Korean Journal of Policy Studies

Graduate School of Public Administration, Seoul National University

Korean J. Policy Stud. 2011; 26(3):13-36

pISSN: 1225-5017, eISSN: 2765-2807

Article

The Koreanization of the Australian Sex Industry: A Policy and Legislative Challenge

Caroline Norma¹

¹Caroline Norma is a lecturer in the School of Global Studies, Social Science and Planning at RMIT University. GPO Box 2476 Melbourne VIC 3001 Australia caroline.norma@rmit.edu.au. I thank three KJPS reviewers for their incisive and comprehensive feedback on an earlier draft. I also thank Yunmi Lee and the Salim Center for hosting me in Korea in September 2011, and Youngsook Cho and Kim Na Youn at the Center for Women’s Human Rights for allowing me to be an intern for six months in 2008. I am also grateful to Professor Chung Yong Wook at Seoul National University for sponsoring my research and residence during this period.

Â© Copyright 2011 Graduate School of Public Administration, Seoul National University. This is an Open-Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Received: Sep 17, 2011; Revised: Oct 14, 2011; Revised: Oct 25, 2011; Accepted: Nov 29, 2011

Published Online: Dec 31, 2011

Abstract

South Korea enacted legislation in 2004 that penalizes pimps, traffickers, and sex industry customers while decriminalizing people in prostitution and offering assistance to leave the sex industry. In contrast, Australia legally recognizes most sex industry activities. This article argues that Australia’s laissezfaire approach to the sex industry hampers South Korean government efforts to prevent the crime of sex trafficking. Since 2004, pimps and traffickers have moved their activities from South Korea to countries like Australia and the US that maintain relatively hospitable operating environments for the sex industry. The Australian government should reconsider its approach to prostitution on the basis of its diplomatic obligations to countries like South Korea and the need to uphold the human rights of women in Asia who are being trafficked and murdered as a result of sexual demand emanating from Australia. Australia should coordinate its policy on prostitution with South Korea to strengthen the region’s transnational anti-trafficking response.

Keywords: prostitution; trafficking; South Korea; Australia; policy; legislation; feminism