E. Misuse of IMBs
Some IMBs are connected to commercial sex trafficking operations, pornography, prostitution, or domestic servitude. This connection is one of the reasons that Congress feared for the abusive potential of relationships formed through IMBs and thus chose to regulate them through IMBRA.
Men sometimes spend thousands of dollars to obtain a wife through an IMB. Because the men use money and power to secure their brides, the image of . . . wife-as-prostitute is inevitable, especially when the men themselves declare, it was cheaper to get an Asian wife than to get an Australian prostitute. Sex tourism, prostitution, and IMBs are interconnected forms of sexual exploitation, where women are for purchase. Men's expectations of servitude are easily camouflaged as traditional family values which posit the wife as a mother, caregiver, and homemaker, without a career of her own. This poses a real problem for potential abuse and violence in the relationship, especially if the expectations of the male consumers are not met.
