Child Prostitution

Human Trafficking in  [Brazil]  [other countries]

Street Children in  [Brazil]  [other countries]

Child Prostitution in  [Brazil]  [other countries]

Child Prostitution

The Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children

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

Federative Republic of Brazil

Characterized by large and well-developed agricultural, mining, manufacturing, and service sectors, Brazil's economy outweighs that of all other South American countries and Brazil is expanding its presence in world markets.

Since the onset of the global financial crisis in September, Brazil's currency and its stock market - Bovespa - have significantly lost value, -41% for Bovespa for the year ending 30 December 2008. Brazil incurred another current account deficit in 2008, as world demand and prices for commodities dropped in the second-half of the year. [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 Brazil. 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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Between 250,000 and 2 million children forced into prostitution in Brazil

Brazil is considered to have the worst child sex trafficking record after Thailand. According to the recently released Protection Project report, various official sources agree that from 250,000 to 500,000 child live as child prostitutes. Other sources in Brazil put the number at up to 2,000,000 children.

Forced Child Prostitution in Brazil

Twelve girls--among them, Ana Meire Lima da Silva, age 15, and Miriam Ferreira dos Santos, 14--make up part of the cargo. They were persuaded to go with promises of work in a restaurant or luncheonette.

Along the row of brothels where the Casa da Dalva is located, most of the prostitutes are young girls. The reason is simple: by age 18, a prostitute is a finished woman, eaten away by illnesses. It's necessary, then, to bring in new labor.

The garimpeiros--the gold diggers--call women over 18 years "chickens," and younger girls "chicks." The psychologist Maria Luiza Pinheiro, from the Brazilian Center for Childhood and Adolescence, frequently travels the routes of this traffic. She has often heard the men who chase the "chicks"say, "I had myself one of 15 kilograms (33 pounds). It was good."

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

CURRENT GOVERNMENT POLICIES AND PROGRAMS TO ELIMINATE THE WORST FORMS OF CHILD LABOR - The National Plan to Fight Sexual Violence Against Children and Adolescents provides the policy framework for the government’s programs to combat the commercial sexual exploitation of children and adolescents. These efforts include initiatives to assist victims and raise awareness. The primary program to assist child victims of commercial sexual exploitation is the Sentinel Program, which establishes local reference centers to provide victims with psychological, social, and legal services.

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

TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS - According to the Reference Center on Children and Adolescents (CECRIA), patterns of sexual exploitation of children corresponded to the distinct economic and social profiles of the country's regions. In the Amazon region, sexual exploitation of children took place in brothels that catered to mining settlements. In large urban centers, girls who left home to escape abuse or sexual exploitation often prostituted themselves on the streets to survive. In the cities along the northeast coast, sexual tourism exploiting children was prevalent and involved networks of travel agents, hotel workers, taxi drivers, and others who actively recruited children and trafficked them outside the country. The Ministry of Tourism found that 398 of the 1,514 tourist destinations frequented by citizens had an active sexual commercial market for children and adolescents.

Child prostitution also developed in the areas served by the country's navigable rivers, particularly in ports and at international borders. NGOs estimated that approximately 500 thousand children were involved in prostitution.

Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) - 2004

[62] The Committee welcomes the decision of the State party’s President, to make the fight against child sexual exploitation a priority of his Government. However, the Committee is deeply concerned by the wide occurrence of sexual exploitation and related issues.

Welcome to Brazil, a Paradise of Impunity for All Kinds of Criminals

VIOLENCE AGAINST CHILDREN - A 2002 report from the International Labor Organization (ILO) reveals that more than 3,000 girls from the sparsely populated state of Rondônia are subject to conditions of slavery and prostitution.

According to law, children can only travel with the permission of their parents. But in practice, many of them have been trafficked for prostitution. Girls from rural areas are recruited in cities as prostitutes by strip clubs and modelling agencies, as well as through "wanted" advertisements. Along the coastal areas, sexual tourism involves child prostitution and is facilitated by travel agents, hotel workers and taxi drivers.

The United Nations has estimated that around 500,000 Brazilian children are victims of sexual exploitation. The U.N. also states that in the northern and northeastern regions, "most sexual crimes against children and adolescents are not investigated, and in some cases representatives of the judiciary are involved in those cases."

