global capitalism (Cabezas, 1998)
Sex tourism is the incidence of men (predominantly) travelling from more developed countries to less developed countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean for sex that is either not available or more expensive or qualitatively less pleasurable at home. However, this is not restricted to men and there is a discreet stream of travellings by affluent (comparatively) western women to places in the Caribbean and Africa (Phillips, 1999). In fact, Opperman has observed that the more women increase their economic and social standing around the world, one might expect more and more female sex tourists and consequently more male sex providers serving female tourists (Opperman, 1999) This tourism is not confined to male or female tourists, but prostitutes travel too, in Germany for example the large share of foreign prostitutes actually means that in many sex tourism settings it is the prostitute who is the business tourist. (Franklin, 2003)
The Internet, which has already been noted as a factor in the globalisation of mainstream tourism is also connected to sex tourism. Brennan (2002) notes that the internet is likely to increase the traffic of both veteran and first-time sex tourists to little known destinations. On-line travel services provide information about tour guides and local-bars in desirable place for sex tourists. The ‘World Sex Guide’ acts as a site in which fellow sex tourists can share information about their trips. Africa, Asia, South America, the Caribbean, America and Europe are reviewed in great detail on the site and pictures of sex workers and stories of the tourists’ trips are disclosed: a Lonely Planet Guide for sex tourists one could say. The instantaneous nature of globalization, characterised by the Internet also means that sex tourists, just like tourists, are endlessly pursuing the next ‘hot spot’: ‘Sosua (a town in the Dominican Republic) first became known among European tourists by word of mouth. Most of the sex tourists I met in Sosua had been to other sex-tourist destinations as well. These seasoned sex tourists, many of who told me they were “bored” with other destinations’ (Brennan, 2002). The manager of the Cape Town tourist bureau, Sheryl Oszinsky called for prostitution in South Africa to be legalised. She argued that regulating prostitution would provide South Africa with a unique selling point as a safe-sex holiday destination for sex tourists. If this were to happen, South Africa could become the next fashionable destination for bored sex-tourists and also benefit from the added taxes (Wheat, 2000).
The Caribbean has proven to be a ‘hot spot’ in terms of sex tourism. Globalisation has played its part in this due to its economic system being linked to the wider network that is the global economy. Agencies such as the IMF and the World Bank have forced governments in the Caribbean to turn to foreign exchange in order to sustain their economies and keep debt at a minimum. The high turnover and unemployment involved in the industries that foreign investments have generated in the Caribbean, has seen some females turn to sex work. The mainstream tourist industries have been reticent in acknowledging the existence of a sex industry and just how much money it brings into the islands. Mullings (1999) highlights the contradiction in play here as the tourism industry uses the hedonistic images of “sun, sand and sex” that relies on the ‘racialized constructions of women as “exotic” and “wild” to market the island as a tourism destination’ (1999). This hedonistic aspect of the Caribbean is a big draw for sex tourists, and while sex tourism has become globalized, so too has the demand by sex tourists for the sexual services of men and women in “exotic” or “authentic” landscapes. This context sees the Caribbean being drawn into the global sex industry. As the demand for flexible tourism services, so too has the global reach of the sex trade. Asia saw a high influx of sex tourists in the 60s and 70s but the 80s and 90s saw sex tourists seeking even more exotic/erotic men and women for consumption. This highlights the segmentation of tourism and sex tourism, which has occurred due to globalization and the occurrence of the three minute culture, previously mentioned – ‘as increasing numbers of travellers compete to consume these sex services, it renders the sexual landscapes less authentic, less real and ultimately less desirable (1999)
The nature of globalization: borderless boundaries, movement of people, capital etc. and the stretching of political, economic and social activities across political frontiers, regions and continents has had a significant impact on prostitution. While it may be known as the oldest profession in the world it has certainly benefited (whether it be positively or negatively) from the effects of globalization. The context and the way it is regulated defines prostitution. It can take place in a variety of ways e.g. street prostitution, indoor – parlour sauna, brothel, escorts – home/call/bar/hotel etc. O’Connell Davidson highlights the differences made when analysing prostitution: ‘we can note a distinction between independent, self-employed prostitutes and those who are controlled by a third party. So far as the latter group are concerned, we can further distinguish between those who are subject to what Truony terms ‘relations of confinement’ (wherein third parties use physical force and/or debt to prevent individuals from exiting prostitution, even in the event of an alternative means of subsisting becomes subject to ‘labour enterprise relations’ (which involve individuals who are in a formal sense, free to exit from prostitution and which take a form similar to direct or indirect ‘employment relations’ in other capitalist enterprises) (O’Connell Davidson, 2003). There are differing regulations around the world regarding prostitution: In Britain, prostitution is not illegal if the prostitute works independently without disturbing the public order. Men who are found buying sex several times in prostitution areas can be fined. It is a crime to advertise, run a brothel or recruit for prostitution, in the Netherlands, prostitution is legally defined as a profession and prostitutes join the Service Sector Union. They have been required to pay income tax since 1996. Brothels employ 30,000 people; Prostitution is illegal in the United States, except for Nevada, where 'cat houses' have been legal since 1970. There are up to 40 brothels and more than 300 licensed prostitutes and in Singapore working women have to carry a 'yellow card' proving they are registered and have recently undergone a twice-weekly health check. Some brothels provide voluntary benefits to keep the prostitutes working there (Smith, Thompson and Hinsliff, 2004).
