Commercial sexual exploitation of children

Transcription

1 chapter 9 Preventon of traffckng n persons 497 Tool 9.13 Commercal sexual explotaton of chldren Overvew Ths tool looks at legslatve and other measures, such as ethcal gudelnes and campagns, that can be mplemented n order to dscourage the demand for traffcked persons by addressng the problem of sexual explotaton. It s known that thousands of toursts and busnessmen who travel nternatonally engage n sex, ncludng wth chldren, or make pornographc materal. In general, sex tours are arranged nformally among frends or colleagues; however, there have been cases of travel agents beng prosecuted for supplyng and arrangng sex tours. In addton, buyers who travel to other countres to have sex wth women or chldren often feel protected by a sense of anonymty and ratonalze ther behavour n varous ways to mtgate the sense of responsblty they may normally have n ther home countres. They often justfy ther behavour by clamng that t s culturally acceptable n that country or that they are helpng the person by provdng some money. Some of those who seek sex wth a chld mstakenly beleve that they are less lkely to contract HIV/AIDS. Much of the effort to combat chld prosttuton n developng countres concentrates on abuses commtted by foregners, for two reasons: the economc and socal power of the foregn exploter far exceeds that of the chld; and the foregn exploter can easly leave and avod prosecuton. In response to the latter stuaton, many States have resorted to an extraterrtoral jurs - dcton over offences relatng to the sexual explotaton of chldren commtted by ther natonals n other countres. For more nformaton vst: Promsng practce Legslaton Volent Crme Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (Unted States) Under the Crme Act t s llegal for Unted States ctzens to travel abroad wth ntent to engage n any sexual act wth a person under 18 years of age. The penalty for dong so s mprsonment for up to 10 years, a fne, or both. However, ntent s hard to prove and to prosecute n ths regard.

2 498 Toolkt to Combat Traffckng n Persons Sex Offenders Act (Unted Kngdom) The Unted Kngdom Sex Offenders Act was passed n 1997 and makes sexual actvty wth a chld, commtted n an overseas country by a ctzen or resdent of the Unted Kngdom, a crmnal offence punshable n the Unted Kngdom. It s also an offence to plan to travel overseas for sex wth chldren. Crmestoppers hotlne (Unted Kngdom) The Unted Kngdom Home Offce provdes a free Crmestoppers hotlne for use by Brtsh toursts n Gamba to report chld abuse abroad. Awareness-rasng nformaton about chld prosttuton was dstrbuted to toursts by travel companes, nformng toursts what to be alert to. House Bll 2020/Act 82 (Hawa, Unted States) The Hawa state legslature passed House Bll 2020 nto law as Act 82 n May 2004, makng the promoton of travel for the purpose of prosttuton a felony and grounds for revokng the lcence of an offendng travel agent. The full text of House Bll 2020 s avalable at: Crmes (Chld Sex Toursm) Amendment Act 1994 (Australa) The Crmes (Chld Sex Toursm) Amendment Act 1994 came nto force n July Ths Act crmnalzes n Australa any sexual actvty wth a chld under the age of 16 years commtted n an overseas country by an Australan ctzen or Australan resdent. Ths law apples to ndvduals, companes or corporatons and provdes for a term of mprsonment of up to 17 years and fnes of up to 500,000 Australan dollars. The Act also makes t an offence to encourage, beneft or proft from any actvty that promotes sexual actvty wth chldren. Ths Act and other laws of the Commonwealth of Australa can be found at: Codes and Commtments Code of Conduct for the Protecton of Chldren from Sexual Explotaton n Travel and Toursm The Code of Conduct for the Protecton of Chldren from Sexual Explotaton n Travel and Toursm s a jont ntatve of the toursm prvate sector and the chldren s rghts nongovernmental organzaton ECPAT Internatonal, amed at preventng sexual explotaton of chldren at toursm destnatons. The code orgnated from an ECPAT project, funded by UNICEF and supported by the World Toursm Organzaton.