Over 400 arrested in Sao Paulo for using child prostitution

Sao Paulo police arrested over 400 people allegedly involved in using child prostitutes in nightclubs in Brazil's biggest city, police said Friday. The police operation, which started Thursday evening and continued to Friday morning, targeted a total of 17 nightclubs that allegedly admitted or promoted the prostitution of children and adolescents under 18.

Brazil Fights Child Sex Amid Carnival Tourism Boom

www.ecpat.net/eng/Ecpat_inter/IRC/newsdesk_articles.asp?SCID=1575

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

Hotlines to report the crime have been set up and have police made various arrests, including pimps on Rio beaches who had albums with pictures of young girls and boys for tourists to order. Several charter flights from Italy organized by a ring that dealt in child sex have been canceled. All hotel receptionists will sign a clause banning check-in of guests accompanied by youths if they are not related.

NBC Nightly News to feature American Baptist ministry

“The situation with street kids in Brazil has not gotten a lot of attention,” Bostian said. “Only 18 percent of these kids are biological orphans. The rest are social orphans. They think they would be better off on their own away from their home. Most die from violence in the streets.”

Many of the children suffer from poor health and malnutrition. Because of rape and forced child prostitution, they are often exposed to HIV/AIDS. According to the Brazilian Center for Children and Adolescents, Brazil has more than 800,000 child prostitutes. Drugs also run rampant among the children, who sniff glue to escape reality.

Underage sex, driven by poverty, lures paedophile gringos to a place in the sun

This city, on the north-east coast of Brazil, is rich in culture, and rich with underage sex. Driven by poverty and lured by the prospect of wealthy gringo customers, girls as young as 12 prostitute themselves for as little as £2. "But I am already too old," says Adrianna, a pretty 17-year-old who has been working since she was 12. "Gringos prefer girls between 10 and 14."

Forced Child Prostitution in Brazil

Between 250,000 and 2 million children forced into prostitution in Brazil

The Protection Project - Brazil [DOC]

FORMS OF TRAFFICKING - Along the border between Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina, young prostituted children and adolescents can be seen on the streets. It is estimated that close to 3,500 children and adolescents under the age of 18 are victims of commercial sexual exploitation in the region. In Ciudad del Este, Paraguay, a large number of Brazilian children and adolescents are victims of sexual exploitation.

Official Brazilian sources acknowledge that child prostitution is a growing problem within the country. According to a January 2005 report, child prostitution rings operate in 937 municipalities throughout the country. Nearly a third of those rings are located in poor areas of the northeast. Truck drivers have noted an enormous increase in prostituted children working the highways throughout the country in recent years. Estimates vary widely as to the number of children and women in the commercial sex industry in Brazil. Numbers range from as low as 100,000 to as high as 2 million.

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 – BRAZIL – The federal government, state governments, international organizations and NGOs have been highly effective in coordinating actions and cooperating to tackle the commercial sexual exploitation of children. In the Central Western Region, an Inter-state Commission to Tackle Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, known as “CIRCO”, was established in 1998. It includes representatives from NGOs, international organizations and the governments of the four states of Mato Grosso, Distrito Federal, Mato Grosso do Sul and Goiás. In the northeast state of Pernambuco, a network of 32 governmental organizations, international organizations and NGOs has been established to combat sexual exploitation of children and adolescents.

Report by Special Rapporteur [DOC]

[30] The Statute of the Child and Adolescent criminalizes the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, and the child involved does not incur criminal liability. UNICEF is involved in a number of initiatives to combat sexual abuse and exploitation of girls, particularly in the north and north-east regions, and is studying the phenomenon of commercial sexual exploitation and domestic sexual abuse of girls, including the situation of street children, many of whom who resort to prostitution for survival. However, commercial sexual exploitation affects a far wider number of girls who may live at home or in guesthouses, apartments and brothels. Sexual exploitation of boys on the street also occurs, but there is very little research or information published about it. Children are exploited through sex tourism, and government efforts against this include circulars sent by the National Tourist Board to hotels warning of the consequences of involvement in sexual exploitation. “Sexual Exploitation of Children is a Crime” has been stamped on tourist literature and airline ticket covers.

Brazil cracks down on child prostitution

Brazilian federal police arrested 27 people in a nationwide crackdown on child prostitution, authorities said Thursday. Police also scooped up 51 children – including three younger than 12 years old – during Wednesday’s operation, which coincided with Brazil’s Children’s Day.

