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Why is illegal sex trafficking in Cuba so often banned? | Earth Knowledge Bureau

author:Bureau of Earth Knowledge
Why is illegal sex trafficking in Cuba so often banned? | Earth Knowledge Bureau

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NO.2450 - Illegal sex trafficking in Cuba

Text: Generalissimo Huo

Proofreader: Asaka / Editor: Tuna

The Caribbean nation of Cuba is the darling of tourism in the world today. In addition to the famous Havana cigars, many beaches also attract old irons from all over the world.

Havana's scenic beaches are fascinating

(Source: TripAdvisor)

Why is illegal sex trafficking in Cuba so often banned? | Earth Knowledge Bureau

But as the country opens up and tourism booms, something shady is also breeding in the shadowy corners of society. In addition to the long-standing drug and smuggling epidemic in Latin America, illegal sex trafficking has also been repeatedly banned, and many new tricks have been developed.

The hardest hit area is certainly not the capital Havana. The history of this phenomenon is even more long.

Colonial disasters

As the exploration of the New World progressed, various "orphan" regions of the Americas were constantly discovered by Europeans, and Cuba was no exception.

The entire American continent seemed to be dotted with optional colonies

But the only one that was profitable in the early days was the Caribbean ▼

Why is illegal sex trafficking in Cuba so often banned? | Earth Knowledge Bureau

In the early days of Cuba colonized by Europe, the rulers were the Spanish royal family. Guided by the Spaniards, Havana became a berthing point in the Americas for European ships crossing the Atlantic from the late sixteenth century, and port services expanded rapidly, becoming a star maritime hub in the Caribbean.

(landscape view)▼

Why is illegal sex trafficking in Cuba so often banned? | Earth Knowledge Bureau

The port mainly serves ships, which means that it serves a large number of single men who follow ships for long distances. After months of Atlantic sailing, their physiological needs could not be met on board, and they had to have fun in the local area. As a result, local special industries quietly developed, and Havana's special industries entered the historical stage.

The sailor's pastime is nothing more than a few

Catalyzed by alcohol, hot dancing and island girls, nature wants to indulge

(Photo: Shutterstock)

Why is illegal sex trafficking in Cuba so often banned? | Earth Knowledge Bureau

This may not be a bad thing for women in special occupations. In the mid-nineteenth century, slavery in Cuba was not abolished, but according to the laws of the Spanish colonial government, slaves had the right to redeem their freedom when they had saved enough money. Being able to engage in sex trafficking in Havana gives you the opportunity to raise funds for redemption.

Male slaves had to toil

I don't know when I'll be able to save enough money to redeem myself

(Photo: Modernghana)

Why is illegal sex trafficking in Cuba so often banned? | Earth Knowledge Bureau

In 1886, affected by the abolition of slavery in Cuba and the Cuban Decade War and subsequent minor wars, a large number of Afro-Cubans migrated to Havana in search of housing and employment, and municipal administration was in chaos.

Under strong suppression by the Spanish government

Although the war ended temporarily, post-war governance became more difficult

(Photo: Cubahora) ▼

Why is illegal sex trafficking in Cuba so often banned? | Earth Knowledge Bureau

In order to facilitate the management of the population, Havana held public town hall meetings to conduct censuses and occupational surveys, particularly with a view to finding out how many people were illegally engaged in sex trafficking in the city. To evade scrutiny, Havana's ladies used pseudonyms to disguise their identities and advertise themselves as people with job skills.

But citizens are well aware that the underground sex trade still exists and are very concerned about the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. Although the Spanish colonial government failed to confirm the volume and scale of the underground sex trade, it nevertheless began to regulate prostitution.

Desires and needs do not disappear, they just become more hidden

(Photo: OneImage) ▼

Why is illegal sex trafficking in Cuba so often banned? | Earth Knowledge Bureau

That didn't last long, though. After the Spanish-American War, Cuba came under the de facto control of the United States. Under the loose colonial regime of the United States, selling sex became a legal commercial practice, and 200 registered brothels sprang up in Havana. These brothels are connected to the commercial red-light district, which also gives birth to the power structure of the snake in the cracks of public power, which the US government ignores.

Rather, it has become even bigger with the tacit consent of the US government

(Photo: OneImage) ▼

Why is illegal sex trafficking in Cuba so often banned? | Earth Knowledge Bureau

The days after "independence"

In 1902, Cuba gained nominal independence and nominal legislative autonomy. Prostitution is legal under the laws of independent Cuba. The President explained that regulated prostitution was not contrary to the free spirit of the State. Since then, Cuba's sex industry has flourished.

