China's One Child Policy and Male Surplus as a Source of Demand for Sex Trafficking to China

摘要

The Chinese government cites the country's controversial One Child Policy as a key factor in China's economic rise over the last few decades. Lower birth rates, they argue, correlate to more rapid development. However, in a society with a deeply-rooted preference for sons, the policy has caused an unforeseen uptake in female infanticide and feticide, translating to a drastic imbalance in sex ratios in Chinese demography, particularly among under-20 Chinese. With some 40 million men unable to find wives by 2020, China faces an unprecedented demographic problem. One of the most devastating effects of the One Child Policy and sex ratio imbalance is a sharp uptake in demand for sex trafficking to China, particularly forced prostitution and trafficking for marriage. More sex trafficking in China may spell disaster not only for hundreds of thousands of women and girls trafficked for sex, but also for Chinese society at large--sex trafficking accelerates the spread of HIV and compromises national security as borders become more porous and organized crime becomes more ubiquitous. The Chinese government, the US government, inter-governmental organizations like the UN and ASEAN, and non-governmental organizations each have specific roles to play in curbing the flow of sex trafficking in China.