TassaTag

Be Aware

 

Sex Slavery and Trafficking

Though slavery through out the world is considered illegal, there are 27 million slaves in the world today. Sex trafficking is a form of this slave trade. ECPAT-USA (End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes)estimates that there are one to two million children enslaved in the sex trade around the world, thousands of children are trafficked into the United States each year, and 25% of the men who exploit children overseas are American. Some are also trafficked for such work as domestic servitude, sweatshop work and other uses.  Because of the vulnerability of children, however, children trafficked for other uses are usually sexually exploited and abused as well.

Sex trafficking in the U.S. is also domestic. The interstate sex trafficking of minors is a growing problem. A 2001 report by the University of Pennsylvania estimated that about 293,000 American youth are currently at risk of becoming victims of commercial sexual exploitation. Most of these children are either runaways or have been abandoned by their families and live on the streets.

One overriding cultural phenomenon contributing to the trafficking of women and children is the tremendous growth in the global sex market. Child prostitution has become a multi million dollar a year business: it is an organized industry with clients, traders, distribution routes and outlets. The internet has a huge pornography industry, including now not just women and teens but also babies. The spread of strip clubs and prostitution locations around the global, the growth of sex tourism (the practice of traveling abroad for the purpose of exploiting the local population) all increase the demand for women and children to be bought and sold in the industry.  Younger children ( some as young as six years old) are demanded because it is believed they are healthier and “cleaner” and less likely to be infected with AIDS/HIV. In some countries there is a belief that sex with a virgin makes men more vital. In some countries there is a belief that sex with a virgin cures AIDS.

Sex traffickers use a variety of methods to “condition” their victims:


The lives of child prostitutes are almost too appalling to confront. Studies indicate that child prostitutes serve between two and thirty clients per week, leading to a shocking estimated base of anywhere between 100 to 1500 clients per year, per child. Younger children, many below the age of 10, have been increasingly drawn into serving tourists.



Child prostitutes live in constant fear:

Those who profit from victimizing children and adults in the sex trade are only one half of the problem. The other half are those who patronize this exploitive industry. The Enactment of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA) made sex trafficking a serious violation of Federal law in the U.S. P.L. 103-322, Sec. 2423, Sub-sec.b also made it illegal for Americans to travel overseas to have sex with children under 18. Violators can be fined or imprisoned for up to 30 years or both. This means, if the crime takes place in a foreign country, American tourists will be liable under U.S. law and tried in the U.S. court.

 

Child Sex Tourism

"On this trip, I've had sex with a 14 year-old girl in Mexico and a 15 year-old in Colombia. I'm helping them financially. If they don't have sex with me, they may not have enough food. If someone has a problem with me doing this, let UNICEF feed them."    --Retired U.S. Schoolteacher

Child sex tourism, the act of traveling abroad to have sex with a minor (under 18), is a growing phenomenon in today’s shrinking world. Though not prevalent in the U.S., it is very prevalent in other countries, and of the child sex tourists, perhaps 25% are American. Sex tourism is a very lucrative industry that spans the globe. In 1998, the International Labour Organization reported its calculations that 2-14% of the gross domestic product of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand derives from sex tourism. In addition, while Asian countries, including Thailand, India, and the Philippines, have long been prime destinations for child-sex tourists, in recent years, tourists have increasingly traveled to Mexico and Central America for their sexual exploits as well. 


Child sex tourists include situational child sex exploiters and preferential child sex exploiters or pedophiles.  Situational child sex exploiter are sex tourists who may not have traveled with the intent to sexually exploit children, but just accepted an offer made or were influenced by peers, advertising or other media.  They frequently do not consider themselves child sex exploiters.  But they are unconcerned whether the person from whom they are purchasing sexual services is 12 years old or 18 years old or older, as long as the person meets certain requirements that he, the exploiter, desires in a sex partner.  He may sexually exploit a young teen without acknowledging he is a child sex exploiter and without the society considering him a child sex exploiter.

Child sex tourism is connected to trafficking because traffickers recruit and bring children to certain cities that sex tourists are known to frequent to facilitate the sale of children. Examples are Bangkok and the border area between Mexico and the United States. Children are trafficked to these well known sex tour destinations so that men have easy access to the children.

There is a sex tourism industry that promotes sex tours to many destinations. They usually do not promote child sex tours, at least in the United States, but travelers who go on these tours know that at the destination, anything goes. The legitimate travel industry does not support commercial sexual exploitation of children. But its facilities may be used to that effect.  It is NOT a victimless act. The damage done to children both physically and mentally is permanent and often fatal.

What You Can Do

Patronize a company that has signed the Code of Conduct when you are traveling. For a full list of companies that have signed the Code of Conduct see: http://www.thecode.org/dokument/documents/signatory-companies-2008.pdf.

Ask why a company hasn’t signed the Code of Conduct if traveling with a company that has not done so. 

Report if you know a foreigner or local person who is exploiting a child or children for sexual purposes.

Report if you know that a hotel, tour operator or travel agent is involved in or making money for exploiting children for sexual purposes.

In your travels, if you are personally asked if you would like a boy or a girl (this question is often asked at pool sites or on beaches around the world) you can do the following: