The Honolulu Star Advertiser reports “Prostitution expected to surge for APEC”:
“When big events come to town, the number of prostitutes increases on the street, and APEC is a big event,” said Ben Rafter, president and chief executive of Aqua Hotels & Resorts, operator of Aqua Waikiki Wave.
APEC Leaders’ Week — Nov. 7 to 13 — will bring about 20,000 attendees, including President Barack Obama, other heads of state from APEC’s 21 countries, ministers, political staff, business leaders and media.
The Pro Bowl, military exercises and the Asian Development Bank meeting in 2001 all drew more prostitutes to Waikiki, said Bob Finley, who has been a Waikiki resident since the 1970s and is chairman of the Waikiki Neighborhood Board.
As usual, the government and business response is to beef up security and police to target the women, most of whom are trafficked to Hawai’i to meet the demand from the large influx of transient male populations such as tourists, conventioneers and the military. Why do they not identify the ‘johns’ as the problem? Kaleo Keolanui, president of the Hawaii Hotel & Visitor Industry Security Association even framed it as if the women were the predators:
“We have travelers from all over the world mixed with our military population, which makes for an ideal prey for the prostitutes,” Keolanui said. “Why? Because they have money, and they’re here for a very short period of time. It’s a huge concern.”
The link between military populations and prostitution is plain knowledge. However, whenever the military proposes to expand in Hawai’i and are asked to study the impact on prostitution and sex crimes, the environmental impact statements are always silent.
It’s ironic that the corporate and government elites are worrying about prostitution with APEC. When whole industries have been developed in ways to pimp Hawai’i to the outsider such as corporate tourism and the military, prostitution will be part of the mix. APEC is itself a grotesque example of Hawai’i being prostituted to cater to the desires of the international conference industry. Maybe it’s time to rethink the ways that Hawai’i is always forced to ‘turn tricks’ for others.
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