Migrant sex work
Because of their illegal and vulnerable economic status, some migrant sex workers may find themselves in situations where coercion and forced sex work may be present. Under international legal definitions of human trafficking, forced and coercive forms of sex work are considered to be instances of involuntary sex trafficking. However, many scholars caution against categorizing sex workers as either completely voluntary or completely involuntary. They often argue that sex work, like other forms of labor, can span a spectrum between the two extremes, with most circumstances falling in the middle through various labor rights violations. Nevertheless, the vulnerability of migrant sex workers can make them susceptible to exploitative or coercive labor practices that can resemble or be human trafficking.
Women in Vietnam
The main human rights issue in Southeast Asia is Human trafficking. According to one study, Southeast Asia is a large source of human trafficking, with many individuals who fall victim to human trafficking being sent to Australia. Vietnam, as well as other countries such as Cambodia, Laos, and the Philippines, are major source countries for human trafficking. Southeast Asian countries preference for boys over girls is further tipping the balance between the sexes in the region, already skewed by a strong bias for boys. The trend has led to increased trafficking of women. While many of the victims that are a part of human trafficking are forced/kidnapped/enslaved, others were lured in under the assumption that they were getting a better job. According to a policy brief on human trafficking in Southeast Asia, although victims include girls, women, boys, and men, the majority are women. Women tend to be more highly targeted by traffickers due to the fact that they are seeking opportunity in an area of the world where limited economic opportunities are available for them. Unskilled and poorly educated women are commonly led into human trafficking. According to the UNODC report, the numbers for women and men in forced labor may be skewed due to the fact that only a few countries released the numbers for adult men. However what is known is that women are trafficked the most. The main causes of human trafficking in Southeast Asia are universal factors such as poverty and globalization. Industrialization is arguably also another factor of human trafficking. Many scholars argue that industrialization of booming economies, like that of Thailand and Singapore, created a draw for poor migrants seeking upward mobility and individuals wanting to leave war torn countries.These migrants were an untapped resource in growing economies that had already exhausted the cheap labor from within its borders. A high supply of migrant workers seeking employment and high demand from an economy seeking cheap labor creates a perfect combination for human traffickers to thrive. The sex industry emerged in Southeast Asia in the mid 20th century as a way for women to generate more income for struggling migrants and locals trying to support families or themselves. Sex industries first catered to military personnel on leave from bases but as military installations began to recede the industry turned its attention to growing tourism. Even as the industry is looked down upon today there is still a large underground market that is demanding from traffickers.