With more than two million children reported being linked to prostitution in countries across the world and the total number of acts of child molestation being much larger (albeit more vague, with estimates ranging from five to twenty-five percent of all Americans falling victim), it is no wonder that the child sex industry is among those most harshly prosecuted trades in almost all nations. Countries such as India, Brazil, or Cambodia, all popular tourism locations, combat child sex tourism even more aggressively than many other humanitarian crises perhaps deserving equal attention. But despite these legislative efforts, tourism continues to expand at a rate faster than nearly all other criminal activities. Despite employing numerous task forces to preemptively track down sexual offenders and allowing for extraterritorial legal action, the various governments and NGOs that work against the industry are skirting around a more centralized method of dealing with these offenders. The child sex trade itself and the notions of pedophilia that accompany it are seen almost unanimously as taboo issues that most governments are reluctant to raise awareness against for the sake of social stability, issues that have to be overcome if child prostitution is to be stamped out. If the UN and other international councils do not aggressively advocate against sexual abuse and threaten those who would partake in it with more severe sentences, the notion that one can simply vacation to a country whose laws are seen as being more lax will continue as a standard. In addition, due to an alarmingly large number of children entering the sex trade of their own accord, more federal education for children under the age of 12 regarding the dangers of sex and the illegality of intercourse with adults should be present, most realistic through the inclusion of sexual education in elementary curricula for those countries with the highest rate of child abuse. Though raising awareness at such young ages and for the general population as a whole is an unpleasant prospect, it is ultimately the last effective option in restricting the child sex trade.
How can something like this be happening and no one is doing anything about it ? If these countries were taking this matter seriously, then maybe less children will be subjected to such horror.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Elyse, I also feel that it is surprising to read that most of the sex offenders are people from a different country. When you think of tourism you think of people with alot of time and money on their hands, most of the people that fit this description are well educated adults who are able to afford traveling. I dont know about other countries but i do know that americans can afford to travel so it seems to me like many of the people who commit these acts may infact be rich americans who need professional help.
ReplyDeleteOne of the questions your paper poses is whether we need to be focusing so much attention on sex slavery. In fact, the majority of slaves are not sex workers. Why is, then, that sex slavery gets so much of the media attention and legistlative attention? Is simply because it is most visible, most talked about, and easiest to take a stance against?
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