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Child
Prostitution The Commercial Sexual
Exploitation of Children Resources
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Background
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The early years of the 21st Century gvnet.com/childprostitution/ CAUTION: There
is always a risk in posting links to external websites. Some of the following links may possibly
lead to websites that present information that is unsubstantiated, misleading
or even false. Their authenticity has
not been verified and their content has not been validated. Prostitution and AIDS The American Chronicle, November 04, 2006 www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/15980 [accessed 23 August 2011] AIDS coverage in the media pays
little or no attention to the prostituted women, girls, and children who
suffer greatly from this disease’s impact. Frontline’s two-part series, The
Age of AIDS (May 2006), is a good example. The show’s point of view is
relentlessly male, even though one of the co-producers and writers is a
woman, Renata Simone. The show praises “the condom king” of Thailand for
slowing the spread of AIDS, but fails to note that the policy of putting 100
condoms by every brothel bed continues to enslave women, girls, and children
in that country’s multi-billion-dollar sex industry. Child sex tourism Barbara Kralis, RenewAmerica, July 21, 2006 www.renewamerica.com/columns/kralis/060722 [accessed 23 August 2011] Child Sex Tourism [CST] entails tourists,
mostly men, engaged in sex trafficking by purposely traveling to known sex
destinations, seeking anonymity in pornography or prostitution, or engaging
in pederasty with young children and homosexuality with young and older
adults. Poverty Enables Child Sex Exploitation Forbes, August 17, 2006 povertynewsblog.blogspot.com/2006/08/asia-poverty-enables-child-sex.html [accessed 23 August 2011] In countries such as Traffic stop Presbyterian Church www.wfn.org/2007/11/msg00157.html [accessed 23 August 2011] The global sex market is a huge
part of trafficking, and "younger children are more in demand,"
said Smolenski. "Teen girls are sold products," and even in the Notes For An Address at the World Congress Against CSEC, The Honorable Lloyd Axworthy, August 27, 1996 w01.international.gc.ca/minpub/print-imprimer.aspx?publication_id=377013&lang=eng&MODE=CONON [Last access date unavailable] It is wrong to exploit any
person. It is even more wrong if that person is a child. And when abuse takes
the form of the commercial sexual exploitation of the young, it is an
abhorrent criminal act, and we must put an end to it. It's hard to believe that, on the eve of
the 21st century, we still find ourselves trying to deal with a form
of slavery. And there is, in the sexual exploitation of children, a
very real degree of modern-day slavery -- as well as serious social and
public-health issues. What makes this practice so evil?
It is the calculated victimization of the most vulnerable, the assault on the
innocence and dignity of those least able to protect themselves. The act of
forcing a child into prostitution is no less heinous than that of the sniper
in war who fixes the sights of his rifle on a child playing in the street and
coldly squeezes the trigger. Child Prostitution Seen As
Threat to Reuters, www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/63/003.html [accessed 23 August 2011] Victims were being recruited among
an estimated 100,000 homeless children in eastern Europe, according to the
survey by the ECPAT organization.
Child prostitution was rife in bars, hotels and around train stations.
Experts blamed local gangsters, poverty, and lax attitudes developing as a
reaction after the fall of puritanical communist regimes. A
Shattered Innocence, The Millennium Holocaust [PDF] -- A Report
on the Exploitation of Children Emanating from the Balkan Crises Christine Dolan, January 1, 2001 www.creativityandmagic.tv/Docs/ChristineDolan.pdf [Last access date unavailable] PREFACE - In April 2000 the International
Centre for Missing and Exploited asked me to research and prepare an
investigative report on the sexual exploitation of children emanating from
the Balkan Crises. I traveled to nine countries, 20 villages and cities, and
made 26 stops within a nine-week period of time in Eastern and Child Sex Rings and Child
Prostitution Michael C. Irving, Ph.D., Gallery of Sculpture www.irvingstudios.com/child_abuse_survivor_monument/SexRings.htm [accessed 23 August 2011] Sex rings and child prostitution
involves power structures which actively recruit vulnerable children and
youth. Children used in sex rings are
often subjected to terribly cruel and sadistic physical abuse in addition to
sexual abuse. There is profound trauma associated with being used in child
prostitution and child sex rings. The
impact of the abuse can be life-long, often resulting in emotional and
physical problems as well as behavioral problems such: as prostitution,
street youth, crime and homelessness.