3 chapter 9 Preventon of traffckng n persons 499 The tour operators and ther umbrella organzatons, travel agents, hotels, arlnes, etc., that endorse the Code commt themselves to mplementng the followng measures: 1. To establsh an ethcal polcy regardng commercal sexual explotaton of chldren 2. To tran the personnel n the country of orgn and travel destnatons 3. To ntroduce a clause n contracts wth supplers, statng a common repudaton of commercal sexual explotaton of chldren 4. To provde nformaton to travellers by means of catalogues, brochures, n-flght flms, tcket-slps, home pages etc. 5. To provde nformaton to local key persons at the destnatons 6. To report annually The Code and further nformaton about t are avalable at: Regonal Commtment and Acton Plan of the East Asa and Pacfc Regon aganst Commercal Sexual Explotaton of Chldren Representatves of 25 Governments, n cooperaton wth Unted Natons agences, nternatonal organzatons, non-governmental organzatons and representatves of young people, meetng at the East Asa and Pacfc Regonal Consultaton held from 16 to 18 October 2001 n Bangkok n preparaton for the Second World Congress aganst Commercal Sexual Explotaton of Chldren, commtted themselves to takng acton aganst the commercal sexual explotaton of chldren, ncludng traffckng of chldren, n the areas of: chldren/ young people s partcpaton; coordnaton and cooperaton; preventon; protecton; and recovery and rentegraton. The Regonal Commtment and Acton Plan s avalable at: Projects Campagns amed at lessenng demand The End Chld Prosttuton, Chld Pornography and Traffckng of Chldren for Sexual Purposes (ECPAT) campagn s an nternatonal movement to rase awareness of these ssues. ECPAT Internatonal s a network of organzatons and ndvduals workng to elm nate the commercal sexual explotaton of chldren. Local campagns hghlghtng extra terrtoral jursdcton and warnng that engagng n sex wth mnors s a crmnal offence have been

4 500 Toolkt to Combat Traffckng n Persons successful n many Western countres. In Europe, Australa, New Zealand and Asa, ECPAT has succeeded n gettng arlnes and travel agents to post sgns n arports warnng people that engagng n sex wth mnors s llegal and to dstrbute flers about the brutal nature of the trade. ECPAT Internatonal has specal consultatve status wth the Economc and Socal Councl. Every year, ECPAT Internatonal collaborates wth other non-governmental organzatons, governments and UNICEF to organze a World Congress aganst the Sexual Explotaton of Chldren and Adolescents. More nformaton about ECPAT s avalable at: More nformaton about the World Congress aganst the Sexual Explotaton of Chldren and Adolescents s avalable at: Chld Sex Toursm Preventon Project The Chld Sex Toursm Preventon Project s a jont effort of World Vson, the Unted States Department of State and the Unted States Bureau of Immgraton and Customs Enforcement. The project has a three-pronged strategy: 1. A deterrent meda campagn for would-be chld-sex toursts n Camboda, Costa Rca, Thaland and the Unted States 2. Law enforcement assstance n order to help dentfy chld-sex toursts 3. Preventon programmes through nterventons such as educaton, advocacy and creaton of other means to make a lvng For more nformaton, see: ChldSafe (Camboda) ChldSafe s an non-governmental organzaton-operated campagn n Camboda whch brngs varous actors to the fght aganst sexual explotaton of chldren. By elctng the help of tax, tuk-tuk and motorcycle tax drvers, staff of hotels, guesthouses and restaurants, and toursts n Camboda, ChldSafe creates a network of key people who receve ongong tranng n chld protecton. These persons are able to dentfy chldren at rsk and suspcous behavour of toursts n Camboda so that approprate acton can be taken. More nformaton about the ChldSafe programme s avalable at:

5 chapter 9 Preventon of traffckng n persons 501 Recommended resource Combatng the Traffckng n Chldren for Sexual Purposes: a Tranng Gude ECPAT Internatonal, 2006 Intended for the tranng of mult-stakeholder groups consstng of law enforcement personnel, socal workers and caregvers, ths resource provdes tranng gudelnes and resource materals, ncludng fact sheets to hand out, on the specfc ssue of combatng traffckng n chldren for sexual purposes. Ths tranng gude s avalable at: Dstllng Elements of Good Practce: the Acton Programme aganst Traffckng n Mnors for Sexual Purposes ECPAT Internatonal, 2007 Ths publcaton analyses three examples of successful efforts aganst traffckng n chldren: An awareness-rasng campagn mplemented by Panamor n Costa Rca, as an example of reachng a target audence The mult-dscplnary tranng manual and tranng sessons on human traffckng developed and mplemented by FACE n Thaland as an example of buldng on exstng resources La Strada s hotlne n Ukrane, as an example of preventng chld traffckng and commercal sexual explotaton of chldren whle provdng assstance to chld survvors Ths publcaton s avalable at: Toolkt for Implementng and Montorng the East Asa and Pacfc Regonal Commtment and Acton Plan aganst Commercal Sexual Explotaton of Chldren Ths toolkt (Unted Natons publcaton, Sales No. E.06.II.F.17), compled n 2006 by the Emergng Socal Issues Dvson of the Economc and Socal Commsson for Asa and the Pacfc of the Unted Natons, s composed of three chapters: 1. Tools for developng natonal plans of acton aganst commercal sexual explotaton of chldren 2. Stuatonal analyss of research nto commercal sexual explotaton of chldren: basc approaches and tools

6 502 Toolkt to Combat Traffckng n Persons 3. Plotng nformaton on the commercal sexual explotaton of Chldren: experences from East Asa The toolkt provdes experence, good practce and practce tools and can serve as a practcal reference for key actors seekng to learn from past practce and to adapt lessons to ft ther local and natonal contexts, partcularly n the East Asa and Pacfc regon. The toolkt s avalable at: