ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the intersection of AIDS and the trafficking of women into prostitution by analyzing the case of Burmese women in the Thai sex industry. It describes the forces driving the trafficking of women across the Thai-Burmese border. The chapter examines the conditions and experiences of these women. It discusses the linkage between AIDS and the trafficking of Burmese women into Thailand. The Thai sex industry also drives the trafficking of women and girls from other countries and remote villages. The dire political and economic situation in Burma, coupled with the flourishing Thai sex industry, propels the trafficking of Burmese women and girls into forced prostitution. Vulnerability to HIV/AIDS may be aggravated by the women's loss of dignity and low self-esteem. The HIV/AIDS pandemic has given a new urgency to the problem of trafficking women and girls into prostitution.