Survivors often lose a sense of personal power and have difficulty
making good, choices as adults. The Unrelenting Scourge Of Child Prostitution Cesar Chelala, San Francisco Chronicle, November 28, 2000 www.commondreams.org/views/112800-104.htm [accessed 23 August 2011] Commercial sexual exploitation of
children is increasing worldwide. There are several reasons. These include
increased trade across borders, poverty, unemployment, low status of girls,
lack of education (including sex education) of children and their parents,
inadequate legislation, lack of or poor law enforcement and the eroticization
of children by the media, a phenomenon increasingly seen in industrialized
countries. Domestic Sex Trafficking of Minors www.justice.gov/criminal/ceos/prostitution.html [accessed 23 August 2011] Among children and teens living on
the streets in the End Child Exploitation United Nations Children's Fund UNICEF www.unicef.org.uk/campaigns/campaign_sub_pages.asp?page=5 [Last access date unavailable] CHILDREN
IN THE SEX INDUSTRY - Although many children are forced to enter the sex
industry, others are driven to it out of economic necessity, attracted by the
high incomes they can earn. In Stop child prostitution RFC [accessed 23 August 2011] That's
right, 3000 children are forced into prostitution every day, troughout the
world. That makes it about 1.000000 children every year and the highest
concentration where this happens is in Asia but it is also widely spread in
Africa, South and Central America and Child prostitution: the horrors of selling sex www.channel4.com/health/microsites/F/family/problems/childprostitution.html [Last access date unavailable] HOW DOES
IT HAPPEN? - Children
end up as prostitutes as the result of a complex process involving
manipulation, violence, sexual abuse, drugs, alcohol and poverty. Barnardo's
gives an example of how it could happen: A girl, who has run away from home
or is being abused at home, meets a young man, probably aged between 18 and
25. He gives her the love and affection she is missing. He pretends to be her
boyfriend, impressing her with his maturity and lifestyle, his money and car.
She falls in love with him and they start to have sex. Then he becomes possessive and
demands proof of the girl's love. Often this includes breaking off with
friends and family. If she is still living with her parents he may help her
put herself into care. Soon he controls her life – what she wears, what she
eats, where she goes. He becomes violent and she becomes frightened, but she
still hopes that one more proof of her love will restore their relationship.
Once the man totally dominates her he demands she has sex with one of his
'friends', and then with other men. He uses violence and threats to control her.
He has now become not her boyfriend but her pimp (someone who takes a share
of a prostitute's money in exchange for 'protection' from punters – men who
buy sex). ChildSafe Childsafe-International www.childsafe-international.org/CAMBODIA/CSCambodia.asp [accessed 23 August 2011] The Dutroux Multiple Kidnapping,
Abuse and Murder Case B.A. www.religioustolerance.org/ra_charl.htm [accessed 23 August 2011] One of the most shocking stories
of the 1990's surfaced in Promotion and Protection of the
Rights of Children Ms. Ofelia Calcetas-Santos, UN Special Rapporteur on the
sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, interim report,
1997 [accessed 23 August 2011] 97. Every photograph or videotape
of child pornography is evidence of that child's abuse. The distribution of
that depiction repeats the victimization over and over again, long after the
original material was created. A case in point is the death by suicide of a
12-year-old boy in 5.1 Middle East - State of ECPAT International, Looking Back Thinking Forward,
November 2000 -- The fourth report on the implementation of the Agenda for
Action adopted at the World Congress against Commercial Sexual Exploitation
of Children held in At one time this article had been archived and may
possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 23 August 2011] In the
wealthy oil producing states, (e.g. Child Prostitution On The Rise In Selma B. de Oliveira, International Child Resource
Institute ICRI, December 1995 pangaea.org/street_children/latin/prost.htm [accessed 23 August 2011] The
prostitution of girls in Streets and Lanes At one time this article had been archived and may
possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 23 August 2011] A more
significant factor in understanding the process by which young girls become
the victims of sexual exploitation is their estrangement from home and
family. The vast majority of girls and young women in this situation have at
some time been reported as 'missing from home' and separation from family
life and friends is a key element of the sexually exploitative relationship.
