Human Trafficking in  [Australia]  [other countries]
Street Children in  [Australia]  [other countries]
Child Prostitution in  [Australia]  [other countries]
 

Child Prostitution

The Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children

Commonwealth of Australia                                             [ Country-by-Country Reports ]

Australia [map], the smallest continent, lies between the Indian and Pacific oceans.  Its capital is Canberra and its largest city is Sydney.  Australia has an enviable Western-style capitalist economy, with a per capita GDP on par with the four dominant West European economies.  One concern is the rapid increase in domestic housing prices, which have raised the prospect that interest rates will need to be raised to prevent a speculative bubble.

 

CAUTION:  The following links and accompanying text have been culled from the web to illuminate the situation in Australia.  Some of these links may lead to websites that present allegations that are unsubstantiated, misleading or even false.   No attempt has been made to validate their authenticity or to verify their content.

Runaways - Where To Turn For Help Before You Are Homeless

Here are the best phone numbers to call …They are Confidential - which means they won't tell anyone about your call unless you want them to talk to somebody for you, or you are in danger.  They are open 24 Hours - it doesn't matter what time you call  In Australia, call 1800 55 1800

TOMORROW’S CHILDREN - Australia’s National Plan of Action Against the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children [PDF]

In Australia, the reality of the commercial sexual exploitation of children and young people tends to be far more complicated than might be expected. It is largely opportunistic behaviour by teenagers at risk rather than organised activity. The majority of sexual abuse occurs within families and institutions, and is non-commercial in character. The commercial sexual exploitation of children and young people in Australia is part of a combination of critical pathways such as family breakdown, prior experiences of sexual victimisation, homelessness, poverty, drug use, youth unemployment, a lack of suitable alternative accommodation, and social isolation.

What follows is a more detailed examination of Australia’s efforts in the four key areas of child commercial sexual exploitation:

Prostitution and sex for favours;

• Pornography;

• Trafficking; and

• Sex tourism.

Bur of Democracy, Human Rights & Labor - Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2005

CHILDREN - The Child Sex Tourism Act prohibits child sex tourism and related offenses for the country's residents and citizens overseas and provides for a maximum sentence of 17 years' imprisonment upon conviction. During the 12-month period ending June 30, the AFP began 24 investigations, and 4 persons were charged under the act. Of these, one person pled guilty and was awaiting sentencing, two cases were before the courts, and one case had not yet come to trial. During the year the government continued its awareness campaign to deter child sex tourism, through the distribution of materials to citizens and residents traveling overseas. Child protection NGOs raised community awareness of child trafficking. There were no reports of children being trafficked into the country during the year.

Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) - 2005

[65] While the Committee welcomes the information that the State party is seriously considering the issue of youth homelessness, including by means of the National Homelessness Strategy and the “Reconnect” program, it wishes to express concern at the situation of homeless children, who are also more likely to be affected by educational and relational problems and are more exposed to substance abuse and sexual exploitation.

[67] While the Committee welcomes some positive developments in the context of prevention of trafficking and forced prostitution, such as the adoption of the National Plan of Action to Eradicate Trafficking in Persons of October 2003 and the changes to the Criminal Code in 2005 whereby, inter alia, trafficking in persons and child pornography have been criminalized, the Committee is concerned that Australia continues to be a destination country for trafficked women and girls in the sex industry.

Broome men charged over child prostitution ring

Police believe they have uncovered a child prostitution ring in the Kimberley tourist town of Broome.  It is believed that up to 12 children have been seeking out men prepared to exchange cigarettes, cannabis or money for sex.

Australian runaway became 'sexual slave'

An Australian teenager who ran away from home eventually found herself in prostitution as "a sort of sexual slave," a judge said.  Judge Michael Finnane said that shortly after leaving home because of a fight with her mother, the unidentified girl met 24-year-old Antonio Salvatore who convinced her to become a prostitute, The Sydney Morning Herald reported Saturday.  "She was working for him, making nothing. She was in reality a sort of sexual slave," the judge said.

Prostitution: Legal Work or Slavery? - A Failed Attempt at Defending Women’s Dignity

VICTORIAN FAILURE - Countries debating whether or not to legalize prostitution could learn from what occurred in the Australian state of Victoria. The state government legalized prostitution in 1984 and since then, the sex industry has flourished. With over 20 years of experience, many of the promised benefits of legalizing prostitution have not, however, materialized, according to a book published earlier this year.

INTRINSIC VIOLENCE - The legalization of prostitution in Victoria has not done anything to reduce illegal sex trafficking, Sullivan argues. In addition, since legalization, child prostitution continues to be a problem.

Aborigines may ban tourists from Ayers Rock

One of the first townships to be subject to the plan is Mutitjulu, in the shadow of Ayers Rock, or Uluru, the red monolith in the central Australian desert that draws some 500,000 visitors a year. Media reports last year of child prostitution and of children trading sex for gasoline to sniff prompted the recent government inquiry.

Prostitutes as young as 13

Children as young as 13 are working as prostitutes on Adelaide suburban streets and in brothels.  A police operation targeting underage prostitution has just been completed and a report submitted to the Mullighan inquiry into child sex abuse.  The report includes details of a case in which a man paid for sex with a 13-year-old boy.

Business owners in one notorious spot, along Hanson Rd in the western suburbs, have told The Advertiser they have seen girls aged 14 and less soliciting outside their shops.  Police confirmed children are involved in prostitution but would not specify their ages. They admit policing underage prostitution in areas such as Hanson Rd is difficult.

