The sex trade in the Philippines

Yesterday, I watched a documentary on CBC Newsworld about the sex trade in the Philippines called "Selling Sex In Heaven".

--Newsworld background on this story
--documentary link

It mainly followed a young teen called Mila. She got into the trade, as her family, which consisted of 10 siblings, were poor. She was sending most of her earnings to them. Predictably, by the end of the film, it was reported that she had moved back to her family, having contracted HIV.

One really sad point was that her whole life revolved around the hope that one day she would be "rescued" by a foreigner and taken to America. I suppose it could happen the odd time that a visiting tourist marries one of these young women, but some of them are definitely younger than the age of consent, as defined by our culture, and I'm sure such a marriage wouldn't be recognized.

These women (girls really) are so exploited, because they are desperate for jobs to make money. As the fact sheet mentions below, many have been tricked into believing that they are getting jobs in factories and restaurants.

--fact sheet about the sex trade in the Philippines

Then, there's the government that seems to have complicit relationship with the "tourism sex trade" there. Officially prostitution doesn't exist. As a matter of fact:

I've never heard of anything so ridiculous in my life. It's a death sentence for many of these females. There is no money for medical help once they've contracted the disease, but they forbid protection that may help prevent it. It was stated in the film that there will soon be an HIV epidemic on a huge scale.

Finally, the Catholic Church has their part to play in this disaster. Of course large families are encouraged and the government's stance on no condom use stems from the church's role within the country. There is staggering poverty. Many of the poor people will die a slow, agonizing death.

No doubt many of the male tourists that visit the Philippines and are involved with the prostitutes are bringing the HIV virus home with them. What I don't understand is why they'd be willing to take such terrible risks. The "medical exams", that was mentioned in the documentary, that are given the women are really quite illusory. They're just given a quick swab and test only for venereal diseases. HIV is never tested for!

All in all this was quite an eye-opener for me.