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

Child Prostitution

The Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children

Republic of Croatia [ Country-by-Country Reports ]

The Republic of Croatia [map] is located in the northwest corner of the Balkan Peninsula and is bounded by Slovenia (NW), Hungary (NE), Serbia and Montenegro (E), by Bosnia and Hercegovina (S & E), and by the Adriatic Sea in the west. Its capital city is Zagreb. Following political changes in 2000, Croatia is gradually moving towards a fully democratic society with a free market economy.

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

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

INCIDENCE AND NATURE OF CHILD LABOR - Statistics on the number of working children under age 15 in Croatia are unavailable. There is also limited information on the nature of child labor in Croatia. Reports indicate that Croatia is primarily a transit country, and to a limited extent is also a destination country for trafficking of children for commercial sexual exploitation.

CHILD LABOR LAWS AND ENFORCEMENT - The Criminal Code also outlaws international prostitution, including solicitation of a minor, and prohibits procurement of minors for sexual purposes.

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

TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS - The country was primarily a transit country for women and girls trafficked to other parts of Europe for prostitution, as well as a lesser but increasing, source and destination country for trafficked women.

Concluding Observations Of The Committee On The Rights Of The Child (CRC) - 2004

[17] The Committee is concerned about the absence of disaggregated statistical data and other information on the situation of children, especially those belonging to different ethnic groups and the most vulnerable groups. This type of information is lacking in particular with respect to girl children, street children, disabled children, displaced, refugees and asylum-seekers children, children from minority groups, Roma children.

[66] While welcoming the measures taken by the State party to prevent and raise awareness of the problem of trafficking in persons, including the establishment of the National Committee for the Prevention of Trafficking in Persons responsible for formulating and implementing the National Plan for the Prevention of Trafficking in Persons, it remains concerned about the effective implementation of the Plan and at the lack of statistical data and specific information on measures undertaken to combat trafficking.

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

BACKGROUND - In Croatia, 198 women from Romania, Serbia-Montenegro, Moldova, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, FYR Macedonia and Ukraine were deported in 2000. In the same year, 180 unaccompanied foreign children were found [in Croatia]. Most of them were from Turkey, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Romania, Serbia-Montenegro and Bangladesh”. Twenty-seven were girls who were victims of commercial sexual exploitation.

Destination Croatia

COMMERCIAL SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF CHILDREN IN TOURISM - Croatia does not play a major role as a destination for paedo-sexual perpetrators, but there have recently been increased numbers of reports about forced prostitution in the coastal towns. The country is also a staging-post for traffickers transporting victims from the Ukraine, Romania or Bulgaria into Western Europe. But Croat women and children are also taken, mainly to west European countries where they are sexually abused and exploited.

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