Commercial sexual exploitation of children
Commercial sexual exploitation of children includes child prostitution , child pornography , child sex tourism and child trafficking . Often this is accompanied by coercion and violence against children, economic exploitation, forced labor and modern slavery.
A declaration from the World Congress against the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children, held in Stockholm in 1996, defined commercial sexual exploitation of children as follows:
- Sexual abuse by adults and monetary or material compensation for this, which is paid to the child or third parties. The child is treated as a sexual object or a commercial object .
There are also circumstances of the commercial sexual exploitation of children in which the sexual abuse of a child is not stopped or reported because other members of a household benefit from the perpetrator's income. Some experts also believe that forced marriages in which one party is under the age of consent also count as part of the commercial sexual exploitation of children. Most child rape, however, does not take place in a commercial context. Domestic violence against children is also usually not part of this topic.
UNICEF believes that sexual exploitation is "one of the worst violations of a child's rights".
species
pornography
Child pornography is a multi-billion dollar business. It includes photos, books, audio tapes, videos, and more. There children are shown how to perform sexual acts with other children, adults or other objects. The children become victims of exploitation, rape, pedophilia and, in extreme cases, murder. According to the LKA Munich and the Federation of German Criminal Investigators, child pornography is distributed via file sharing sites, e-mail distributors or by post; websites play a subordinate role.
Pornography is also often an entry point into human trafficking for the sex industry. Many pimps force children to participate in pornography in order to condition them to think that what they are doing there is natural and normal. The recordings can then in turn be used by the pimps to blackmail the children or to collect money from clients.
| International | National | Regional | Local | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Production format | state-of-the-art audiovisual equipment, professional development and mass production | state-of-the-art audiovisual equipment, professional development and mass production | Private studios, less high quality material | Lower quality in all markets. Direct purchase or exchange, shipping. |
| Distribution channels | Post, courier, direct sales | Adult shops, post, direct sales. | Mail, direct sale or exchange, adult shops | Direct sale or exchange, mail. |
| Producers | Syndicated pedophile rings, entrepreneurs, and freelance photographers. | Organized criminals and freelance photographers. | Mainly freelance porn producers, with the help of local pimps and pedophiles. | Neighborhood pedophiles, sex rings, and pimps. |
| Obfuscation techniques | Mobile production and development facilities, fake identities, mailbox addresses or camouflaged shipping. | Use of middlemen for regular purchases, declarations of consent from legal guardians and mobile production and development facilities. | Frequently changing fake identities of the porn producers, constantly changing children as models and declarations of consent of the legal guardians. | Victims are forced to remain silent or blackmailed. The possibility of the offender to change his place of residence or his good reputation and social power of the offender protect him from any suspicion. |
| status | Widely accessible, mostly produced with third world children. Partly from domestic (industrialized countries) production, which is reactively stopped by the authorities but can never be completely prevented. | Very stable industry, although production is repeatedly interrupted by the authorities. Also resale in other countries. | Very difficult to prevent proactively. Pimps and porn producers use teenage prostitutes and sexually abused children as models. The recordings are often secured later in other countries. Parents' consent gives them a reason to help cover up the crime. Often "legal" suggestive material is also produced that borders on child pornography. | Pornography produced locally is an essential part of the pedophile subculture. This is mostly discovered during police searches or routine examinations of mail. |
prostitution
Around 80 percent of adult prostitutes started prostitution as minors, often between the ages of eleven and fourteen. Children who are forced into prostitution experience irreparable physical and mental damage. Unwanted pregnancies often occur. Sexually transmitted diseases are also common. Prostitutes are often not protected by the police, but treated as criminals.
Child sex tourism
Sex tourism and human trafficking generate income for the destination country. In addition to corruption, this can partly explain why human traffickers have an easy job in some countries. Some travel agencies offer information and tours for "exotic entertainment", which further encourages clients to travel for sexual purposes. Sex tourism brings money to poorly developed countries, where the sexual exploitation of women and children is seen by low-income families as a necessary source of income.
Child trafficking
Child trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation of children sometimes overlap. This is because children who are trafficked are often sexually exploited. Even so, not all children who are trafficked are victims of sexual exploitation. In addition, sexual abuse of trafficked children does not necessarily constitute commercial sexual exploitation of children. Furthermore, all sexual acts that are carried out commercially are seen as part of the subject area, regardless of whether the victim was also trafficked or not.
causes
The demand and supply of children in the sex industry is heavily dependent on the structures of a country. Kevin Bales said the increase in the number of children being sold into prostitution was a consequence of a country's industrial transformation. Girls sold in Thailand mostly come from the northern regions of the country where families depend on crop yields to survive. There daughters are often seen as goods.
Globalization, and the resulting larger market in which children can be sold, has also contributed to the increase in commercial sexual abuse of children. For extremely poor families, the sums paid for children are often difficult to predict. Often the families do not know exactly where they are selling their children.
The worldwide establishment of military bases and large construction projects in developing countries are also factors that increase the sexual exploitation of children there. Here children can easily be sold for large sums, mostly to men from industrialized countries who don't care about the well-being of the children there. "It is sometimes claimed that military personnel are disproportionately involved in pedophilia compared to the population."
Once a family has sold a daughter to a brothel , it is likely that they will later sell younger daughters as well. It is easier to get the younger sisters into it as they are impressed with the older sisters' money and clothes. You go into prostitution without knowing what the consequences will be.
