Bill signed into law to end "sex tours"

May 20, 2004

Honolulu - Any travel agent in Hawaii convicted of offering, booking or selling a "sex tour" faces up to five years in prison under a bill signed into law Wednesday by Lieutenant Governor James "Duke" Aiona.

The bill was prompted by a complaint two years ago to state officials by Equality Now, a women's rights organization that said a Honolulu travel agency had placed advertisements on a Web site that offered sex tours to Thailand.

In passing the bill, lawmakers say they wanted to curb and discourage any Hawaii role in the estimated one billion dollar annual global sex tourism industry.

The new law says prostitution and related activities, which are inherently harmful and dehumanizing, contribute to the trafficking in persons, as does sex tourism.

Equality Now's complaint with Hawaii's Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs was against Melvin Hamaguchi, owner of Video Travel, which at the time had a Web site offering the tours to Thailand.

Aside from the criminal penalty, the new law equips state officials with the authority to strip travel agents of their registration if they promote sex tourism.

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