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

Child Prostitution

The Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children

Oriental Republic of Uruguay [ Country-by-Country Reports ]

The Oriental Republic of Uruguay [map] is the second smallest country in South America, and extends from its short Atlantic coastline along the north bank of the Río de la Plata to the Uruguay River, which separates it from Argentina (W). Brazil is to the North. Its capital and largest city is Montevideo. Uruguay is going through a profound economic crisis ranked by analysts as one of the most serious in the country's history. Uruguay's economic and social situation has absorbed the bulk of the government's and the population's attention, with a view to finding solutions for the pressing circumstances.

CAUTION:  The following links and accompanying text have been culled from the web to illuminate the situation in Uruguay. 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 - In 2002, the state government of Maldonado reported that sex tourism and child prostitution had increased in a number of locations in the state. There are also reports of child prostitution in rural areas with high unemployment rates.. Several types of prostitution have been reported, including of very poor and homeless children around factories and in slums, in downtown bars and pubs, on the street, and through pimps.

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

TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS - According to police sources, commercial sexual exploitation of women and children occurred mostly in the states bordering Brazil. There also was concern about possible prostitution rings exploiting children in Montevideo and the resort areas of Punta del Este and Maldonado, where taxi drivers or hotel staff may be involved. There were isolated reports of prostitution by boys. Anecdotal evidence indicated that, in recent years, commercial sexual exploitation of children through prostitution has increased, and minors often engaged in prostitution alongside adults. Police sources indicated that traffickers often perpetrated other trans-border crime such as drug smuggling. Children's rights NGOs received reports that minors resorted to prostitution to survive or to assist their families. INAU estimated that 90 percent of minors engaged in prostitution did so to assist their families who allowed or actively promoted the activity.

Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) - 1996

[6] The Committee is concerned at the insufficient measures adopted to harmonize national legislation with the principles and provisions of the Convention.

[7] The Committee, while recognizing the efforts undertaken by the authorities in the collection of data, is concerned at the insufficient measures adopted to collect disaggregated data on the situation of all children, particularly those belonging to the most disadvantaged groups.

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

[B] COUNTRY UPDATES – URUGUAY – Over the last year no progress has been made in implementing the Stockholm Agenda for Action in Uruguay. There have been no attempts to develop a national plan of action and the Children’s Code in force still dates back to 1934. Despite a consensus by both NGOs and the government of the urgent need to change the legislation so that it conforms with the norms of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the introduction of a new text to amend the Code continues to be postponed.

The National Institute for Minors (Instituto Nacional del Menor) has created a commission to address CSEC. At the time of publication, the commission had only been formed for a month. The fact that a commission had been formed indicates that the Uruguayan government is finally taking a step, albeit an initial one, to address the problem.

Trafficking In Persons Report

[18.C] The number of minors engaged in prostitution has increased in the past year according to AMEPU, Casa de los Ninos, IIN and INAME. The increase is attributed to the sustained economic problems in the country, a dwindling middle class and a growing number of families that are subsisting in poverty. The result is a growing acceptance by poor families of child prostitution as a source of income.

ECPAT Affiliate -  La Casa de los Niños

http://www.ecpat.net/eng/Ecpat_network/Groups/groups.asp?countryid=186&regionid=2

La Casa de los Niños focuses on two kinds of activities. The first is to develop programs to treat and rehabilitate victims of commercial and non-commercial sexual exploitation of children. The second type of activity is the continuous training of professionals from all fields related to this problem (police, judicial system, education system, health care system) and social operators from different intervention levels in the detection of CSEC.

Sex Exploitation a Growing Problem

“The money that Yamila took in daily was generally the only thing sustaining the family”, her mother said when a court prosecuted her for the crime of inherent omission of the duties of parental authority. The mother denied that she forced her daughter into prostitution.

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