Dangers and Consequences
Children who are exploited in pornography, brothels and human trafficking are at high risk of sexually transmitted diseases, violence or mental illness. Research has shown that "fifty to ninety percent of children in brothels in Southeast Asia are infected with HIV ". Often times, children sold into the sex industry are beaten and raped until they are broken enough to stop trying to escape. Physical consequences can include infertility , cervical cancer , assault, and sometimes death. After a certain point in time, there are often unwanted pregnancies. When these are found or HIV infection is found, the owners often throw the girls out of the brothels, leaving them homeless. Many children survive this time only through dissociation (separation of psychological perception from the body). Many children begin to feel worthless and see themselves as "whores". Some develop suicidal thoughts. Other psychological consequences are sleeping and eating disorders, confusion about gender identity and one's own sexuality, hysteria, but also a murder frenzy.
In addition to the physical and psychological consequences, many are also afraid of the police and the justice system. Many girls become illegal immigrants by being smuggled across borders. If they manage to escape the brothel or the pimp, they will be arrested by the police for lack of valid papers. While in prison, the girls often suffer further abuse from police officers and prison staff.
frequency
While it is not possible to fully grasp the extent of commercial sexual exploitation of children, as it takes place in illegality, the International Labor Organization estimates that 1.8 million children were exploited in prostitution and pornography in 2003.
UNICEF and the United Nations Population Fund estimate that two million children a year are exploited in prostitution and pornography.
Non-governmental organizations
ECPAT
ECPAT (end child prostitution and trafficking) is a non-governmental organization (NGO) that aims to save children who are sexually exploited. Their vision is a world free from child exploitation. One of her first successes was the first world congress against the sexual exploitation of children, which was hosted by the Swedish government. A plan of action under the Convention on the Rights of the Child was developed at the Congress.
ECPAT also supported the establishment of other organizations and programs, for example in Thailand. ECPAT also publishes research reports on the sexual exploitation of children.
ECPAT advises travelers to only book through travel companies that have ratified the Code of Conduct for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation in Travel and Tourism (Code of Conduct for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation in Travel and Tourism) .
World Vision
World Vision is committed to educating children who could easily become victims of traffickers. The organization teaches children the tricks used to lead them into slavery. In addition, the children learn what human trafficking means and what its consequences are. At World Vision, people can get involved by sponsoring a child, urging lawmakers to change laws, volunteering at events, and more.
International agreements
All states of the United Nations except the USA have ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child . Article 34 of this convention binds countries to ensure that children are not forced or encouraged to engage in illegal sexual acts or engage in prostitution or pornography. The majority of states have also signed the additional optional protocol on child selling, child prostitution, and child pornography. It lists more detailed obligations related to child protection, such as reporting and monitoring rules.
The aim of this additional protocol is also to obtain reliable data on the sexual exploitation of children. The 2012 World Report on Human Trafficking shows that with the protocol in place, half of the countries that previously did not have adequate child sexual exploitation laws had those laws in place. The number of convictions in this area also increased.
In addition to the protocol, a global action plan has also been implemented. This plan includes strengthening law enforcement agencies by providing them with better training on how to identify victims, step up their investigations, and prosecute and punish corrupt parts of the state system.
Prevention through education
The sexual exploitation of children can be prevented through education. World Vision is a leading organization in educating girls about the dangers and consequences of human trafficking. Furthermore, training the police is an important part. This can, for example, improve how victims can be better identified. The general public also needs to be informed about the harmful consequences of child sexual exploitation for all in order to change consumer attitudes. Some believe that public closings of companies offering sex tours would be an effective deterrent. In addition, potential victims are informed about the pretexts and tricks pimps use. The aforementioned protocol also encourages states to implement preventive measures. This includes educating families about the dangers of sex tourism and human trafficking.
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ Stephen Clift; Simon Carter: Tourism and sex: culture, commerce and coercion (= Tourism, leisure, and recreation series ). Cengage Learning, Andover 2010, ISBN 978-1-85567-636-7 (English).
- ↑ Gerdes, Louise I., 1953-: Prostitution and sex trafficking: opposing viewpoints . Greenhaven Press, Detroit 2006, ISBN 0-7377-3329-2 .
- ↑ Lutz Donnerhacke: Netzsperren: Von der Leyens dubious argumentation . In: The time . May 20, 2009, ISSN 0044-2070 ( online [accessed November 27, 2019]).
- ↑ Marihug Cedeno: Pimps, Johns, and Juvenile Prostitutes: Is New York Doing Enough to Combat the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children. Cornell Journal of Law and Public Policyn, September 15, 2012, accessed October 14, 2019 .
- ↑ Human Trafficking and Prostitution | Essay Examples (en-US) . In: Essay Examples , March 15, 2018. Retrieved April 3, 2018.
- ^ Roby: Women and children in the global sex trade: Toward more effective policy . In: International Social Work . September.
- ^ Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 . US Department of State. October 28, 2000. Archived from the original on March 12, 2009. Retrieved March 22, 2014.
- ↑ Facts on commercial sexual exploitation of children . In: ILO . Archived from the original on January 6, 2009.
- ↑ OHCHR | Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Accessed April 30, 2020 .
- ↑ Commercial sexual exploitation of children - Wikipedia. Accessed April 30, 2020 .
- ^ Casting Light on the Care, Recovery and (Re) integration Needs of Commercially Sexually Exploited Children. Accessed April 30, 2020 (English).
- ^ Sponsor a child through World Vision. In: World Vision. Retrieved April 30, 2020 (American English).