ABOUT
CHILD SEX TOURISM
Comprehending Child Sex
Tourism
To many governments around the world,
international tourism provides an answer to economic growth and
development. As tourism begins to overtake traditional sources of
employment, children and young people are encouraged to migrate
to tourist areas, in hopes they can earn an income for themselves
and their families. The commercial sexual exploitation of
children parallels the growth of tourism in many parts of the
world. Tourism is not the cause of child sexual exploitation, but
it does provide easy access to vulnerable children. In some
instances, the marketing of certain destinations, particularly
within Asia, portrays an image of women and children who are
passive, submissive and exotic. These false images reinforce many
of the beliefs of sex tourists. Tourism also brings consumerism
to many parts of the world previously denied access to luxury
commodities and services. The lure of this easy money has caused
many young people, including children, to trade their bodies in
exchange for T-shirts, walkmans, bikes and even air tickets
out of the country. In other situations, children are trafficked
into the brothels on the margins of the tourist area and sold
into sexual slavery, very rarely earning the money to escape.
Profiles: Sex tourists may be solo
travelers or part of an arranged group. They may be Preferential
Abusers, who have clear and definite sexual preferences for
children or Situational Abusers, offenders who may
not have planned to have commercial child sex while abroad, but
took the opportunity when it presented itself. They use the
"why not" approach and might consider it a bit of
holiday "fun" not considering adolescents as children,
even though many of the bar girls and boys are under 16 years of
age. While the majority of child sex offenders are male, it is
also known that women are involved, and in some cases, male and
female offenders travel as a couple to avoid discovery. Child sex
tourist persuade themselves that in another country, normal
social and moral restraints can be discarded, along with the
belief that one will not be held responsible for his or her
behavior. It is within these circumstances that child sexual
exploitation thrives. The fact that most organized international
child sex abuse occurs in developing countries indicates that
child sex offenders exploit the economic hardships which many
families endure. Offenders prefer to believe that the children
they abuse are professional prostitutes, which allow the
perpetrators to feel exonerated or justified in their actions.
The fear of contracting AIDS through unprotected sex with older
prostitutes has increased the demand for virgins and young
children.
WHY IS THIS HAPPENING TO WOMEN AND CHILDREN?
SUPPLY
-
Devaluation of the girl child and
discriminatory practices
-
Perceived responsibility of women and
children to support families
-
Lack of educational, employment and
vocational opportunities
-
Fragmentation of families: death of
parent/s, husband, increases homeless women and children
-
Economic conditions, especially rural
poverty, fueled by economic development policies and the
erosion of agricultural sectors
-
Rural to urban migration and the growth of
urban industrial centers
-
Move from subsistence to cash based
economy and increased consumerism
-
Lack of laws and law enforcement
DEMAND
-
Criminal networks who organize the sex
industry and recruit the children
-
Law enforcement /governmental complicity
in the sex trade
-
Demands of foreign sex industries creating
international trade in girls and women
-
Fear of AIDS, leading customers to demand
younger girls
-
Early marriage and child marriage
-
Traditional and cultural practices,
including the demand for virgins, the cultural practice
of men patronizing prostitutes, inter-generational
patterns of girls entering prostitution
-
Employers using the debt-bond
(slavery)system, forced labor and child labor
-
Demand of sex tourists, pedophiles and the
migrant labor force
-
International promotion of the sex
industry through information technology
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FAQ
