Index IntroductionOverview of sex tourism in BrazilLiterature reviewCurrent responsesWhat can be doneConclusion“We say that slavery has disappeared from European civilization, but this is not true. Slavery still exists, but now it only concerns women and it is called prostitution." Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay IntroductionWhile the quote above may not be entirely accurate nor particularly contemporary, as prostitution also applies to men and children, it still makes an important point: prostitution can be a form of slavery if circumstances make it so. This is especially true for sex tourism target countries, as demand is high and there is little push to make political or social changes in the arena. Since sex tourism participants are unlikely to stick around, the social tendency of sex tourism is to satisfy the demand of foreign tourists with little regard for the implications for the host community, society and country. One case in particular that highlights this point is sex tourism which skyrocketed during the 2014 World Cup in Rio de Janeiro, and is expected to increase during the next Olympics in the same city. Sex tourism has long played a part in the tourism industry in Brazil, but sporting events in recent years have only seemingly served to expand this type of tourism in the city and surrounding areas. This article examines this thesis in the context of existing academic research on sex tourism in Brazil as a whole, its relevance to sporting events, and particular statistics showing the increase in sex tourism. As one of the biggest problems concerns sex tourism and child slavery, the document also highlights the importance of following up on this issue in the wake of the two major sporting events that Rio has hosted in recent years. After this overview, the paper moves on to an examination of what is currently being done regarding the issue from a law enforcement and policy perspective. Finally, the paper discusses what can be done about this problem, including both what has worked and what policies need to change. While certainly not an exhaustive account of sex tourism as a whole, nor of the ethical issues in tourism that Brazil faces, this article shows that the city of Rio faces a unique problem in tourism that needs to be addressed. Overview of Sex Tourism in BrazilRio de Janeiro, one of Brazil's largest cities, has been called “one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world,” not only for its urban beaches and lively music scene, but also for the sex (Kugel , 2009, np). The country – and Rio in particular – certainly has a worldwide reputation for being a hotspot for sex tourism in the city's many brothels. As one report states, “Every week, specialist tour operators take thousands of European singles on charter flights in search of cheap sex,” and Brazil is now even surpassing Thailand as one of the most popular sex tourism destinations in the world ( Rogers, 2010). , np). Not only that, but a 2010 BBC report stated that “young children meet a growing demand from foreign tourists traveling to Brazil for sex holidays” (Rogers, 2010, np). According to the news reports cited above, the demographics are quite simple: Tourists from the United States and Europe, along with the occasional Brazilian businessman, are taking advantage of the bustlingprostitution industry in the city. This has been happening for years, but only in recent years have connections been made with sports prostitution and child prostitution. For example, some news sources reported that the city was home to over 250,000 children and adolescents forced into prostitution and sexually exploited in the months preceding the 2014 World Cup (Blanchette & Silva, 2016, 3). Thus, the connection between sex tourism driven by sports and child prostitution is abundantly clear in the case of Rio de Janeiro. In this way, this article is not simply about sex tourism in Brazil. Instead, there are two main issues at play with respect to the overall topic: the way sporting events tend to stimulate sex tourism and the role that child prostitution has played in the case of Brazil in recent years. The discussion in relation to these two topics in particular is relevant to our class because they are not just about sex tourism, but about the ethics of tourism and international travel as a whole. Issues such as child prostitution and the sport-related sex industry tend to be put on the back burner, firstly because the host country is interested in keeping the tourism industry thriving and, secondly, because the countries of origin they have no particular interest in putting it into practice. a stop. While sex tourism is certainly controversial, and even more so is child sex tourism, the bigger controversy is that nothing is being done about it. This is why football matches and sporting events in Brazil are relevant to this class. Literature Review While the topic may usually be relegated to dim lights and side alleys, there is a large amount of literature regarding sex tourism as a whole, and also several publications that deal specifically with sex tourism and prostitution in Brazil. First, it is worth discussing the current body of academic research on sex tourism