Child sex tourism (CST) is tourism for the purpose of engaging in the prostitution of children, which is commercially facilitated child sexual abuse. The definition of child in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child is "every human being below the age of 18 years". Child sex tourism results in both mental and physical consequences for the exploited children, which may include sexually transmitted infections (including HIV/AIDS), "drug addiction, pregnancy, malnutrition, social ostracism, and death", according to the State Department of the United States. Child sex tourism, part of the multibillion-dollar global sex tourism industry, is a form of child prostitution within the wider issue of commercial sexual exploitation of children. Child sex tourism victimizes approximately 2 million children around the world.Klain, Prostitution of Children and Child-Sex Tourism: An Analysis of Domestic and International Responses 1999, ABA Center on Children and the Law, page 33 cited in The children who perform as prostitutes in the child sex tourism trade often have been lured or abducted into sexual slavery.
Users of children for commercial and sexual purposes can be categorized by motive. Although pedophiles are popularly associated with child sex tourism, they are not the majority of users. There are two types of offenders: preferential abusers who specifically prefer children, because they seek to build a relationship with a child or because they perceive the risk of sexually transmitted infections to be lower; and situational users, which are abusers who do not actively seek out children but for whom the actual act is opportunistic. For situational users, there may be a lack of concern to check the age of a prostitute before engaging in sexual activity.
Travelling child sex offenders can use the Internet to plan their trips by seeking and exchanging information about opportunities for child sex tourism and locations where vulnerable children may be found, often in low-income areas. Multiple governments have enacted laws allowing the prosecution of their citizens for child sexual abuse committed abroad. While such laws may deter situational offenders who act impulsively, individuals who travel specifically to exploit children are less likely to be dissuaded.
Background Child sex tourism has been closely linked to poverty, armed conflicts, rapid industrialization, and exploding population growth. In Latin America and Southeast Asia, for instance, street children often turn to prostitution as a last resort. Additionally, vulnerable children are easy targets for exploitation by traffickers. Also, child victim ages have been found in Cambodia, Myanmar, the Philippines, and Thailand to range from 6 to 11 years old, followed by 12 to 15 years old, and 15 to 17.
In 2012, the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography reported: "Countries of origin of international child sex tourists vary depending on the regions, but the demand is usually recognized as coming from the industrialized countries, including the richer countries of Europe, North America, the Russian Federation, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.
Australians, for instance, have been identified as the largest group of sex tourists prosecuted in Thailand (31 percent of the total). Of the 146 cases investigated by Action Pour Les Enfants (APLE) in Cambodia between 2003 and April 2012, 32 were American, 24 French and 20 Vietnamese. In the coastal regions of Kenya, for example, 30 percent were residents and 70 percent of the abusers were foreign: Italians (18 percent), Germans (14 percent), Swiss (12 percent). Tourists coming from Uganda and the United Republic of Tanzania were fifth and sixth on the list. In Costa Rica, according to available information, between the 1999 and 2005, the Child Exploitation Unit had arrested a total of 74 persons on suspicion of commercial sexual exploitation of children. Of those arrested, 56 were Costa Rican nationals and 18 foreign nationals".
In Thailand, the exact number of child-prostitutes is not known, but Thailand's Health System Research Institute reports that children in prostitution make up 40% of prostitutes in Thailand. In Cambodia, it has been estimated that about a third of all prostitutes are under 18. In India, the federal police say that around 1.2 million children are believed to be involved in prostitution. Up until circa 2012, Brazil has been considered to have the worst child sex trafficking record after Thailand. As per Chris Rogers’ report on BBC World, "Now Brazil is overtaking Thailand as the world's most popular sex-tourist destination". DLN reports that "Brazil at the moment is on a high trend of child sex tourism and is all geared to take up the first spot beating out Thailand."
Sex tourism targeting children creates huge monetary incentives for traffickers. Human trafficking impacts an estimated 1.2 million child victims. In 2009 the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crimes (UNODC) stated that 79% of all global trafficking is for sexual exploitation, which is one of the fastest growing criminal activities in the world.
UNICEF notes that sexual activity is often seen as a private matter, making communities reluctant to act and intervene in cases of sexual exploitation. These attitudes make children far more vulnerable to sexual exploitation. Most exploitation of children takes place as a result of their absorption into the adult sex trade where they are exploited by local people and sex tourists. The Internet provides an efficient global networking tool for individuals to share information on destinations and procurement.
