Repensando o conceito de turismo sexual: para além da exploração sexual, do tráfico de pessoas e da prostituição feminina

This dissertation aims to broaden the understanding of sex tourism by analyzing academic works discussing this theme. A thorough bibliographical review and critical examination were done focusing on the different concepts of sex tourism found in academic literature. Initially, human sexuality was studied with the intent of establishing the specific factors which compose it, namely biological, psychological and sociocultural. Next, an examination of the activity female prostitution took place in order to understand multiple insights that may help explain it, such as historic, legal, moral, religious and socioeconomic aspects, as well as different feminist points of view on the subject. Subsequently, an investigation of the notion of tourism as a modern practice and its connections to pleasure-seeking of many types, including sexual, was conducted. While sex tourism is seen as an intersection of sexuality, tourism and prostitution, it demands a broader view that can encompass all aspects of this complex subject and not only its undisputed connection to sexual exploitation, human trafficking and prostitution. It was also observed that the stereotypical idea of the “white, heterosexual foreign male from developed nations” is not representative of all visitors looking for sexual relationships during their visits and that homosexual men and heterosexual females, for example, are in fact significantly inserted in the logic of sex tourism. The research concludes that even though it is not seen as a legitimate segment of tourism markets, sex tourism has been supported in some areas by tourism service providers and official tourism organizations. Lastly, a re-conceptualization of the term “sex tourism” was proposed, based on the several definitions studied in the course of this research.