Policy silences and the formation of advocacy coalitions in East European sex tourism

The widening of the European Union and the emergence of budget airlines have brought a host of challenges to member states like Latvia. A result of the economic polarization and its disproportionate effect on women is the explosion of sex tourism. East European destinations such as Rīga have become more prevalent and accessible for sex tourists particularly from Western Europe. Despite this influx of sex tourists, the Latvian government has not formulated a policy response to manage sex tourism. Using the Advocacy Coalition Framework from the public policy literature, this article examines how coalitions formed around Latvian sex tourism, a women’s advocacy coalition and a business advocacy coalition despite a policy silence. I find that women’s coalitions are key players in the policy subsystem that share beliefs and coordinate activities related to the victimization of women, while the business coalition prioritized creating a positive image of Latvia and generating tourism revenue over trying to regulate the tourism industry. This case study also reveals how a policy subsystem tried to emerge, but when sex tourism dissipated, coalitions pivoted to other sexual regulatory policy areas dependent on their deep core and policy core beliefs.