In cases involving children, the U.S. has relatively strict domestic laws that hold accountable any American citizen or permanent resident of the U.S. who travels abroad for the purpose of engaging in illicit conduct with a minor. However, child pornography, sex tourism and human trafficking remain fast-growing industries. In September 2009 New Jersey Republican representative Chris Smith introduced H.R. 1623, the International Megan's Law. Similar to the domestic Megan's Law (named after Megan Kanka of New Jersey), which provides for community notification when a sex offender is living in the area, H.R. 1623 would alert officials abroad when U.S. sex offenders intend to travel, and likewise encourage other countries to keep sex offender lists and to notify the U.S. when a known sex offender may be coming to the United States for sex tourism. While there are serious problems with the sex offender registries in the United States, human rights organizations such as ECPAT and UNICEF believe this would be a step in the right direction.
Webcam child sex tourism According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation estimate, there are 750,000 predators online at any given time in 40,000 public chat rooms. Offers from 20,000 internet users to pay for webcam sex performances were found in a 10-week investigation conducted from a warehouse in Amsterdam, in the Terre des hommes Dutch action against WCST, using "Sweetie", a 3D computer model. Out of 21,000 perpetrators, 1,000 were identified from Australia, Canada, Jamaica, Germany, Ghana, India, Italy, Mauritius, the Netherlands, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States. 110 of the alleged online abusers were based in the UK and another 254 were traced to computers in the US.Britons among 1,000 snared in webcam child sex sting, The Guardian, 4 November 2013 Together with Avaaz.org, Terre des Hommes Netherlands has created an online petition to pressure governments to adopt proactive investigation policies in order to protect children against webcam child sex tourism.
Global response In recent years there has been an increase in the prosecution of child sex tourism offenses. At least 38 countries have extraterritorial laws that allow their citizens to be prosecuted specifically for child sexual abuse crimes committed while abroad, and another 31 nations have more general extraterritorial laws that could be used to prosecute their citizens for crimes committed during child sex tourism trips. As of May 2016, 173 countries have signed and ratified the Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Children Pornography which is "Deeply concerned at the widespread and continuing practice of sex tourism, to which children are especially vulnerable". It also obliges parties to pass laws within their own territories against these practices "punishable by appropriate penalties that take into account their grave nature". In response to CST, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), the tourism industry, and governments have begun to address the issue. The World Tourism Organization (WTO) established a task force to combat CST. The WTO, ECPAT (End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes) and Nordic tour operators created a global Code of Conduct for the Sexual Exploitation of Children in Travel and Tourism in Travel and Tourism in 1996. As of April 2013, over 1200 travel companies from 40 countries had signed the code.
International law enforcement activities The United States' Homeland Security Investigations participates in investigating and capturing child sex tourists. In 2003 ICE launched "Operation Predator", leading to the arrest of over 11,000 child sexual abusers, including more than 1,100 outside the United States. While ICE agents refuse to comment on their means and methods of operation, media reports have suggested the use of undercover agents, internet sting operations, and sophisticated technologies. ICE agents in Bangkok did say however that they often receive information from local NGOs about foreigners in Thailand whom they suspect of engaging in child sexual abuse. Sometimes U.S. based law enforcement, such as local sheriffs' departments and parole officers, inform them of known sex offenders who are traveling to the region. In both cases, local ICE agents work with their Royal Thai Police counterparts to monitor the suspects’ movements while in Thailand.Jon Fox Sex Laws in Thailand Part 3 Civil Society and Law Enforcement The UK police and the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) are actively involved in monitoring child sex tourists and do prosecute. INTERPOL actively pursues offenders as well.
Policing of child sex tourism
Asia Cambodia: The Trafficking in Persons Report of 2010 reports that the sale of virgin girls continues to be a serious problem in Cambodia, and that a significant number of Asian and other foreign men travel to Cambodia to engage in child sex tourism. Cambodia's 1996 Law on Suppression of the Kidnapping, Trafficking, and Exploitation of Human Persons contains legislation against the commercial sexual exploitation of children, and while the law focuses largely on trafficking, it also addresses prostitution. The age of consent in Cambodia is 15, and the law does not specifically define or prohibit the prostitution of children. It is estimated that 1/3 of prostitutes in Cambodia are children.World Vision, “The Child Sex Tourism Prevention Project” , 2010 China: The Trafficking in Persons Report of 2010 reports that the government of China did not take sufficient measures to reduce demand for forced labor, commercial sex acts, or child sex tourism.US Department of State, “Trafficking in Persons Report”, 14 June 2010