Debt-bondage and trafficking: Don't believe the hype

Many people have been misled into thinking that trafficking are enormous problems for Australia and Southeast Asia. If all prostitution is violence against women, it seems that any migration of sex workers can become "trafficking", as in Coalition member Sheila Jeffreys' statement: "As men use women in sex tourism in different countries they then demand these women to be trafficked into their country". The women are described as fleeing the repressive regime and poverty in Burma, which contradicts the stated aim of "rescuing" the women and returning them home. Because the sex industry is not fully decriminalized and sex workers cannot obtain work visas freely, some of the terms and conditions of contracts are exploitative and working conditions may be poor. Sexual exploitation has taken on a life of its own, and everything is conveniently muddled by putting prostitution and pornography in same sentence as rape and incest.