Thailand passed its Prevention and Suppression of Prositution Act in 1996, but clearly (based on the information I gathered in my interview with "Sally Joe" and Mark's article) enough is not being done to curtail underage prostitution. The focus of my report will be on the underage component to this human rights issue. I respect the opinions articulated by Thai organizations such as the Empower Foundation, but it is impossible to determine how many of the thousands of prostitutes working in and around Bangkok are underage and children are afforded special protections and attention by UNICEF's Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Conclusions and Recommendations
- Appeals to the private sector: Encourage businesses to sign the ECPAT, UNICEF, and World Tourism Organization supported Code of Conduct. Expose Thai businesses that cater to "sex tourism" to what is happening in their country. Accor, a major hotel group in Thailand, made positive steps back in 2003 and continues to do so. Accor can be used as a business model to reference as we seek cooperation within the Thai business community. Surely Accor's profit statistics can show that the cost of such programs are inconsequential to the businesses' "bottom-line" and that businesses should exercise their unique position to promote education about this issue.
- Support ECPAT's 2008 World Congress against the commercial sexual exploitation of children.
- Appeals to the international media: The BBC and others should be reporting more stories like this one. The more that is done to expose the "johns", the more will be done to dispell the belief that such behavior is somehow acceptable on foreign soil. I agree that this is a controversial stand to take because no hard data has proven the effectiveness of such "public humiliation" tactics (like the program in Chicago); however, press coverage gives wider exposure to Thailand's issues that it may serve to embolden internal movements to legislate changes.
- Appeals to U.S. law-makers: How much is being done in our own country to curtail the sex trade from Thailand? It is true that violators are currently being prosecuted at the federal level, but are enough resources being allocated to battle this human rights crisis? North Carolina State Representative Ellie Kinnaird passed a Human Trafficking Victims Protection bill this year. I'm proud to know that my home state is marshalling local attention to this cause and taking a stand on this global issue.
(music by Sigur Ros)
