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

Child Prostitution

The Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children

State of Qatar [ Country-by-Country Reports ]

The State of Qatar is an independent emirate located in E Arabia, coextensive with the Qatar peninsula [map], which projects into the Persian Gulf. Its capital and largest city is Doha. Oil and gas account for more than 55% of GDP and long-term goals feature the development of offshore natural gas reserves to offset the ultimate decline in oil production. In recent years, Qatar has consistently posted trade surpluses largely because of high oil prices and increased natural gas exports, becoming one of the world's fastest growing and highest per-capita income countries. The modernization process has placed great stress on tribal identities, as well as family, religious, linguistic and ethnic loyalties.

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

TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS – The country also was a destination for women and girls who traveled to the country to work as domestic servants. Two embassies reported that a total of 600 of their nationals had been forced into domestic servitude and sexual exploitation.

Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) - 2001

[61] The Committee encourages the State party to ratify the Optional Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, and on the involvement of children in armed conflict.

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

6.1 MIDDLE EAST [A] THE IMPACT OF THE STOCKHOLM AGENDA FOR ACTION ON WORK AGAINST THE COMMERCIAL SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF CHILDREN – Some NGOs and government sources from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Kuwait confirm that they are not familiar with the Stockholm Agenda for Action. However, the ILO in Saudi Arabia, the government of Qatar as well as the NGO Women’s Forum for Research and Training in Yemen and the Human Rights Division in Kuwait, have all shown a genuine interest in the Agenda and are studying research and surveys on commercial sexual exploitation of children with the aim of addressing the issue.

Slavery of Children and women in Persian gulf countries

Exact number of victims is impossible to obtain, but according to an official source in UAE, there has been increase in the number of teen-age girls in prostitution (forced to work from Iran and other countries). The magnitude of the statistic conveys how rapidly this form of abuse has grown. The popular destinations for victims of the sex slave trade are the Arab countries in the Persian Gulf (UAE, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar). Traffickers target girls between 13 and 17 to send to Arab countries. The number of Iranian women and girls who are deported from Persian Gulf countries indicates the Magnitude of the trade.

5.1 Middle East - State of CSEC/ Attitudes toward CSEC [PDF]

www.ecpat.net/eng/ecpat_inter/Publication/Other/English/Html_page/4th_a4a/English/Mdeast.pdf

While Israel, Jordan and Lebanon indicate a tacit willingness to address the issue, the majority of the countries in the region have not conducted research and deny the possibility that children are being sexually exploited for commercial purposes. Open discussions of sex related issues are regarded as a social taboo thus further explaining the lack of research and acknowledgement of CSEC. While the extent of child prostitution in the Middle East region is unknown, anecdotal evidence indicates that there is a large problem in selected areas of the region.

Commercial sexual exploitation of children - Middle East/North Africa region

These countries also have in common, however, a number of constraints that have hindered preparation of national plans of action. In all the countries of the region, there is cultural resistance to addressing the problem because the subject is largely taboo. Often the issue is dealt with more generally under headings such as ‘violence’ and ‘trauma’. This means that there has been no regional consensus on defining CSEC in law; in some countries, for example, it is looked upon as an indecent act, in others as rape, although in all 20 countries there is some section of the penal code that can be invoked against sexual abuse and exploitation.

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