During the occupation, United States companies had infiltrated all walks of life in Cuba

Unequal treaties are even enshrined in Cuba's constitution

Independent Cuba remains de facto the backyard of the United States

(Photo: OneImage) ▼

Why is illegal sex trafficking in Cuba so often banned? | Earth Knowledge Bureau

Due to the rapid development of the sex industry, in the first half of the 20th century, Havana received the "elegant name" of "Caribbean brothel". Especially in the 1920s, the Cuban sex industry flourished, and the number of prostitutes in Havana increased from about 4,000 in 1912 to about 7,400 in 1931.

This is a country where American men don't want to leave when they come

(Stills: Karatotsov - "I Am Cuba") ▼

Why is illegal sex trafficking in Cuba so often banned? | Earth Knowledge Bureau

The overdeveloped sex industry no longer had the spirit of freedom that early presidents wanted to see, and outside of legal brothels, sex tourism became a Havana city specialty that visitors wanted to taste. American men go to Havana on weekends, making tourism the country's second-largest foreign exchange earner. The U.S. military at the Guantánamo Naval Base was the first to get the moon near the water, and there was a scandal about keeping prostitutes at the base.

First salute and then soldier, if you don't move, then you can only come tough

(Stills: Karatotsov - "I Am Cuba") ▼

Why is illegal sex trafficking in Cuba so often banned? | Earth Knowledge Bureau

Descriptions of brothels often appear in various travel guides, and even spread their fame to Europe and Asia, opening up the global market.

That's what attracts a group of people

(Stills: Karatotsov - "I Am Cuba") ▼

Why is illegal sex trafficking in Cuba so often banned? | Earth Knowledge Bureau

The prostitutes of the past, either standing at doors, wandering the streets or luring through windows, stood on the streets in various ways to solicit customers, seriously affecting Cuba's international image. Officials and police are also enjoying it, opening the door to sex tourism and accepting money and sexual bribes. Over time, the investment environment in other industries has also continued to deteriorate.

Buy your body, but also your soul

Anyway, you have already taken the money

(Stills: Karatotsov - "I Am Cuba") ▼

Why is illegal sex trafficking in Cuba so often banned? | Earth Knowledge Bureau

This continued until the late 1950s. At that time, about 270 brothels operated in Havana, and more than 11,500 women worked in the profession. In order to maintain order in shady places such as brothels, casinos, and nightclubs, more and more American criminal organizations have come here, replacing the role of regular police.

When it comes to Cuba's most famous gangster character, it must be the protagonist of "Scarface"

But that was the reverse export of Cubans to the United States as a mafia

(Photo: OneImage) ▼

Why is illegal sex trafficking in Cuba so often banned? | Earth Knowledge Bureau

It's not hard to guess why Cuban sex workers are popular.

Most of them are black or mixed-race, while they mainly serve white men, who find exotic places, especially popular with cultural celebrities such as white writers, artists, and poets.

Teachers often come in droves

(Stills: Karatotsov - "I Am Cuba") ▼

Why is illegal sex trafficking in Cuba so often banned? | Earth Knowledge Bureau

The choice after the revolution

In 1959, after the Cuban Revolution, the new government regarded prostitution as a phenomenon of corruption and a victim of foreign capitalism, and at the same time regarded prostitution itself as a "social disease" that was a product of Cuban pre-revolutionary capitalist culture.

The new era promised you no more oppression, no more slavery

(Stills: Karatotsov - "I Am Cuba") ▼

Why is illegal sex trafficking in Cuba so often banned? | Earth Knowledge Bureau

Castro went on to take a series of steps to stop the continued expansion of prostitution. Interestingly, prostitution is still not illegal in olive-green Cuba.

It was only in 1961 that pimping was recognized by the authorities as an illegal activity. The Government, with the assistance of the Federation of Cuban Women, has also tried to curb it by establishing medical clinics for health examinations and designing re-education and rehabilitation programmes for former prostitutes and pimps.

The Federation of Cuban Women has made great efforts in this matter

They also try to help women who have lost their feet to complete their re-employment

(Photo: wiki) ▼

Why is illegal sex trafficking in Cuba so often banned? | Earth Knowledge Bureau

Also that year, Cuban authorities conducted a census of the sex industry, identifying 150,000 prostitutes and 3,000 pimps. The troops marched into the capital's red-light district, rounded up hundreds of women and pimps, took photos and fingerprinted them, and demanded medical examinations. It was through the use of military means that prostitution was officially outlawed in Cuba.

Such a tough and drastic reform

It was related to the domestic and foreign political environment in Cuba at that time

(Photo: Shutterstock)

Why is illegal sex trafficking in Cuba so often banned? | Earth Knowledge Bureau

But it is not an easy task to become a good person, and women who have not learned other skills in their past lives and are accustomed to making quick money in the wind and moon field are still trading sex with upper-class people in exchange for better living materials.

