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

Child Prostitution

The Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children

Republic of Nicaragua [ Country-by-Country Reports ]

The Republic of Nicaragua is located in Central America [map] and is bordered by Honduras (N & NW), by the Caribbean Sea (E), by Costa Rica (S), and by the Pacific Ocean (SW). Its capital and largest city is Managua. Nicaragua, one of the hemisphere's poorest countries, faces low per capita income, massive unemployment, and huge external debt. Distribution of income is one of the most unequal on the globe. While the country has made progress toward macroeconomic stability over the past few years, GDP annual growth has been far too low to meet the country's needs. Nicaragua has a population of over 5 million, 53% of which is under 18. Nicaragua's main challenge is to overcome inequity and poverty, which affect children and women most severely.

CAUTION:  The following links and accompanying text have been culled from the web to illuminate the situation in Nicaragua. 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 - Child prostitution is a problem in Nicaragua, particularly in Managua, port cities, along the Honduran and Costa Rican borders, and near highways. Prostitution also occurs in rural areas. Nicaragua is considered to be a source and transit country for trafficking within Central America and Mexico.

U.S. Dept of Labor Bureau of International Labor Affairs - Media Report

1. CHILD LABOR IN NICARAGUA - Child prostitution has risen in Nicaragua, particularly in Managua and in port cities along the Honduran and Costa Rican borders. According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), prostitution among children between the ages of 12 and 16 has grown significantly; in towns, taxi drivers often operate as “middlemen” in the commercial sexual exploitation of these children. The Organization of American States (OAS) has also noted increased sexual exploitation of girls as young as 10 years old. Truck drivers and other travelers, including foreigners, are known to engage in the commercial sexual exploitation of young girls in rural areas, particularly in towns along the Pan-American Highway.

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

CHILDREN - Child prostitution was a problem. While the law defines statutory rape as sexual relations with children who are 13 years of age and younger, there is no legal prohibition on prostitution by juveniles 14 years of age and older.

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

[70] While welcoming the measures taken by the State party to combat and raise awareness about the problem of sexual exploitation and trafficking in persons, the Committee is concerned at the information that a consistent number of children are victims of sexual violence, pornography, remunerated sexual activity and sexual tourism in Nicaragua and that sexual abuse and exploitation in its various forms, including trafficking, pornography and sexual tourism, have not been classified yet as crimes in the Penal Code.

Nicaragua Chamber of Tourism vows to fight child prostitution

The plan will target hotels, travel agencies, car rental offices, taxis, bars, restaurants, to stop minors from selling sexual services to tourists, said Judith Acevedo, the executive secretary of Canatu.

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

[B] COUNTRY UPDATES – NICARAGUA – Efforts to prevent the commercial sexual exploitation of children are being carried out by TESIS, a NGO. It has a team that it dispatches to different parts of the country to carry out prevention and awareness raising workshops. The workshops also instruct the local communities on how to carry out prevention and awareness raising activities of their own. In Managua, TESIS also runs a small school for the children of prostitutes and runs a theatre for children at risk of falling victim to commercial sexual exploitation. Children and youngsters are involved in TESIS’ projects and especially in the theatre prevention project. There has also been an increase in reports of CSEC in the press.

Child Prostitution: A Growing Scourge

A REGION OUT OF CONTROL - Sex tourism is a growing and lucrative enterprise for criminal networks operating in Nicaragua, Central America's largest and poorest nation. According to Casa Alianza, between 1,200 and 1,500 girls and young women work the brothels of Managua, and almost half are under the age of 18. A study of 300 street children by the Nicaragua Ministry of Family reveals that more than 80 percent admitted to engaging in prostitution to support their drug habits.

Broken Bodies - Broken Dreams: Violence Against Women Exposed

"ROXANNA" - CHILD PROSTITUTION AND PORNOGRAPHY - "Roxanna" takes a rest while waiting for clients alongside a main road in Managua, Nicaragua. She is 15 years old and walks the streets at night with other teenagers who also work as prostitutes to help their families.

Working to Help Coffee’s Children

PRICE CRISIS EXACERBATES POVERTY AND CHILD LABOR - In extreme cases this year, children of coffee workers and farmers are being forced into harsher, more exploitive forms of child labor. Displaced coffee workers in Nicaragua, according to a recent news story in La Prensa, have congregated near the Costa Rican border, and reports of child prostitution have sprung up for the first time there, as families have been driven to desperate actions just to survive.

Central America

MONDAY, AUG 23 - GOVERNMENT SURVEY REVEALS INCREASE IN CHILD PROSTITUTION IN NICARAGUA - The official study involved interviews with 300 child prostitutes -- 70.3 percent adolescent girls and 29.7 percent adolescent boys -- conducted in the areas of Managua, Corinto, Bluefields, Rivas and Leon.  The majority of the 300 children questioned said they didn't attend school: 28.4 percent said they didn't want to, 20.2 percent didn't have the money and 11.1 percent said they had to work to support their children.

Sex Tourism Plagues Central America

Street children who used to sniff relatively inexpensive glue are now turning to crack, readily available in the region as Central American military officials, no longer living high on the hog from U.S. military assistance, turn to drug trafficking to make money. Since crack is more costly than glue, street kids are more likely to sell their bodies to finance their habit. Much of the growth of child prostitution in Central America has occurred in the last three years. A recent study of 300 street children by the Nicaraguan Ministry of Family showed that more than 80 percent had begun to work as prostitutes in the past year.

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