Child Rights Glossary : S

SEXUAL ABUSE/EXPLOITATION
Each year, some one million children enter the sex trade, exploited by people or circumstances.

Whatever the underlying causes, the agents involved or the associated issues, commercial sexual exploitation is always fundamentally defined in the same way: it is the exploitation, for sexual purposes, and for financial or in-kind profit, of children (defined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child as a person under the age of 18 or as otherwise defined by an individual country). It is an extremely hazardous form of child labour, an abuse of power over children and a way to dominate them.

Additionally, although the phenomenon of “sex tourism” – involving mainly men travelling to other countries to engage in sex with children – is well documented, commercial sexual exploitation of children is predominantly a local issue, with both clients and agents coming from the local community.

The exact nature of the exploitation differs from one country to another: 1 The regional descriptions which follow are simplified in order to give a generalised global “snapshot” of the principal characteristics of commercial sexual exploitation of children in different regions. In reality, the phenomenon is complex and can take many forms. However, the descriptions indicate the form of exploitation most usually recognised as predominating in each region.

In Asia, for example, commercial sexual exploitation of children typically takes the form of local men using the services of child prostitutes, or of so-called “sex tourism”. Sometimes families or friends sell children into the sex trade, sometimes knowingly, sometimes in the mistaken belief that the children will become domestic servants or otherwise earn money for the family. Sometimes the children are kidnapped, trafficked across borders or from rural to urban areas, and moved from place to place so that they effectively “disappear”.

In South America, information has come principally from people working with children who are already forced to earn a living on the streets and may ultimately either choose or be forced to enter the sex trade. By the precariousness of their situation, they are vulnerable to pimps and other criminal elements who exploit them for profit and offer them “protection” which masks abuse, often violence and too often drug-dependency. Sometimes, however, they enter the sex trade “voluntarily”, seeking to earn more from sex than they can from other forms of street labour, to finance a drug habit, purchase consumer goods otherwise out of their reach, or simply to be able to eat.

In Europe, children are trafficked across the borders of mainland Europe from poorer countries in the East to wealthier countries where the market for children is fuelled by organised paedophile rings and high-tech information services. There has also been an increase in consumer-driven child prostitution, where out-of-control consumerism and the pressure of advertising and expectations push children into the sex trade in order to buy high-cost consumer items or drugs. This phenomenon also exists in industrialised countries like the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States and Australia.

In Africa, evidence suggests that the employment of children as domestic servants often includes sexual exploitation. There are also indications that children are employed in hotels, restaurants and brothels, where they are sexually exploited. Additionally, there is evidence of commercial sexual exploitation of children – particularly girls – in refugee camps, where the large number of single men assembled in one place drives demand for sex, and of exploitation of camp children by men in surrounding communities. This same phenomenon underlies the evidence of children – this time often young boys – recruited into the armed forces not only to fight but to service the soldiers In many parts of Africa, governments continue to deny that the problem exists.

In the Middle East, too, some governments deny the problem exists. The recruitment of children as domestic help, however, is common and, as in Africa, often extends to use of the children for sexual purposes. Moreover, early marriage has been seen as a convenient means of “legitimising” sex with children and fuelling demand. In such situations, there is invariably an exchange of money or goods. The practice of polygamy is considered by some to reinforce the low status of women and girls and lead to a denial of their dignity and rights, making them vulnerable to exploitation.

This outline picture of the range and varieties of commercial sexual exploitation of children in the world only hints at the complexity of the problem. The covert nature of the activity, moreover, means that precise data are difficult to obtain, and the not infrequent involvement of local authorities and law enforcement agents means that often those who should be identifying and reporting the incidence of commercial sexual exploitation are hiding the facts.

Source: http://www.unesco.org

Because while sustainable development may require different actions in every region of the world, the efforts to build a truly sustainable way of life require the integration of action in three key areas:

1. Economic growth and Equity – Today’s interlinked, global economic systems demand an integrated approach in order to foster responsible long-term growth while ensuring that no nation or community is left behind.
2. Conserving Natural Resources and the Environment – To conserve our environmental heritage and natural resources for future generations, economically viable solutions must be developed to educe resource consumption, stop pollution and conserve natural habitants.
3. Social development – Throughout the world, people require jobs, food, education, energy, health care, water and sanitation. While addressing these needs, the world community must also ensure that the rich fabric of cultural and social diversity and the rights of workers, are respected, and that all members are of society are empowered to play a role in determining their futures.

Thus the third point clearly recognises the fact that the accomplishment of the sustainable development could remain illusive if “all members of the society” were not empowered to play a role in determining their futures. But when we talk of “members of the society?” in regard to their futures, children would obviously be the first group to consider because they are in many aspects the ones whom the future belongs to.

In his foreword of the brochure for the World Summit on the Sustainable development held 2-11 September 2002, UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, noted that:

"Achieving sustainable development is no easy task. Significant changes will be needed if we are to reach our goal of development that meets the needs of today without sacrificing the ability of future generations to meet their needs."

At this point, it becomes a task for all child rights activists/advocates to ensure that child participation in decision-making is not a political rhetoric but, rather, a principle that remains realistic in almost every approach we take in addressing the problems affecting sustainable development.

Source: http://www.cridoc.net