Article 34 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child calls on all countries to prevent "a) the inducement or coercion of a child to engage in any unlawful sexual activity; b) the exploitative use of children in prostitution or other unlawful sexual practices; and c) the exploitative use of children in pornographic performances and materials."
Likened by some to torture in the depth of the damage and trauma it inflicts, the sexual exploitation of children is one of the gravest infringements of rights that children can endure.
Like child labor, it is everywhere. It runs the sordid gamut from incest and sexual abuse by friends and family members to the enforced, servile marriage of the too-young girl to the systematic commercial plundering of children and young teenagers in lucrative prostitution and pornography markets.
Even in those countries with well-developed law enforcement systems, the organized abuse of children still flourishes. An estimated 300,000 young people below the age of 18 are involved in prostitution in the United States, and child prostitution and pornography are significant problems in parts of Europe and the Russian Federation.
Few children, even those running away from unhappy and violent homes, readily become prostitutes. Many are kidnapped, sold by relatives or tricked into brothel captivity by promises of legitimate employment. Girls employed as domestic servants may become prostitutes after enduring years of sexual abuse by their employers. Many are transported far from their homes and some to other countries where they are isolated by language and their illegal status. Coercion, intimidation, violence, drugs and degradation are used to compel submission.
The physical toll is horrendous, exposing children to the risk of pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases. AIDS is a deadly reality for many. In Thailand, one study found that a third of the children involved in prostitution tested HIV-positive.
Local customers may have created the trade, but growing numbers of tourists from industrialized countries are now traveling to the developing world for the purpose of sexually exploiting children.
A review of 160 foreigners arrested in Asia for sexual abuse of children between 1992 and 1994 showed the accused to be 25 percent American, 18 percent German, 14 percent Australian, 12 percent British and 6 percent French. Australia, Denmark, France, Germany, Japan, Norway, Sweden and the United States now have laws permitting the prosecution of their citizens for sex crimes against children committed outside their countries.
Action to control the sexual exploitation of children has begun on several fronts.
In the Philippines, a 1991 law targets the adult procurers, brothel owners, and abusers of children. Several communities have also created volunteer patrols to monitor bars and brothels for the presence of children.
In India, the Domestic Workers' Movement offers legal protection, education and counseling to its members, many of whom have been sexually abused.
In Recife, Brazil, the Casa de Passagem program offers drop-in facilities, residential care, counseling and job opportunities for girls living on the streets.
Interpol's Standing Working Party on Offenses against Minors shares information between police forces on known pedophiles.
One nongovernmental organization, End Child Prostitution in Asian Tourism (ECPAT), has been particularly effective in agitating for political action and legal reform. The organization now intends to campaign against child "sex tourism," not just in Asia but worldwide.
In August 1996, delegates from over 100 countries attended the World Conference Against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children in Stockholm. The conference was sponsored by UNICEF, the Swedish government and a private advocacy group. The goal of the conference was to raise international awareness of the growing problem of sexual exploitation of children. Statistics indicate that over 1 million children are used in child pornography and prostitution. The following estimates, for a limited number of countries only, serve to illustrate the scale of the problem. All estimates are for children under 18 except Bangladesh, which covers children aged 12 to 16.
Bangladesh: 10,000
Cambodia: 2,000
India: 400,000 - 500,000
Pakistan (children from Bangladesh): 40,000
Philippines: 60,000
Sri Lanka: 30,000
Thailand: 100,000
United States: 300,000
Viet Nam*: 8,000
* Recent estimate (January 1995) by the Ministry of Labor, Government of Viet Nam. The estimate cited by ECPAT in The Progress of Nations 1994 was 40,000.
Sources:
United States National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, cited in UNICEF Breaking the walls of silence, a UNICEF background paper on the sexual exploitation of children, July 1994.
Asian nations: Ron O'Grady, The rape of the innocent, ECPAT (Thailand), 1994.
Source: The Progress of Nations 1995, Copyright 1995 by United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). Published by UNICEF.