Borderless boundaries mean that people can be moved across borders as easily as objects. This has resulted in the “trafficking” of women and girls to be used as prostitutes. An estimated 500,000 women and children, mainly from Eastern Europe, Africa, South America and Southeast Asia are trafficked to E.U. countries for sexual exploitation every year, according to the European Institute for Crime Prevention and Control. The International Organization of Migration claims that this business generates US$8 billion per year and attributes the soaring rate of trafficking to the increasing demand for prostitution in the E.U. the rise of organized crime in Eastern Europe especially, which capitalizes on the demand for prostitution in western Europe, and the desperation of trafficked women from poorer countries (CATW, 2004) The trafficking of individuals for prostitution internationally, has become much more organised, with criminal and business networks making serious profits from this practice. This “industrialisation” of sex work, particularly in the trafficking for prostitution sector, has meant that sex work has come to occupy a strategic and central position in the development of international capitalism. This has resulted in the “commodification” (a feature of globalization) of human beings. There are those however, that choose to become migrant sex workers. Some may start sex work while waiting for political asylum, others, nevertheless, analysed the options available to them in their own countries and decided to earn their living as migrant sex workers in Europe. The integrated global economy could be said to have forced these women to make these decisions. Central and Eastern European countries have suffered econimically due to the speeding up of change in the industrial and financial markets and the intensification of competition which are factors in the global economy. These economic problems saw a mushrooming of black economies and criminal activities: the pornography and drugs trade has grown and there has also been an estimated 10,000 young women exiting Bulgaria to work as prostitutes (Barret, 2000)
The technology involved in globalisation has played a big part in the global industry which pornography has become. ‘It is now a multi-billion-dollar industry, completely resilient to various efforts to eliminate it whether from traditionalists or feminists, and forcing ever more inventive means of regulation as the Internet provides an amazingly efficient means of distribution’ (Weeks, 2003) Currently, there is no law to deal with internet porn, existing laws regarding porn deal with international borders, the internet, however, knows no boundaries. McNair (2002) has termed this “the amazing expanding pornosphere” he argues that this expansion has been technology and demand led. The technology, which exists now, means that both the manufacturing and consumption of sexually explicit material are made easier for individuals. Internet pornography has made the biggest impact, ‘by 2001, online pornography was worth £366 million in profits, whilst US sites made an estimated $1 billion in revenues in 2001 with an expected rise in that figure to $5 billion in 2005 (2002). 70% of the £252 million EU citizens spent on the internet in 2001 went on porn sites whilst ‘Internet users worldwide spent an estimated £2 billion on online pornography in 2002, ranging from multi-million dollar enterprises in the US to 'amateur' operations in suburban Britain’ (Hammersley, 2002) These figures show that that internet has globalized the porn industry and as stated above, there is very little that states can do to stop the spread of it as it has ‘eroded the capacity of individual nation states to police the consumption of sexually explicit material by their citizens’ (McNair, 2002). Here in Britain: The Obscene Publications Act states that a publication 'shall be deemed to be obscene if its effect is such as to tend to deprave and corrupt persons who are likely, having regard to all relevant circumstances, to read, see or hear the matter contained or embodied in it’ Or For 95 per cent of online porn, the police say this is not the case (Hammersley, 2002). The existence of the Internet allows millions of users to ignore censorship as McNair states: it removes the geographical basis of community, making it global and virtual. With the disappearance of ‘community standards’ defined geography the legislation of obscenity becomes pointless (McNair, 2002). This is the problem globalized Internet porn pose for nation states as there is no such thing as the BBFC to certify pornographic sites.
This essay has analysed the impact of globalization on sex work and it can be concluded that globalization has had a major bearing on the sex industry and those who work within it. The post Fordist consumption and production that can be seen in the tourist industry has been mimicked in sex tourism, a segmented market, which is highly personalised and based on individual wants and needs, is enjoyed and consumed by sex tourists. A globalized economy and an inter-connected world has resulted in prostitution becoming more than the oldest profession in the world but also a highly organized and profitable section of the sex industry. The instantaneous and speedy nature of the Internet has resulted in porn becoming an industry, which makes more money than Hollywood. Sex work can be argued to be a negative or positive industry just as globalization can be argued to have a negative or positive impact on the world, whatever the result of the argument is, it is quite clear that these two arenas are highly dependant on each other.
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