Physical and emotional isolation helps create and sustain the total
dependency of the young girl on her 'boyfriend' who controls where she goes,
who she sees, even what she wears. Children Who Are Sexually
Exploited [accessed 23 August 2011] Children
who are sexually exploited are exposed to abuse and assault, which robs them
of their childhood, self-esteem and opportunities for good health, education
and training. It is important that the children involved are regarded
as victims of abuse and at risk of significant harm. Putting An End To Child
Prostitution Scott Murray talking to Jo Bindman, plus excerpts from a
book by Ron O'Grady, international coordinator, ECPAT www.scottmurray.com/prosti.htm [accessed 23 August 2011] On the
supply side, one of the difficulties that girls face within the family can be
a lack of support for their own needs above those of the family. Our Thai
colleagues worry that traditional attitudes to children, especially girl
children, as subordinate to the needs of the family, make it easier to
sacrifice a child to the sex industry. Combating Child Prostitution in Garry Leech, colombiajournal.org/combating-child-prostitution-in-colombia.htm [accessed 23 August 2011] With an unemployment rate close to
20 percent, it is virtually impossible for many displaced to find legitimate
jobs. The majority of them work in the informal sector peddling cheap goods
or shining shoes on the streets while some have turned to crime in order to
survive. Many parents send their
children out into the streets to help support the family by stealing, selling
chewing gum and cigarettes, or worse, selling themselves. Child Prostitution In Sarika Misha, People's www.pucl.org/from-archives/Child/prostitution.htm [accessed 23 August 2011] Ironically child prostitution is a
special category of rigorous case of child labor and it raises more troubling
ethical problems than child labor in general. Children’s Rights United Nations Children's Fund UNICEF At one time this article had been archived and may
possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 23 August 2011] THINK OF ALL THE THINGS THAT YOU
NEED IDENTIFICATION TO
do - An estimated one million children (mainly girls, but also many boys)
enter the multi-billion dollar commercial sex trade every year. Countries
that ratify the Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution
and child pornography agree to include in their criminal code the sale of
children, illegal adoption, child prostitution and pornography. These types
of rights violations happen across national borders as children are moved
from one country to another. Because of this, the Optional Protocol asks that
governments agree to cooperate to stop the transfer of children, and for
public awareness, information and education campaigns to protect children
from these serious violations of their rights. Child Prostitution in Nepal/India www.plex86.org/computer_2/Two-Indians-who-should-be-ashamed.html [accessed 24 June 2011] Every year, thousands of Nepalese
girls, some as young as 11 are sent to or procured for brothels in the big
Indian cities, like The Modern Scourge of Sex Slavery Dr. Martin Brass, Soldier of Fortune Magazine, 2004 www.military.com/NewContent/0,13190,SOF_0904_Slavery1,00.html [accessed 23 August 2011] The Children, the Desperate, the
Helpless, the Homeless Fall Victim to the Heartless … Child Prostitution a Global Problem Adapted from Reuters Health, 04.19.2002 www.thebody.com/content/art22944.html [accessed 23 August 2011] Boys as well as girls are being
prostituted and, according to the report, some of the children are as young
as ten years old. "Most of these children are exploited by local men,
although some are also exploited by pedophiles and foreign tourists" Forced Labor: The
Prostitution of Children (Symposium Proceedings) (PDF) U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of International Labor
Affairs, permanent.access.gpo.gov/lps24110/Forced_Labor.pdf [accessed 23 August 2011] [page 34] Many of the girls who end up as child
prostitutes in Latin American countries have chosen a sexually exploitative
life on the streets, rather than suffer continued family violence and male incest in their
own homes. 10 Reasons for Not Legalizing Prostitution Janice G. Raymond, Coalition Against Trafficking in Women
International CATW, March 25, 2003 www.prostitutionresearch.com/laws/000022.html [accessed 23 August 2011] SUMMARY - As countries are considering
legalizing and decriminalizing the sex industry, we urge you to consider the
ways in which legitimating prostitution as work does not empower the women in
prostitution but does everything to strengthen the sex industry. Dr Peter Piot, Executive Director, UNAIDS, 1996 [accessed 20 September 2011] CONCLUSION - A woman approached a Buddhist
monk, and said: "When I was 12, my parents, who were very poor, sold me
to a brothel and I have had to do this work ever since. I must beg your
forgiveness for my sin." The monk replied; "There is
no need to beg forgiveness from me. It is I and the world who should beg your
forgiveness, for we have not done enough to protect you. Please forgive me
and the world for having failed to protect you in the first place." |