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

Child Prostitution

The Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children

In the early years of the 21st Century - 2000 to 2010 gvnet.com/childprostitution/Lesotho.htm

Kingdom of Lesotho As the number of mineworkers has declined steadily over the past several years, a small manufacturing base has developed based on farm products that support the milling, canning, leather, and jute industries, as well as a rapidly expanding apparel-assembly sector. The economy is still primarily based on subsistence agriculture, especially livestock, although drought has decreased agricultural activity. The extreme inequality in the distribution of income remains a major drawback. Lesotho has signed an Interim Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility with the IMF. [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 Lesotho. 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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The Protection Project - Lesotho [DOC]

The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), The Johns Hopkins University

www.protectionproject.org/human_rights_reports/report_documents/lesotho.doc

[accessed 2009]

FORMS OF TRAFFICKING - A high percentage of persons in prostitution in Lesotho are reported to be children, some as young as 13 years of age. Children are lured by traffickers or kidnapped and taken to hotels and brothels in Maseru and its outskirts. Prostituted children in the capital can earn US$7 to US$53 a night, compared with US$13 to US$26 a month for domestic servants; prostituted boys reportedly earn more than girls.

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The Department of Labor’s 2004 Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor

U.S. Dept of Labor Bureau of International Labor Affairs, 2005

www.dol.gov/ilab/media/reports/iclp/tda2004/lesotho.htm

[accessed 18 February 2011]

INCIDENCE AND NATURE OF CHILD LABOR - Commercial sexual exploitation of children is reportedly a growing problem in Lesotho.

Human Rights Reports » 2005 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices

U.S. Dept of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, March 8, 2006

www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61576.htm

[accessed 18 February 2011]

CHILDREN - Child prostitution was a problem. According to media reports, young girls and boys, many of whom were orphans, moved to urban areas to work as prostitutes. A 2001 UNICEF assessment concluded that child prostitution in the country was a poverty‑driven phenomenon rather than a commercial enterprise and that the financial arrangements were casual and not the product of organized criminal syndicates. However, UNICEF and the government agreed that while the numbers remained small, the trend toward commercial prostitution by children under age 18 was a growing problem in the country. It was believed that the incidence of prostitution was growing, and the average age of commercial sex workers was dropping; however, there was no evidence of third party participation. Child sex workers (including child prostitutes) worked by themselves for economic reasons. There is little capability within either the police force or the Department of Social Welfare to address the needs of children likely to engage in prostitution.

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

UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, 26 January 2001

www1.umn.edu/humanrts/crc/lesotho2001.html

[accessed 18 February 2011]

[57] The absence of adequate information, including disaggregated statistical data, on the situation of sexual exploitation of children, is a matter of concern for the Committee. The Committee is concerned, further, that young girls in particular are vulnerable to sexual exploitation in Lesotho and that the number of incidents of such exploitation is increasing.

The Protection Project - Lesotho [DOC]

The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), The Johns Hopkins University

www.protectionproject.org/human_rights_reports/report_documents/lesotho.doc

[accessed 2009]

FORMS OF TRAFFICKING - A high percentage of persons in prostitution in Lesotho are reported to be children, some as young as 13 years of age. Children are lured by traffickers or kidnapped and taken to hotels and brothels in Maseru and its outskirts. Prostituted children in the capital can earn US$7 to US$53 a night, compared with US$13 to US$26 a month for domestic servants; prostituted boys reportedly earn more than girls.

Five Years After Stockholm [PDF]

ECPAT: Fifth Report on implementation of the Agenda for Action

ECPAT International, November 2001

www.no-trafficking.org/content/web/05reading_rooms/five_years_after_stockholm.pdf

[accessed 13 September 2011]

[B] COUNTRY UPDATES – LESOTHO – No information was received from Lesotho this year. However, the Committee on the Rights of the Child has expressed concern both at the increasing number of young girls vulnerable to CSEC and at the increasing number of street and working children. The Committee recommended that Lesotho undertake studies on CSEC and reinforce its laws to adequately protect children.

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