User talk:Sally whataburger/sandbox

The Khmu

The Khmu are a minority group that reside mostly in isolated and mountainous areas in the Upper Mekong region in Laos. According to the National Statistics Center, they are the “2nd largest ethnic group right after the lowland Lao and make up more than 10% of the 6.2 million population (National Statistics Center 2005). They practice a subsistence agriculture (Insouvanh). They speak mostly speak Khmu, but some have learned go communicate in Lao as well. The Khmu are divided into eight patrilineal clans that are named after animals or plants (Wiley). There is a negative perception of Khmu people within Laos. They are sometimes “associations of servitude, laziness and backwardness” (Insouvanh).

The Khmu and Commercial Sex There is a significant amount of Khmu women in northern Laos, that are involved in the commercial sex business. Many of these women voluntary leaves their villages due to the very poor living conditions. They mostly move to border areas around Upper Mekong, where there is more sites of infrastructure and places of new developments. These new developments include bars, restaurants and casinos. “In addition to Chinese sex workers at both casinos, local commercial sex venues increasingly host itinerant laborers and gamblers. Meanwhile, as a nod to promised development assistance, Chinese casino managers promote ‘ethnic tourism’ by supporting beauty contests in neighboring villages” (Lyttleton). It is evident, these casinos that are making a lot of money and attract a lot of men. These casinos really push commercial sex by hosting beauty contest at their casinos. Many of the drink shops and restaurants in the Upper Mekong area have rooms for commercial sex activities. This indicates that commercial sex is becoming a part of the culture in this area and also becoming normalized. Before the transition of placing rooms in drink shops, guesthouses in nearby towns was where men would go to have sex with these women. Now, with the convenient of placing the rooms in the drinking houses, this is making much more revenue for the drink shops and also attracting more men. By placing the rooms in the drink shops this actually increases the safety and protection of the sex workers. Since many of the commercial sex workers are Khmu women, men use this as a vice to treat these women poorly. Many of these women are at risk, especially Khmu women for health threats (Lyttleton).