ILO REPORT ON CHILD LABOUR IN BARBADOS - International ...

How does this essential industry relate to child labour and the worst forms of child labour?
The reality is that there is ‘another side of paradise.’ Sex tourism is part of the global tourism
industry. Children are exposed through the Internet, and when tourists visit their country. The
majority come as legitimate visitors to relax and enjoy the culture. Some come explicitly for
sexual satisfaction, to fulfill erotic fantasies with local adults and paedophiles come for the
children.
Research on sex tourism includes a focus on children under 18 years which is the UN
definition of a child. This trend has been an area of concern for international agencies such as
the ILO, UNICEF and UNIFEM. Guyanese sociologist and gender specialist Kamala
Kempadoo in her edited volume, ‘Sun, Sex and Gold: Tourism and Sex work in the
Caribbean’ notes that “across the region, sex tourism or tourism-oriented prostitution has
become an increasingly important topic of research and discussion due to the growing
reliance of national governments on income generated by tourism and tourism-related
activities.” This publication brings together findings of a regional research project covering
several Caribbean countries that help to fill the information gap. Some studies examine the
involvement of children under 18 years. The Bahamas was not included.
What were the underlying motivations of these relationships and what are their origins?
One study on Barbados linked it to male-female relations. Press (1978) wrote of men as
‘hustlers’ –‘men who received material compensation for the social and sexual services they
render to women.’ He described the situation of young black men combing the beaches
around tourist resorts, offering companionship to visiting white female tourists for
sightseeing, to participate in water sports activity, or to enjoy the night entertainment spots.
Sex was invariably involved and the woman was expected to provide some monetary or other
benefits to the young man. A trip abroad was sometimes in the offering. 2 This could relate to
the Bahamas as indeed other Caribbean countries.
Kempadoo (1999) links sex work to the tourism industry as an opportunity to explore racial
fantasies and desires of clients who develop relationships with local sex workers. She reports
that sex tours arranged by travel agency or tour operators that deliberately promote sex as
part of the vacation package, had not surfaced in the Caribbean. Instead, beaches, bars casinos
and nightclubs within the tourist hotels, function as locations where tourists individually meet
sex workers.
Why has this industry mushroomed?
Mullings (1999) writing on ‘Globalization, Tourism and the International Sex Trade’ points to
several factors: expansion of this industry as a result of changes in technology since the
Second World War; development of jet aircraft; increasing leisure time and disposable
income; the expansion of mass-produced tourism services since the 1950s; the deregulation of
airline routes in the 1980s and 1990s and the increasing use of the Internet. She further notes
that with the growth of the Internet, sex tourism is just one part of a highly segmented and
flexible industry providing services such as sex shops, massage parlours, escort services,
2 See Kempadoo 1999, pp. 13-14.
2