Child Prostitution

Human Trafficking in  [Belize]  [other countries]

Street Children in  [Belize]  [other countries]

Child Prostitution in  [Belize]  [other countries]

Child Prostitution

The Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children

In the first ten years of the 21st Century - 2000 to 2009

Belize

In this small, essentially private-enterprise economy, tourism is the number one foreign exchange earner followed by exports of marine products, citrus, cane sugar, bananas, and garments.

Major concerns continue to be the sizable trade deficit and unsustainable foreign debt equivalent to nearly 70% of GDP.

A key short-term objective remains the reduction of poverty with the help of international donors. [The World Factbook, U.S.C.I.A. 2009]

CAUTION: The following links and accompanying text have been culled from the web to illuminate the situation in Belize. 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.

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Officials act against sexual exploitation by tourists

JACQUELINE GODWIN, REPORTING - Hit me on the Hips is no new dance craze. The phrase refers to the latest practice of high school girls being text messaged on their cell phones. The reason? Sex with tourists. The interested visitor arrives in the country makes contact with a taxi driver who then sends the text message to the girl at school. As dramatized in this advertisement from Youth Enhancement Services the student then illness to leave class.

ANDREW GODOY - They get sick and leave school and would be picked up by these taxi drivers, and would be taken to whatever location. Sometimes right there, maybe in the vehicle to meet up with tourists, but it is sad and it is very disturbing. While the problem I guess is not big or not such a major problem that it is out of control as yet, I think that we do realize that it is a concern.”

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U.S. Dept of Labor Bureau of International Labor Affairs

INCIDENCE AND NATURE OF CHILD LABOR - Teenage girls, many of whom have migrated from neighboring Central American countries, are reported to work as domestic servants, barmaids and prostitutes. Belize is considered a transit and destination country for children trafficked for sexual exploitation. Girls are also trafficked internally for commercial exploitation and to work in pornography. The practice of selling female children to older men for sexual purposes has been reported to occur throughout the country.

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

TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS - The government's National Committee for Families and Children reported instances of minors engaged in prostitution with older male clientele, in some cases of their own volition, in others arranged by their family. The girls were typically of high-school age, but some as young as 12 were reported, and came from economically disadvantaged families in which their mothers also were victims of the same abuse. The girls often provided sexual favors to older men in exchange for clothing, jewelry, or school fees and books. In a limited number of cases, the government was not able to prosecute individuals for unlawful carnal knowledge because the victims or their families were reluctant to press charges.

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

[67] The Committee welcomes the adoption in 2003 of the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Act, which provides special protection for children, and the subsequent establishment of a special Task Force to give greater effect to the implementation of the Act, and notes the State party’s efforts to combat sexual exploitation of children, for instance, through the “Stamp Out Child Abuse” campaign. Notwithstanding these positive steps taken by the State party, the Committee is concerned about the sexual exploitation of children, child pornography and trafficking of children in Belize and draws attention to the existing risk factors, such as the growing tourism.

[68] The Committee also notes with concern that the sex offence legislation of the State party is discriminatory, leaving boys without equal legal protection from sexual assault and abuse. Furthermore, the reported cases of the so‑called “sugar daddies”, adult men having sexual liaison with girls and providing both girls and their families with monetary and material benefits in exchange for sex, give rise to serious concerns.

Child prostitution in Belize is no myth, says report

In the news media we're always hearing rumours of child prostitution in Belize, but today a new study claims that sexual exploitation of children is not a myth. “Children and adolescents under the age of eighteen from seventeen downwards are being paid to have sexual relations with adults. The majority, the overwhelming majority of cases were men but in a couple of the cases they were women.”

DIANNE HAYLOCK - How a four year old be commercially exploited sexually? Parent involvement. The child is wooed by an older man with sweets, food and all of those things and the mother eventually finds out and she continues, she allows it to continue to happen and she benefits financially from this man. This child actually ran away from home and the way the case came to the attention of the service providers is not because that was happening but the child ended up with an S.T.I.

Officials act against sexual exploitation by tourists

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

www.ecpat.net/eng/Ecpat_inter/publication/other/english/Doc_page/ecpat_5th_a4a_2001_full.doc

At one time this article had been archived and may possibly still be accessible [here]

[B] COUNTRY UPDATES – BELIZE – Early in 2001, UNICEF Belize wrote to the Minister of Human Development, Women and Civil Society encouraging the government to adhere to the Stockholm Declaration. At the time of publication, various Ministries were reviewing the Declaration.

United Nations Human Rights Website - Belize Ratifies

Belize ratifies Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) on the sale of children child prostitution and child pornography.

Child Prostitution: A Growing Scourge

A REGION OUT OF CONTROL - Although comprehensive data regarding child prostitution in Belize are not available, sex tourism is being blamed on an increase in HIV/AIDS cases among minors and adults. Ambiguous statutes, slipshod investigations and short prison terms are turning Belize, which balks at signing the UN Protocol against the trafficking of children, into a burgeoning haven for pornography and child prostitution.

The Protection Project - Belize [DOC]

FACTORS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO THE TRAFFICKING INFRASTRUCTURE - Throughout the Central American region, “machismo” attitudes are prevalent, and women are often viewed as sexual objects. Interfamily violence, the breakdown of families, and poverty push young people to leave their homes and communities to search for better lives.

FORMS OF TRAFFICKING - Many of the teenage girls and children trafficked into the country from neighboring Central American countries are forced to work in domestic service, as bar maids, and in prostitution.

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Human Trafficking in  [Belize]  [other countries]

Street Children in  [Belize]  [other countries]

Child Prostitution in  [Belize]  [other countries]