Griffith child prostitution claims yet to be verified

Authorities say they are yet to receive any specific allegations about child prostitution in Griffith.

Police say there have been rumours about child prostitution in Griffith for more than a year, but they need more information from the public.

Underage prostitution is rife in Griffith

Another source told The Area News the child prostitution racket had been operating in the city for nearly 20 years.  “This is extremely widespread and the girls are as young as 11 or 12,” she said. “There are a number of motels and caravans around town which they use and it is extremely organised.  “The girls are paid in either drugs, cigarettes, alcohol, jewellery or food … it changes each week. It’s a bigger problem than anyone realises.”  Even the police admit there’s a problem, however they have been unable to make any progress on the case due to an absence of formal complaints.

300 street kids at risk of abuse

At least 300 street children in Adelaide and "large numbers" in regional cities and country towns are vulnerable to sexual abuse, the head of the Commission of Inquiry into Children in State Care said today.  Former Supreme Court judge Ted Mullighan, QC, says there has been "a long history" in Adelaide of street children – many of them runaways from state care – being exploited for sexual favours.  He lists well-known haunts as Veale Gardens, the banks of the Torrens River and a public lavatory near Jolley's Boathouse restaurant.

Pedophilia led boy into prostitution, police say

It was the month Arron Light turned 15 that he moved from Nowra to a youth refuge in Surry Hills. Within weeks the runaway teenager had met the man he later accused of sexually assaulting him.  Police believe the alleged abuse ….. was the trigger that led the boy to sell his young body to middle-aged pedophiles.

Roberts to testify at inquest

Former rugby league star Ian Roberts will give evidence at an inquest into the death of a troubled Sydney teenager who was killed before he was to testify against alleged members of a Sydney paedophile ring.

Shame Of Children For Sale

Children are selling sex for as little as $5 on Queensland's streets in an epidemic that crime fighters tried to cover up.  Predators are using cash, drugs, a place to sleep or even just attention to entice the desperate boys and girls, some as young as 8.  A major study confirmed more than 100 children were involved in prostitution across the state, but a detailed report on the issue was never made public.

ECPAT: Fifth Report on implementation of the Agenda for Action [DOC]

[B] COUNTRY UPDATES – AUSTRALIAECPAT Australia has commented that Australia is going backwards in terms of child protection. Although the prostitution of children is an increasing problem linked to heroin addiction and homelessness, very little has been done to tackle it. Furthermore, the Federal Government has dissolved the Federal Police Unit whose duty it was to investigate child sex tourism, and there are not enough pro-active measures to pursue sex offenders who go overseas. The Australian government has only allocated financial resources to programmes related to CSEC in developing countries and not in Australia itself.

Myths & Facts

FACT: CHILD PROSTITUTION INCREASES IN A DECRIMINALIZED ENVIRONMENT - In Australia over 3700 children under 18 are selling their bodies for sex.   Victoria (legalized mid 1980s) and New South Wales (decriminalized 1995) are the two worst States for child prostitution.

Child prostitution on rise in Australia -report

Child prostitution is on the rise in Australia with an estimated 4,000 children as young as 10 selling sex for money and drugs, a new report says. The study by Child Wise, the Australian arm of the global End Child Prostitution Pornography And Trafficking group, is based on anecdotal evidence and estimated that one in five children on the Internet was solicited by strangers for sex.

Alleged Trafficking of Asian Sex Workers in Australia

Child Prostitution Anti-prostitution lobbyists such as ECPAT deliberately link the highly emotive issue of "child" prostitution to their anti- trafficking campaign because they know that it will create sympathy in all well-meaning people.  While a full discussion of this complex issue is outside of the scope of this paper, our research and experience in the sex industry in Australia tells us that Asian sex workers in Australia are not under aged and in fact most are in their late twenties to mid thirties.

Children 'Handed Over To Sex Ring'

"The picture is painted of young girls and boys who were frightened, unable to protect themselves and make disclosure and who were abandoned by their carers [care givers]," says the report by Ted Mullighan, the commissioner of the inquiry into the sex abuse of state wards.  The report finds that young boys from St Joseph's Catholic Orphanage and Brookway Park Boys Reformatory were sexually abused at the homes of adults who had permission to take boys on day outings or to stay away at weekends, the report says.

Organised State Child Prostitution and Pornography in Victoria, Australia: A Survivor's Statement

 “Further, I hold fears for the safety of my immediate family, and in the event of their or my own death, disappearance or any unforeseen accident/s, I wish to make it very clear that we were involved as child-victims and witnesses of an elite, child-abusing network which includes senior police officers who have threatened our lives in several instances if we were to ever disclose our information to the media or authorities.”

No. 156  Child Sex Tourism [PDF]

CONCLUSION - It is not known whether the child sex tourism legislation has any real deterrent effect on Australians determined to have sex with children overseas. It may be that these people are simply more careful in their activities as a result of the laws. The success of the child sex tourism legislation is, however, demonstrated by the fact that there have been several success-full prosecutions for sexual offences committed against children overseas that would previously have been beyond the reach of Australian law. Rather than being a “paper tiger” as predicted, the legislation has resulted in a number of substantial convictions for offences committed by Australians over-seas.

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Human Trafficking in  [Australia]  [other countries]
Street Children in  [Australia]  [other countries]
Child Prostitution in  [Australia]  [other countries]