The number of missing children, often abducted from their families, is rising in the country. More can be done to prevent abduction and punish the culprits.
ONE day, “Al” and his brother were told by their parents to leave with a man who had promised to find them both jobs in a neighbouring, more prosperous country.
They had paid the man a fee to look after the boys on the long journey across the desert.
As they said their teary farewells, the man reassured them that he’d find them good jobs.
When they arrived in the city, instead of getting them jobs as promised, the man locked them up and forced them to take drugs. Heavily sedated, the boys were filmed and photographed while being raped.
“Al” and his brother’s plight is just one of the 1.8 million cases of child victims who have been exploited in the global commercial sex trade.
They are victims of human trafficking, an industry believed to be worth billions of dollars each year.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC) lists it as the third largest international criminal activity after illegal drugs and arms trafficking.
Children are seen as easy prey, as they can be taken away by deception or force, and at times by the very people that their families know.
Threatened and held captive, these children (anyone under the age of 18 in agreement with Article 1 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child) are usually sexually exploited.
There are various sexual exploitative practices that these children would be subjected to: prostitution, the making of pornography or even forced marriages.
According to a latest report on sex trafficking of children and young people, undertaken by ECPAT International (End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes), and The Body Shop, child sex trade is not just a phenomenon confined only to developing areas of the world as perceived, as it shows that children are trafficked for sexual exploitation in virtually all countries of the world.
ECPAT International regional officer for East Asia and the Pacific, Kritsana Pimonsaengsuriya, who was in Kuala Lumpur recently to launch the Summary Report, said that quantifying the number of children trafficked into the global sex market each year is a challenge.
“The latest official figures released by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime quote a total of 21,400 human trafficking victims that were identified through the criminal justice process and through victims’ assistance organisations in 111 countries.
“Nearly 80 per cent of all trafficking worldwide is for sexual exploitation. Among identified cases, the proportion of minors involved in all forms of human trafficking has increased between 2003 and 2007 from about 15 per cent to nearly 22 per cent,” she said.
Rather than witnessing a decline in the incidence of trafficking, their report, called “Their Protection is in Our Hands — The State of Global Child Trafficking for Sexual Purposes’”, has identified developments that cause grave concern among those fighting the exploitation of children and young people.
Among them is the increased recognition and incidence of domestic trafficking.
“Although the world has paid more attention to the trafficking of children between nation states, we have found that the number of children trafficked within some countries or what’s called domestic trafficking is increasing.
“Such trafficking may involve movement from rural to urban areas or from one city to another.
“Children may be moved from poorer and underprivileged places to tourist locations, or to areas where there is a concentration of male workers,” she said.
She also said that a recent review of trafficking flows show that domestic trafficking was identified as a problem in 64 per cent of the 170 countries reviewed.
The review of the flows, routes and changes in patterns in child trafficking, she elaborated, highlights the fact that most of this activity takes place over relatively short distances, either within regions or sub-regions.
As almost any child can be a victim of child trafficking, the report noted that factors that can heighten the risk of being victims include poverty, low-levels of education, volatile family environments, separation from families as well as low self-esteem.
These, fuelled by the demand for sex with children, not only from paedophiles but also from people who pay for sex, remain the driving force for the trafficking of minors.
An executive who sits at his laptop surfing child pornography is as guilty as a tourist in an exotic island paying a minor for sex.
ECPAT’s research also suggests that the current global recession is likely to increase the risk of vulnerable children and can result in a further rise in child trafficking for sexual purposes.
According to Pimonsaengsuriya, numerous parties profit from the trafficking of children — document forgers, corrupt officials, transport workers, sex trade profiteers and even the tourist trade.
“The lack of a comprehensive response and the low priority given to the issue by many governments has resulted in poor co-ordination of actions between stake holders and across countries.
“This lack of engagement has resulted in a worldwide failure to uphold children’s right to protection, as enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.”
| Doing their best to stop child trafficking are (from left) Aegile Fernandez of Tenaganita, Datin Mina Cheah-Foong, managing director of The Body Shop Malaysia, Pimonsaengsuriya, Dr Hartini Zainudin of Nur Salam and Nooreen Preusser of PS The Children. |
Following the recent World Congress III against the Sexual Exploitation of Children and Adolescents, 137 participating governments signed up to the Rio Declaration and Plan for Action, which outlines specific targets that all states must achieve to ensure the right of every child to protection from sexual exploitation.
