Is Sex the Problem?

By Ting Chen
As always, the Economic and Social Council (ECOSC) is on fire. With the question of sex tourism charging the air, delegates continue the heated debate of how to protect the poor children of the world from sexual exploitation. Laws in several countries have legalized sex tourism, also known as “traveling for the purpose of sexual intercourse.” Not only do these laws imply that there is nothing morally wrong with the sexual exploitation of children, but their economies also rely on these perverted practices to improve their GNP. As one delegate put it, “The morning is not the beginning of a whole new happy day for the children; it is the beginning of sexual torture.”The conference on sex tourism took off with the resolution of the Delegate of Bolivia, the main submitter. “The resolution dealt with multiple aspects simultaneously to alleviate the trauma that sexually exported children may receive,” he said. The resolution clauses provide aids and strategies to protect children from being exploited for sex tourism. Emphasizing the importance of education, which can solve the problems of poverty and unemployment, the resolution won many supporters. “We believe children should go to school instead of relying on the money on the [sex tourism],” stated Jennifer Ching, the delegate of Mexico.Of course, when there is agreement, objections also exist. Although the resolution provides a broad view of the improvements to change the status quo, it does not give detailed steps on how to stop sexual intercourse with children. “This resolution focuses on providing children with aid in isolation,” emphasized Katie Fuller, the delegate of UMIFEM. “For this resolution to result in any actual change, specific incentives and alternatives must be given to the families and nations.” She points out that the induction of children into prostitution is a longstanding tradition in some countries and that in order to stop these practices, clear steps to a life-style change need to be planned. The Delegates of Brazil, Megan Cooper and Heather Banerd, also expressed their dissatisfaction. “[The resolution] is well-intentioned, but good intentions are not enough to pass this resolution. As the delegate of the UK is saying now, it tries to cover way too many topics at once. It is way too vague and unspecific on an issue. Thus, it is not good enough for Brazil to support.” After one and a half hours of debate, a majority of delegates passed the resolution. “The debate was quite dead, but reasonable,” responded William Cha, the delegate of Bolivia, “I enjoyed it a lot.” Fuller, on the other hand, replied, “I was disappointed this resolution passed. I think it was naïve.” Although the opinions of the delegates are polarized on the resolution, these hardworking participants are striving to understand sex tourism fully to make a better tomorrow for poor children who are the victims exploited by sex tourism.