The Incidence of Sexual Exploitation of Children in Tourism is part of a series of interrelated projects that are carried out within the context of the international Campaign Against Sexual Exploitation of Children in Tourism, co-funded by the European Commission. This publication is divided into two parts that examine the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC) in tourism networks from the perspectives of both tourist-receiving and tourist-sending countries. The report considers the effectiveness of existing international campaigns, identifies critical areas involving the tourism industry and makes recommendations for the prevention of this exploitation in the short and long term. It also includes a number of recommendations of how the tourism industry can work, both in collaboration with other stakeholders and within its own sectors, to end CSEC in tourism.
Countries facing substantial socioeconomic problems where tourism acts as an engine for development often become vulnerable to the phenomenon known as „sex tourism”. South America is a region that shows a high incidence of commercial activities of this kind, which also hides many forms of exploitation, sex trade of children being one of the most serious. What leaves room for its occurrence often are the gaps present in the legislations, along with the obsolete applicability of such laws, or even our indifference as actors capable of provoking social change. This book contains a study that seeks to identify the origins of the occurrence and the legal apparatus available to deal with the incidence of commercial sexual exploitation of children in the region, focusing on Brazil – as a pioneer – and Argentina – a recent country dealing with such an issue. Through an analysis of the evolution of the legal framework in both countries and the international mechanisms the book is also an invitation to the reader to reflect on this unmentioned side of tourism.
Slavery is illegal throughout the world, yet more than twenty-seven million people are still trapped in one of history's oldest social institutions. Kevin Bales's disturbing story of slavery today reaches from brick kilns in Pakistan and brothels in Thailand to the offices of multinational corporations. His investigation of conditions in Mauritania, Brazil, Thailand, Pakistan, and India reveals the tragic emergence of a "new slavery," one intricately linked to the global economy. The new slaves are not a long-term investment as was true with older forms of slavery, explains Bales. Instead, they are cheap, require little care, and are disposable. Three interrelated factors have helped create the new slavery. The enormous population explosion over the past three decades has flooded the world's labor markets with millions of impoverished, desperate people. The revolution of economic globalization and modernized agriculture has dispossessed poor farmers, making them and their families ready targets for enslavement. And rapid economic change in developing countries has bred corruption and violence, destroying social rules that might once have protected the most vulnerable individuals. Bales's vivid case studies present actual slaves, slaveholders, and public officials in well-drawn historical, geographical, and cultural contexts. He observes the complex economic relationships of modern slavery and is aware that liberation is a bitter victory for a child prostitute or a bondaged miner if the result is starvation. Bales offers suggestions for combating the new slavery and provides examples of very positive results from organizations such as Anti-Slavery International, the Pastoral Land Commission in Brazil, and the Human Rights Commission in Pakistan. He also calls for researchers to follow the flow of raw materials and products from slave to marketplace in order to effectively target campaigns of "naming and shaming" corporations linked to slavery. Disposable People is the first book to point the way to abolishing slavery in today's global economy. All of the author's royalties from this book go to fund anti-slavery projects around the world.
Why is child sexual abuse committed primarily by men and male adolescents, unlike other forms of child abuse? Is child sex offending, rather than being a deviant masculine sexual practice, related to normative masculine practices, that is, practices structured on dynamic and changing relations of power? Using a practice-based sociological approach, the relationship between masculinities, sexualities and child sexual abuse is analysed and the power/powerlessness theory is developed to explain the predominantly male problem of child sex offending. The theory postulates that, because the social construction of masculinities involves the construction of dynamic and changing relations of power between men, men's lives are characterised by a combination of power and powerlessness. The book argues that an offender's experiences of powerlessness as a result of his relationships with other men is the key to understanding child sex offending, since sexuality is a key social practice for the alleviation of experiences of powerlessness and for establishing relations of power with other men. In particular, the theory argues that a man's particular attachment to the link between sexuality and experiences of masculinity and power will be a key factor for determining how he does sex and whom he chooses as a sexual partner. In the final chapter, the theory is tested through a re-analysis of offender interviews.
This report summarises findings from a 2012 online survey conducted with over 300 international travellers to Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand and Vietnam. The survey wasconducted to better grasp the sorts of interactions tourists have with children in these countries and to gauge their perceptions of these interactions and of child safe tourism in general.
Every day in the United States, children and adolescents are victims of commercial sexual exploitation and sex trafficking. Despite the serious and long-term consequences for victims as well as their families, communities, and society, efforts to prevent, identify, and respond to these crimes are largely under supported, inefficient, uncoordinated, and unevaluated. Confronting Commercial Sexual Exploitation and Sex Trafficking of Minors in the United States examines commercial sexual exploitation and sex trafficking of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents of the United States under age 18. According to this report, efforts to prevent, identify, and respond to these crimes require better collaborative approaches that build upon the capabilities of people and entities from a range of sectors. In addition, such efforts need to confront demand and the individuals who commit and benefit from these crimes. The report recommends increased awareness and understanding, strengthening of the law's response, strengthening of research to advance understanding and to support the development of prevention and intervention strategies, support for multi-sector and interagency collaboration, and creation of a digital information-sharing platform. A nation that is unaware of these problems or disengaged from solutions unwittingly contributes to the ongoing abuse of minors. If acted upon in a coordinated and comprehensive manner, the recommendations of Confronting Commercial Sexual Exploitation and Sex Trafficking of Minors in the United States can help advance and strengthen the nation's emerging efforts to prevent, identify, and respond to commercial sexual exploitation and sex trafficking of minors in the United States.
The commercial exploitation of children is a global crisis (Rahman, 2011; Svensson, 2006). However, media outlets and sociological researchers have successfully situated the problem as a primarily Asian, South American, or Eastern European concern. In the process, the exploitation of children in the United States has largely been ignored. The continued trafficking of international youth into this country, coupled with the growing rate at which American born children are targeted by interstate sex traffickers, speaks to the urgency with which the domestic exploitation of children must be addressed (Walker-Rodriguez & Hill, 2011). In fact, research suggests that an average of 250,000 American children and adolescents are at risk of commercial exploitation each year (Estes & Weiner, 2001). Further, there are indications that current data vastly underestimate the actual numbers of vulnerable and victimized youth (Chase & Statham, 2005). According to the U.S. Department of Justice (2007), no systematic efforts have been made to examine the commercial exploitation of children in this country. The low visibilities of the crime, combined with the inherent vulnerability of the victims, have facilitated the continued victimization of these children. The purpose of this book is to provide a critical analysis of the domestic, commercial exploitation of children. A careful explanation of the differing forms of commercial exploitation of children, victim and offender characteristics, and the mechanisms which maintain the problem will assist health care providers, researchers, and law enforcement in their efforts with this marginalized and understudied population. The authors begin with a comprehensive review of extant literature in this area. Additionally, case studies of child sexual exploitation are included to further illustrate the severity, complexity, and depravity of commercial exploitation in real life cases.
