Sri Lanka’s online sex industry surges as women, minors and tourists drawn into exploitation

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By Editor_1
-commons.wikimedia.org

COLOMBO – Sri Lanka is facing a sharp rise in online sex platforms, with dozens of websites and mobile applications openly advertising hundreds of sex services daily – many involving women as young as 18, and in some cases, underage children.

Police revealed that the trade, which has shifted from spas and brothels to encrypted messaging apps and live-streaming platforms, has flourished amid the country’s economic crisis. Escalating living costs and limited job opportunities have forced many women into the digital sex industry as a means of survival.

Investigators have also confirmed the involvement of foreign nationals on tourist visas, operating as escorts while holidaying on the island. Rates advertised online range from Rs 1,000 for 10-minute live video sessions to Rs 30,000 for in-person encounters.

Police say the shift to online platforms has complicated regulation and enforcement, with clients and providers using encrypted apps like WhatsApp and anonymous digital payments. Some operations have been linked to fraud, with victims paying for services that never materialize. Yet fear of stigma and exposure means few formal complaints are filed.

ASP F. U. Wootler, Police Spokesman, said the majority of advertisements involved women aged 18–27, but acknowledged that minors are also being exploited. “Intercourse with anyone under 18 is considered statutory rape under Sri Lankan law, carrying a maximum sentence of 20 years,” he stated.

This surge comes against the backdrop of Sri Lanka’s long history of sexual exploitation, particularly in the North-East. A leaked 2007 US embassy cable detailed how the paramilitary Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP), backed by the Sri Lankan government, operated child trafficking and prostitution rings, with bases as far as Delft Island. Children, it reported, were trafficked to India and Malaysia, while Tamil women in Jaffna were forced into sexual slavery for Sri Lankan soldiers, coerced to service between five and ten men a night.

Despite international concern, accountability has been absent. In 2021, police dismantled an online child sex racket that implicated local politicians and even a former Maldives minister. But impunity remains entrenched, and victims, particularly Tamils, are left without justice.

-TG

Editor_1
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