Brazil Cracks Down On Child Prostitution

Seeking to crack down on an epidemic of child prostitution, the Brazilian government is targeting Carnival, the annual pre-Lenten festival during which the illicit trade reaches its zenith.

Brazil maps child prostitution

Child prostitution rackets operate in almost 1,000 municipalities in Brazil, according to a government study mapping the underground industry. Almost one in five of the country's large cities harbors well-organized under-age sex rings, officials say. Activity is especially rife along the triple border where Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina meet.

Between 250,000 and 2 million children forced into prostitution in Brazil

Child Prostitution On The Rise In Brazil

Brazil's economic crisis in recent years has aggravated chronic social ills, placing the country among other nations with the highest degree of unbalanced distribution of land and wealth in the world. As a sad illustration of further social decay, the Brazilian Center for Childhood and Adolescence (CBIA) has recently estimated that there are about 500,000 girls who have turned to prostitution to earn a living.

The prostitution of girls in Brazil is the direct consequence of years of economic recession, and the low status afforded to women in the country. Because women have a limited access to occupations and resources, they are the ones hardest hit during economic crises. With the growth of the tourism industry, selling their bodies has become a way for poor girls to have access to the dollars of tourists.

Thailand Ranks Third in Number of Child Prostitution – Brazil ranks fifth

Thailand ranks third after India and the U.S. in the number of child prostitutes, the United Nations (UN) said in its report prepared for the Second World Congress Against Commercial Sexual Exploitation. According to the U.N. report, about 400,000 women and children are believed to be sexually exploited in India, between 244,000 and 325,000 in the U.S., 200,000 in Thailand, 175,000 in eastern and central Europe, 100,000 in Brazil and 35,000 in West Africa.

Little Girls Of The Night

Indeed a number of girls consider prostitution an avenue to freedom. They are fleeing the oppression of a patriarchal household, where it is not uncommon for the family to be in conflict and often violent. In some cases, the girls are trying to escape boring, poorly paid jobs. They are seduced by the dream of having a room of their own and earning more money.

The Price of a Slave in Brazil

Brazil is responsible for 15 percent of women trafficked in South America, a great majority being from the North and the Northeast. Most of them are young—between 12 and 18 years old—have little schooling, and are of African descent. Currently, the "market value" of a Brazilian woman is up to US$ 15,000. - htcp

Commission On Human Rights - Report Submitted By The Special Rapporteur [DOC]

26. Sex tourism is one of the most widespread forms of CSEC in Brazil. Millions of foreign tourists visit Brazil each year. There were over 5.3 million in 2000, decreasing to some 3.7 million in 2002, mainly originating in South America and Europe.

Brazil to fight sex tourism as Carnival nears

A special U.N. envoy said in November the problem of child prostitution and sexual exploitation in Brazil was worse than in most other countries because of poverty, crime and tourism. Non-governmental organisations estimate the number of child prostitutes in Brazil at between 100,000 and 500,000, out of a total population of 175 million.

Brazil: Must Tackle Child Prostitution

"The political commitment of the government to fight child sexual exploitation is strong and tangible," said Juan Miguel Petit, U.N. special envoy on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. But tougher rules are needed to protect young victims who may number up to 500,000, Petit said in a report. "The policy framework for fighting exploitation is in place," he said. "But filtering policies and programs from the central, federal level down to the grass-roots level is a major difficulty."

Brazil And UNICEF Join To End Child Prostitution

In Brazil, child prostitution is a widespread phenomenon and it permeates all social classes. Efforts to call attention to the problem have focused upon the areas of greatest prevalence: the gold camps of the Amazon region; the port area of Santos; and the tourist attractions of Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, Recife and Fortaleza.

Brazil Acts On Child Prostitution

Congress approved a report recommending that more than 200 people be investigated for crimes against children and adolescents. Those under suspicion include senior public figures, among them politicians, judges, business leaders and priests. It is thought that up to half a million children in Brazil could be involved in prostitution.

Brazil Legislation

Laws and regulations which can be used to:

Prohibit or prevent the organization and advertising of sex tours and trips

Prohibit or prevent the organization and advertising of sex tours and trips especially affecting children

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Human Trafficking in  [Brazil]  [other countries]

Street Children in  [Brazil]  [other countries]

Child Prostitution in  [Brazil]  [other countries]