Female Sex Tourism

Female sex tourism occurs when Western women travel to developing countries in order to gain sexual or romantic favors that are scarce or not available to them in their own country. Female sex tourism is often ignored due to the significantly lower rates in comparison to male sex tourism. Female sex tourism differs from male sex tourism, because of the different gender roles it encompasses. Female sex tourism strays away from the strictly physical aspect of the sex tour and diverges into different aspects of the relationship such as romance and intimacy between the female tourist and the sex worker

Female sex tourism occurs in diverse regions of the world. The demographics of these female sex tourists differ from tourist to tourist. Female sex tourist are usually classified as upper-middle to upper class women who comes from a developed Westernized country. These women will flock to underdeveloped countries such as; the Caribbean or Kenya, in search of romance or sexual outlets.

There are three different types of female sex tourists. First, there are the Traditional Sex Tourists, which are tourists that possess similar characteristics and motives as male sex tourists. An additional classification of female sex tourists is the Situational Sex Tourist, who do not intentionally put themselves in a sex tourist position, but find themselves involved in a sexual encounter with local men. Situational sex tourists may fall into the category of either being businesswomen, students, women in overseas conferences or other women who have different agendas that are non-sexual.

The last defined female sex tourist is given the title of the Romance Tourist. The romance tourist differs from the traditional sex tourist since their motives are completely different. Romance tourists plan to fulfill their excursions with romantic experiences that they cannot experience back in their native country. Within the realm of female sex tourism, male sex workers are vital for the satisfaction of these women, whether it is physically or emotionally. Without the employment of local sex workers, sex tourism for both men and women would not exist. Sex tourism is becoming a global phenomenon. With this movement of different populations to different countries, problems concerning health increase, especially ailments involving sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and HIV/AIDS. Women involved with sex tourism do not find themselves using barrier contraceptives during the majority of their visit, leaving them unprotected against STIs.