Previously unaffected areas are now being targeted by tourists intent on sexually abusing children, a charity has claimed.
Child sex tourism has become a global problem, according to End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and the Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes (or ECPAT for short).
“Sex offenders are going to countries all over the world,” says Melbourne-born Christine Beddoe, the director of the UK branch of ECPAT.
“They are increasingly targeting places in which they don’t think they’ll get caught.”
What is sex tourism?
Put simply, sex tourism is when someone travels with the primary purpose of having sex. But it is split into adult sex tourism and child sex tourism.
The former involves consenting adults, and often prostitution, whether legal in the country in question or illegal but with the laws not enforced in practice. It usually involves an organised element, such as specialised tours, and notorious red light districts. Las Vegas, Amsterdam and Bangkok are probably the best known destinations.
Child sex tourism
Child sex-tourism is a lot more complex, and more difficult to pin down. Some of the victims are child prostitutes, some are essentially slaves and others are ‘groomed’ by rich Westerners posing as good Samaritans.
According to ECPAT, many offenders will spend time ingratiating themselves with the child and family, leading them to believe that they are trying to help them out of poverty. ECPAT also believes that the use of the internet has had a significant impact in recent years, both in terms of spreading child pornography and the exchange of information.
The impact
For the children involved, the impact is clearly devastating. The risk of sexually transmitted diseases is high, and the emotional and mental damage of abuse is well documented. Victims can end up being socially ostracised, addicted to drugs and pregnant by their abusers.
There are also issues of erosion of trust. In areas where child sex tourism is rife, single white Western males can automatically be looked upon with suspicion. This can potentially have an impact on area’s economic development – it can make things hard for the likes of aid agencies. A distrust of foreigners can also hamper legitimate tourism development.
The new hotspots
Local and international police action has largely concentrated on areas well known for child sex tourism, such as southern Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.
According to Beddoe, this has led to offenders broadening their horizons. “I do think that what we’re seeing is an increase in new destinations,” she says. “Offenders are going to areas such as Northern Thailand, off-the-beaten track parts of Africa and the Pacific Islands.”
India has also seen increased sex tourism traffic in recent years.
Another major concern is based around institutions such as orphanages. Beddoe says that a lack of checks and balances over the backgrounds of foreign volunteers can lead to the most vulnerable children being abused.
In many cases, offenders can turn up at a poorly-funded third world orphanage, offer their assistance and be taken at their word without questioning.
What can be done to stop it?
According to ECPAT, one of the major problems is that onus to stop child sex tourism usually falls on the country in which the abuse takes place. These countries usually have poor, underfunded police forces that simply cannot afford to monitor suspicious foreigners 24 hours a day.
A common call is that the responsibility should be shifted to the richer countries that the offenders come from, but there is often the issue of evidence.
Another problem is that a lot is dependent on co-operation between police forces in the respective countries. Australia, for example, has close ties and bilateral agreements in place with some countries, but doesn’t have the apparatus in place with others.
ECPAT is calling for powerful international or regional agreements that cover the issue, but this is easier said than done.
Australia is more progressive than many other countries on child sex tourism. Since 1994, it has been illegal for an Australian citizen to have sex with children overseas, and under the law, offenders can be prosecuted on their return to Australia.
What can you do about it?
The Australian branch of ECPAT is called Childwise (www.childwise.net). Donation forms can be downloaded from the Childwise website for those wanting to directly give funding towards protecting children from sexual abuse overseas. The site also has details of the extent of the problem and staff are happy to discuss concerns with anyone who suspects someone they know of abusing children.
Those with concerns and suspicions can also contact the Australian Federal Police’s specialist child Protection Operations Team (http://www.afp.gov.au/national/child_protection_operations/child_sex_tourism.html). The number to call is 1800 813 784.
There is also an international group of companies that have signed up to a Code of Conduct (www.thecode.org), pledging to do all they can to prevent child sex tourism. These include hotel chains, tour operators and travel agents. Travellers to areas affected by sex tourism can choose to use these companies if they are worried that they may otherwise be giving money to companies that benefit from child abuse.
This article was originally written for Ninemsn.
Copyright David Whitley
