Child sex tourism

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Child sex tourism (CST) is tourism for the purpose of engaging in the prostitution of children, which is commercially facilitated child sexual abuse.[1] 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".[2] 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.[1] 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.[1][3][4][5] The children who perform as prostitutes in the child sex tourism trade often have been lured or abducted into sexual slavery.[6][7][8]

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.[9]

Travelling child sex offenders can use the Internet to plan their trips by seeking out and trading information about opportunities for child sex tourism and where the most vulnerable children can be found, generally in areas of low income.[5] Multiple governments have enacted laws to allow prosecution of its citizens for child sexual abuse committed outside of their home country. However, while laws against child sex tourism may deter situational offenders who may act impulsively, pedophiles who travel specifically for the purpose of exploiting children are not easily deterred.[5]

  1. ^ a b c "The Facts About Child Sex Tourism". Fact Sheet. US Dept of State, Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons. 29 February 2008.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference NewZealand was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ 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 Susan Song. "Global Child Sex Tourism: Children as Tourist Attractions" (PDF). Youth Advocate Program International Resource Paper. Youth Advocate Program International. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 September 2012.
  4. ^ Michael B. Farrell (22 April 2004). "Global campaign to police child sex tourism". Christian Science Monitor. Archived from the original on 28 February 2006.
  5. ^ a b c Brittainy Bacon (27 July 2007). "Stolen Innocence: Inside the Shady World of Child Sex Tourism". ABC News.
  6. ^ R. BARRI FLOWERS (2001). "The Sex Trade Industry's Worldwide Exploitation of Children". The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. 575 (1): 147–157. doi:10.1177/000271620157500109. S2CID 145420615.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference gerson was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Clift, Stephen; Simon Carter (2000). Tourism and Sex. Cengage Learning EMEA. pp. 75–78, 85. ISBN 978-1-85567-636-7.
  9. ^ Koning, A.; Rijksen-van Dijke, L. (July 2017). "Child sex tourists: A review of the literature on the characteristics, motives, and methods of (Dutch) transnational child sex offenders" (PDF). Politie en Wetenschap. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2018. Retrieved 3 March 2018.