Child Exploitation

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Most people have no idea how large the problem truly is.

TRAVEL AND SEX

The commercial sexual exploitation of children affects millions of children each year, in
countries on every continent. One form of this exploitation is the growing phenomenon of
Child Sex Tourism (CST). Persons who travel from their own country to a foreign country to
engage in a commercial sex act with a child commit CST. The crime is fueled by weak law
enforcement, the Internet, ease of travel, and poverty.
Tourists engaging in CST typically travel from their home countries to developing countries.
Sex tourists from Japan, for example, travel to Thailand, and Americans tend to travel to
Mexico or Central America. “Situational abusers” do not intentionally travel to seek sex with
a child but take advantage of children sexually once they are in country. “Preferential child
sex abusers” or pedophiles travel for the purpose of exploiting children.
In response to the growing phenomenon of CST, intergovernmental organizations, the
tourism industry, and governments have begun to address the issue. World Congresses
Against Commercial Sexual Exploitation convened in Stockholm and Yokohama in 1996
and 2001, drawing significant international attention to the issue. The World Tourism
Organization established a task force to combat CST and promulgated a Global Code of
Conduct for Tourism in 1999. Over the last five years, there has been a worldwide increase
in the prosecution of child sex tourism offenses. Today, 32 countries have extraterritorial
laws that allow the prosecution of their nationals for crimes committed abroad, regardless
of whether the offense is punishable in the country where it occurred.
Several countries have taken commendable steps to combat child sex tourism. For
example, France’s Ministry of Education along with travel industry representatives
developed guidelines on CST for tourism school curricula, and state-owned Air France
allocates a portion of in-flight toy sales to fund CST awareness programs. Brazil
implemented a national and international awareness campaign on sex tourism. Italy
requires tour operators to provide information regarding its extraterritorial law on child sex
offenses, and nearly every Swedish tour operator has signed a code of conduct agreeing
to educate its staff about CST. Cambodia established police units focused on combating
child sex tourism and has arrested and extradited foreign pedophiles. Japan prosecutes its
citizens caught having sex with children in other countries.