In the 1970s, for example, the Castro government identified women who were engaged in prostitution in Havana hotels in exchange for high-end consumer goods. In order to stop this phenomenon, the military has been used many times, greatly suppressing the arrogance of illegal sex trafficking.

Go to the Havana Club more often to buy Havana Club wine

(Photo: OneImage) ▼

Why is illegal sex trafficking in Cuba so often banned? | Earth Knowledge Bureau

However, after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 90s, Cuba could no longer obtain the same large number of economic and trade sources as the ancient Soviet Union, and its economy collapsed. In such difficult times, the Government could no longer restrict the re-injection of elements of the market economy into Cuba, and the same vicious trade practices revived and prostitution re-emerged.

As a member of the Soviet Economic Mutual Association, he lost the Soviet Union's window for trading materials

Castro knew that Cuba could not be self-sufficient and could only open its markets

(Photo: Shutterstock)

Why is illegal sex trafficking in Cuba so often banned? | Earth Knowledge Bureau

Like the slave girls who saved money to redeem themselves, some Cuban women in the 90s used illegal sex trafficking as a means of obtaining hard currency in dollars and ensuring living standards, while college-educated, English-speaking women could give up white-collar jobs to work or work part-time in the sex tourism industry to serve Europeans and Americans in order to earn dollars.

Women who lacked language skills began to operate sex tourism models similar to those in Southeast Asia to prostitute tourists, and illegal sex trafficking gradually began in tourist areas.

The police generally tolerate its existence due to economic constraints, as it can also generate income for the state and public officials. Some of these illegal sex traders have turned around and eventually improved their lives through marriage and immigration.

It's like a reappearance of what it once was

Hallucinations tempt you to forget harsh realities

(Stills: Karatotsov - "I Am Cuba") ▼

Why is illegal sex trafficking in Cuba so often banned? | Earth Knowledge Bureau

In 1995, the worst period for the Cuban economy and the most rampant year for the illegal sex trade. In the United States, Cuba has earned the title of "Caribbean Thailand".

However, unlike the sex trade in Southeast Asia involving drugs, human trafficking, and poverty survival, Cuban sex workers at this stage rarely work in oppressive conditions, but more out of voluntary choice for the pursuit of a prosperous and prosperous life, not only no formal brothel, but even few pimps.

Many of the trucks that once blatantly printed advertisements for spring have been abandoned

(Photo: OneImage) ▼

Why is illegal sex trafficking in Cuba so often banned? | Earth Knowledge Bureau

In addition, because of social management and advocacy, as well as the relatively conservative sexual outlook of Cubans, the incidence of AIDS is extremely low, despite the prevalence of prostitution in the country. This has become an advantage, and many foreign men come to look for sex trafficking that is much safer than in Southeast Asia.

But illegal sex trafficking is still illegal after all, and morally dishonorable. Cuban literature has long been keen to discuss and criticize sex workers, and in public opinion, these women are often portrayed as greedy and lazy.

After all, for other diligent workers

Lying down and earning money is really not called diligence

(Photo: OneImage) ▼

Why is illegal sex trafficking in Cuba so often banned? | Earth Knowledge Bureau

The authorities could not sit still under this wave of corrupt attacks, and the government introduced a policy in 1998 to try to restrict prostitution, which continues to this day.

With little initial effect, in Havana in 2004, after sunset in important tourist hotels and certain disco bars, or along some highways, women can still be seen wearing light clothes, offering or inviting tourists to nightclubs. There, they can make more secure cash transactions.

By 2007, the illegal sex trade in Cuba had been greatly reduced and street women were no longer publicly visible in tourist areas. This is also a phased victory for the Cuban government.

The Cuban police patrol regularly, and it is good if social order is not good

(Photo: OneImage) ▼

Why is illegal sex trafficking in Cuba so often banned? | Earth Knowledge Bureau

But in the age of the Internet, they have appeared in another new form...

Resources:

http://www.ascecuba.org/asce_proceedings/prostitution-and-sex-tourism-in-cuba/

https://web.archive.org/web/20170703181217/https://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/countries/2017/271173.htm

https://thedisorderofthings.com/2013/02/07/love-sex-money-and-meaning/#more-6999

https://www.thestar.com/news/immigration/2013/02/07/marriage_to_cuban_leaves_brampton_bride_brokenhearted_and_broke.html

https://www.roughguides.com/destinations/central-america-and-the-caribbean/cuba/travel-essentials/jineterismo-escort-industry/

https://www.dw.com/en/why-prostitution-is-a-powerful-metaphor-in-cuban-film/a-36304090

*The content of this article is provided by the author and does not represent the position of the Earth Knowledge Bureau

Cover: OneImage.com

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