Facts on child sex tourism
Child sex tourism is when people sexually exploit children while travelling to foreign countries. A distinction is made between two types of sex tourists. The preferential offender is one that travels with the intent to have sex with children and the opportunistic (occasional) offender is someone who takes advantage of the situation and supply of children while on a business or recreational trip.Most countries in the world have legislations that forbid all forms of sexual exploitation of children. And International Declarations from the UN, Council of Europe, ILO and more protect the rights of children. Despite this, children are still exploited in the commercial sex trade. Among the offenders are Swedish citizens. Very few of them are convicted for their crimes.
Thailand, Cambodia and Costa Rica are popular ’source’ countries among child sex offenders globally. In the case of Swedish offenders, we can only guess their destinations of preference; child sex tourism has received too little political focus. In a global perspective, the typical offender profile is a male adult from a rich country travelling to a poor country with a highly developed sex industry. There are also female buyers.
Part of the problem is poverty causing struggling families to give up their sons and daughters in the hope of a better future for them in the city. Another challenge is the widespread corruption of authorities, facilitating the illegal trade of children for sexual purposes.
About Ecpat
ECPAT is a global network of organisations and individuals working together to eliminate child sex tourism, child pornography and the trafficking of children for sexual purposes. It seeks to encourage the world community to ensure that children everywhere enjoy their fundamental rights free and secure from all forms of commercial sexual exploitation. The ECPAT acronym stands for 'End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes'.ECPAT is cooperating with the travel industry through a Code of Conduct against child sex tourism. The Code of Conduct was developed by ECPAT Sweden in 1997/98 with assistance from UNWTO and representatives from the travel industry. The Code is a CSR-tool intended for actors in the tourist industry that want to reduce the risk of children being commercially and sexually exploited within their sphere of influence.
ECPAT has Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations (ECOSOC).
Useful links:
ecpat.net
thecode.org