as a whole. The key to understanding sex tourism is understanding the role it plays in society. As one current class source states, “Sex tourism involves liminal people; that is, people who occupy spaces on the margins of society. Simply by existing, sex tourism denies and plays with concepts such as monogamy within marriages, reinforces notions of hedonism in its most basic form, and offers insights into exploitation based on attitudes towards women, child labor and homosexuality” (Ryan, 2001, 385). Clearly, sex tourism is not a topic to be taken lightly, as it interacts with many other aspects of society, politics and even culture. Beyond this, it is important to understand that sex tourism is not an isolated phenomenon, nor is it rare. As the scholar mentions above, there is a “strong historical relationship” between “tourism and the sex industry” (Ryan, 2001, 386). Far from being a modern adaptation of the sex industry, sex tourism began almost at the same time as the concept of vacation or holiday, in the years following the Industrial Revolution. Today, sex tourism is “a niche market of the global tourism industry” (Chow-White, 2006, 884). The prostitution and child sexual slavery observed today in Brazil and more specifically in Rio de Janeiro are simply a modern iteration of a historical process. It is also crucial to understand that sex tourism does not always result in direct, paid prostitution. Instead, there are several forms it can take. Ryan (2001) determines several ways in which sex tourism can be identified if placed along a continuum: first, “whether the relationship initiated was voluntary orexploitation. The second was whether it was commercial or noncommercial, and the third was whether the relationship confirmed or denied a sense of integrity or self-worth” (388). In this way, sex tourism can take many different forms, as has happened in Rio in recent years. This idea of ​​sex tourism is confirmed by another scholar, who states that in the context of heterosexual sex tourism in Fortalez, Brazil, “notions of sexuality, race, class, and gender create a complex discursive framework for sexual encounters that is crucial to understand the participation of local citizens". women from different social strata" (Piscitelli, 2015, 499). In other words, sex tourism includes both commodified sex and other types of sexual encounters. This article is primarily concerned with the commoditized variety, but it's worth noting that more casual encounters can be just as troubling. But what does the academic literature specifically have to say about sex tourism in Brazil and global sporting events? First, it is important to realize that there are few empirical and quantitative studies on the topic of sex trafficking in relation to sporting events, as one study notes (Finkel & Finkel, 2015, 17). As the study concludes, “Human trafficking for sexual exploitation is a hidden and highly visible problem on a global scale” (Finkel & Finkel, 2015, 17). However, more recent studies have taken up the topic again especially in light of the World Cup and the upcoming Olympics in Brazil. An interesting finding is that many of the efforts to “clean up the streets” of Rio before these major sporting events may have had a reverse impact. As Gregory Mitchell (2016) states, “By destroying safe and legal venues for sex work, [neoliberal agents, state forces, and nongovernmental organizations] have created the very exploitation they claim to prevent” (325). In other words, efforts to clean up Rio in the years and months leading up to the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Summer Olympics may have only pushed the sex industry, and child sexual exploitation in particular, to go even further underground . Another study confirms this, identifying sexual exploitation as one of the negative impacts that the World Cup has had on Brazil (Rodriguez et al., 2016, 1). Yet another source confirms this statement, stating that everything indicates that child sexual exploitation does indeed occur in Rio de Janeiro (Blanchette, 2016). In this way, the literature makes it clear that sex tourism in general is an important issue to address in Brazil. Not only that, but the literature also highlights how major global sporting events further worsen problems associated with sex tourism, particularly those related to child sexual exploitation. Now that this has been established, the paper can move on to examine what is currently being done on the issue in relation to these sporting events and child sexual exploitation, as well as what political, development, law enforcement and policy-related measures can be adopted for the future. Current Answers Fortunately, progress has been made to address the problem of sex tourism in Rio de Janeiro, particularly regarding the large influx of sex tourists around global sporting events in recent years and particularly child sexual exploitation. For example, in Rio de Janeiro and similar cities, cities that host global sporting events, “neoliberal agents, state forces and non-governmental organizations use discourses about feminism and human rights – particularly unfounded fears about a link between sex trafficking and sport – to implement…change.