Resentment against sex tourists
[quote=perkele]i think you're a bit out of target on this statement. there is no anti-tourist sentiment in rio, never was and never will be. the thing that they are resenting is sexual tourism.[/quote]
not entirely true. officially, the authorities are proclaiming to combat child sex tourism, i.e. the travel of tourists specifically for the purpose of having sex with minors, which is highly illegal. but like in so many other cases, of course, people conveniently fail to differentiate between regular mongers who have p4p sex with adults (nothing illegal about that) and the child sex tourists (who are criminals and should be treated as such). just look at the boat bust incident this past june and how it was covered in the press. allegations of drugs, of minors, which were covered quite a bit worldwide. all allegations which ultimately turned out to be incorrect. did you hear a lot about that in the press? no, you didn't. so despite what really happened, the impression remained the same: these are the sex tourists that come to brazil.
the fact is, as public opinion in western countries is increasingly shifting against mongering and sexual tourism as such (whether illegal or not), and laws are passed accordingly, third-world countries like brazil are coming under more and more pressure to do something about it. and since western governments are ready to put their dollars where their mouth is, countries like brazil also handily profit from that. but of course, the semiliberal public still wouldn't care all that much unless this wasn't being touted as a crusade on behalf of the "poor children being exploited by perverted western tourists".
who gains from that?
- the brazilian government - by getting money to combat sex tourism, free press coverage abroad, and coming off as getting tough on child tourists. great and free advertising (and political benefits, of course).
- the different organizations working on stopping prostitution - by getting funding for their different programs, as has been correctly pointed out by macu, btw.
- the media - because a story like "28 american sex tourists busted" is just so much more of a seller than "americans arrested for visa violations". so who cares about the truth here?
and of course, with so many winners, there has to be a loser. a villain, that's what's needed. and who would that be? all of us mongers, who are being portrayed by a lot of people as vicious drug addicted perverts corrupting innocent children abroad. in brazil, in the states, everywhere, and it's just getting worse. and whether what we do is actually legal or illegal doesn't really matter all that much to whose out there who just think that mongering and p4p are the worst sins under the sun.
that's the game being played here.
in that respect, i have to give macu credit, and i have to agree with bangu. macu is one of the few people researching prostitution that is not conducting his research for the specific purpose of curbing or denying us our rights, based on what he's posted here. to see that may take going beyond the recent discussion in the rio 2005 reports section, but it's here, too. he might be caustic, he might be confrontational, even demeaning, and he might be antagonistic at times. but at least, he doesn't have a hidden agenda.
i just say, let's be fair.
but in rio, is there resentment against legal sex tourism? in the hotels, in the cafes, in the termas, in the love motels? of course not. in the hotel where i stayed this year and last year, at the reception desk, there was this huge poster advising of the illegality of **** sex. at the same time, was it any problem taking a girl to the room, of course after properly documenting her and verifying her age? no, it wasn't. so i feel safe to say that while the brazilian governement, authorities and the press might be inclined to create a stir sometimes, it's mostly to show off, and life just goes on as usual in rio de janeiro. the way it should.
i'd be more concerned about our western governments, though.
i am just sorry that nobody, really nobody, is doing anything about real child molesters. whether brazilian or child sex tourists, p4p or not.