The Cultural Acceptance Of Sex Trafficking And Child...

Steven Ragnauth 5/11/16 POL 266 Professor Judith Duncker Final Paper Chapter 13: Because She Looks Like a Child Kevin Bales’ Because She Looks Like a Child is an editorial piece that enlightens readers on a tragedy that has befallen the country of Thailand for decades, sex trafficking and child prostitution. Aside from the horrific realism of the stories portrayed throughout the piece, the cultural acceptance and evolution of the epidemic is truly frightening and eye opening. Furthermore, Bales explains how in time, sex trafficking and child prostitution has reached American soil in efforts to expand profits and the market for these young, child slaves. While many steps have been taken by the United Nations to help condemn slavery and†¦show more content†¦However, towards the northern mountains of Thailand, people aren’t as lucky to live in the luxuries their brothers and sisters do in the south of Thailand. The mountainous regions are home to harsh living conditions, where only a tenth of the land if fit for agriculture. The result is, those who control good land a re well off; those who live in the higher elevations are not. So, without being able to farm, or hunt, many families in the north have to look towards other sources of income. These other sources often result in the selling of a child, presumably a girl child. The choice to sell a daughter is a part of Thai culture; although it was not preferred, it was accepted as a valid means of survival. Many girls would be sold to the South Thailand as a belief that they would be working in service as housemaids or servers. Instead, many girls are being bought as sex workers. Families would be compensated and would be able to pay for foods, and survival for sometimes close to a year. So in hindsight, selling off one of your children to keep your family alive seems like a logical thing to do. That saying, â€Å"kill one, save a million,† applies here. The economic boom of 1977 to 1997 had a dramatic impact on Thailand’s northern villages. While the center of the country, Bangkok, was rapidly industrializing, the north fell behind. Due to a lack of income and resources, the north had to watch the