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

Child Prostitution

The Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children

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

Colombia Colombia has experienced accelerating growth between 2002 and 2007, with expansion above 7% in 2007, chiefly due to advancements in domestic security, to rising commodity prices, and to President URIBE's promarket economic policies. Colombia's sustained growth helped reduce poverty by 20% and cut unemployment by 25% since 2002. Additionally, investor friendly reforms to Colombia's hydrocarbon sector and the US-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement (CTPA) negotiations have attracted record levels of foreign investment. Inequality, underemployment, and narco-trafficking remain significant challenges, and Colombia's infrastructure requires significant updating in order to sustain expansion. [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 Colombia. 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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Sexual exploitation of minors taints Colombia's Caribbean tourist city

The city has become a magnet for men, many of them Europeans, seeking sex with young girls and sometimes boys, many of them from families displaced from their rural homes by fighting among leftist rebels, government forces and right-wing paramilitary groups.

An estimated 1,500 girls and boys work in Cartagena's sex industry. Over the last three years, Renacer has learned of girls as young as 7 and boys as young as 9 being sexually exploited, Cardenas says.

"The kids are on the street because of desperation," says Bruce Harris, the former Latin America director of Casa Alianza, a children's rights group. "The last thing they have to sell is themselves. This is mixed with the fact that the laws for the most part are still very weak, and there's corruption in the application of the law."  Bolivar Province's police chief, Col. Jesus Gomez, who oversees Cartagena, says detectives are investigating criminal sex rings in the city, but have yet to make any arrests.

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

INCIDENCE AND NATURE OF CHILD LABOR - Children are involved in commercial sexual exploitation in Colombia. Commercial sexual exploitation of children is found especially in urban centers and in areas where there are large numbers of men who are separated from families due to work. Children are involved in commercial sexual exploitation either on the streets or in private establishments such as bars, brothels, or massage parlors, and tend to range in age from 13 to 17 years. Colombia is a source and transit country for girls trafficked for sexual exploitation.

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

SECTION 6 WORKER RIGHTS – [d] Although there were no reports of forced child labor in the formal economy, several thousand children were forced to serve as paramilitary or guerrilla combatants, prostitutes, or coca pickers.

Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) - 2000

[67] While noting with appreciation the revisions to the State party's Penal Code and the establishment of a national plan of action to combat and prevent the sexual exploitation of children, the Committee remains concerned at the insufficient awareness among the population of these issues.

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 – COLOMBIA – The National Plan of Action against the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children in Colombia (Plan de Acción en favor de los Derechos de la Infancia Explotada Sexualmente y contra la Explotación Sexual Infantil) is not being implemented. According to the ICBF, which had main responsibility for the plan, it has been developed in an isolated manner and according to the competencies of each institution involved. As a consequence, the ICBF says it has not been possible to measure its impact. The Inter-institutional Committee to fight the trafficking of women, girls and boys is putting into practice a plan for the prevention and protection of victims and to stop the trafficking of persons.

Combating Child Prostitution in Colombia

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. It is estimated that there are 35,000 children working as prostitutes in Colombia with between 5,000 and 10,000 of them on the streets of Bogotá.

Soaring Child Prostitution In Colombia

Clients were often middle-aged foreigners who paid the child-prostitutes around six US dollars. Victims were often addicted to drugs and were as young as nine years old.

Bogota Curfew Aims At Child Sex

The mayor of Bogata has imposed a nighttime curfew on minors to clamp down on child prostitution and reduce crime rates in the Colombian capital. Children under the age of 16 on the streets after 11pm will be arrested.

Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) - Report of Colombia (Press Release)

The culture of violence which prevailed in Colombia had created a feeling of fear and resignation among the population that understood that impunity was the order of the day. The violence had led to child prostitution and child gangs which added to the worsening situation of violence. There were 20,000 street children and each day at least 7 children were killed. The expert asked about the policies and measures put in place to combat effectively the culture of violence.

Ashoka Fellow Profile - Stella Cárdenas Ovalle

THE PROBLEM- A series of factors put children at risk for sexual exploitation in Colombia and leave them unprotected. The war and drug trade have altered family structures that in ordinary times would have provided safety and nurture. The war has also caused the displacement of countless families, some of whose children have been soldiers in the war. Displaced children are particularly vulnerable to being prostituted, even more so in the declining economy.

Colombia Launches Crackdown On Child Prostitution

Twenty-nine adults were arrested in the swoop and Trujillo told reporters police had "rescued" 370 child prostitutes, aged between 12 and 16. "They were being forced to prostitute themselves," Trujillo said. Police sources said many of the minors had been held in virtual "slave-like conditions" and subjected to a whole catalogue of abuse.

Sexual exploitation of minors taints Colombia's Caribbean tourist city

The city has become a magnet for men, many of them Europeans, seeking sex with young girls and sometimes boys, many of them from families displaced from their rural homes by fighting among leftist rebels, government forces and right-wing paramilitary groups.

An estimated 1,500 girls and boys work in Cartagena's sex industry. Over the last three years, Renacer has learned of girls as young as 7 and boys as young as 9 being sexually exploited, Cardenas says.

"The kids are on the street because of desperation," says Bruce Harris, the former Latin America director of Casa Alianza, a children's rights group. "The last thing they have to sell is themselves. This is mixed with the fact that the laws for the most part are still very weak, and there's corruption in the application of the law." Bolivar Province's police chief, Col. Jesus Gomez, who oversees Cartagena, says detectives are investigating criminal sex rings in the city, but have yet to make any arrests.

The Protection Project - Colombia [DOC]

GOVERNMENT RESPONSES - The Ombudsman’s Office and the Attorney General’s Office conducted a study on the prostitution of women and children. The National Police of Colombia runs a prevention program called Colombia without Prostitution. This program is designed to prevent child prostitution through educational activities for families and the community.  In collaboration with nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), the government also created a Plan of Action on Child Sexual Abuse.

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