“We believe that now is the time for concerted action against child sex trafficking by building on the momentum created by the World Congress III and putting pressure on governments to honour their commitments to children.
“Inspired by the Rio Declaration, we have identified three key goals, which all states need to achieve to create positive, long term change.
“Progress toward each goal will be measured by using four specific indicators. Throughout the three-year campaign The Body Shop and ECPAT International will monitor and publicise progress towards these goals on a country-by-country basis,” she said.
The first goal is to ensure that community-based prevention programmes to stop child trafficking reaches at-risk populations.
Community-based prevention programmes are essential because preventing children from falling prey to sex traffickers is the first step towards guaranteeing the protection of children.
The four indicators by which progress of this goal will be measured are:
l The state legislation and/or policy provides for implementation of community-based programmes to prevent child trafficking;
l The state legislation and/or policy provides for implementation of community-based programmes to prevent child trafficking with wide stakeholder collaboration;
l The state implements or fully supports awareness-raising programmes on child trafficking; and
l The state has established policy provision for teacher training curricula to include information on child sexual exploitation, including trafficking.
The second goal is to ensure that international legal standards for protecting children from trafficking have been incorporated in the national legal framework.
This goal seeks that every state’s legal framework should be in line with the UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in persons, especially Woman and Children and the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography (the Optional Protocoll) — the two international standards relating to child trafficking.
The four indicators by which states would be measured include:
* The state has ratified the Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography;
* The state has ratified the UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children;
* The state has harmonised national law in line with the UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children;
* The state has established a special police unit to combat crimes against children, including trafficking and sexual exploitation.
By achieveing Goal 2, and incorporating international legal standards for protecting children from trafficking, countries are establishing the necessary legal framework to stop the trafficking of minors.
The third goal is to ensure specialised government services for child victims of trafficking are integrated in national policies.
The report recommends that appropriate care should always prioritise the best interest of the child victim and be developed in consultation with the child.
A wide range of specialist services are necessary to support each trafficked child through the post-rescue phase, recovery and repatriation or reintegration. The four indicators by which this goal’s progress would be measured are:
l The state has established a telephone helpline for child victims of trafficking;
l The state has established shelters for child victims of sexual exploitation, including trafficking;
l The state has established medical services for child victims of sexual exploitation, including trafficking; and
l The state has established psychological counseling services for victims of sexual exploitation, including trafficking.
By achieving Goal 3 and delivering specialist government services for child victims of trafficking and ensuring their integration into national policies, countries are demonstrating their commitment to ensure that children receive comprehensive assistance and care.
In 2012, ECPAT International and The Body Shop will present an updated report on how countries have progressed in these three goals to the UN Human Rights Council and the relevant UN Special Rapporteur.
EPCAT is a global network of organisations working in 75 countries to combat the commercial sexual exploitation of children while supporting and protecting children.
Leading the way
IN partnership with ECPAT International, a world leader in tackling this issue, The Body Shop is launching a global campaign to Stop the Sex Trafficking of Children and Young People.
Launched in August 2009, the three-year campaign aims to end this abusive practice for good by urging decision-makers around the world to honour their commitments to give children greater protection.
The campaign aims to increase public awareness of this global issue and will raise funding for vulnerable children at risk of, or exploited by, sex trafficking.
The first step in their campaign is the publication of this global report, Their Protection is in Our Hands — The State of Global Child Trafficking for Sexual Purposes.
| Every child has a right to freedom. |
It is an in-depth report that compiles the most up-to-date information about the trafficking of children and young people for sexual exploitation around the world.
As well as covering specialist research data, the campaign strategy is to monitor the measures that 40 nation states are taking to tackle child sex trafficking, and their level of compliance with relevant international protocols. This dual approach allows detailed analysis of the latest trends, challenges and potential solutions to child sex trafficking, and addresses the current lack of awareness and understanding of this global problem.
In Malaysia, The Body Shop, ECPAT and three Malaysian NGOs (Tenaganita, Nur Salam and PS The Children) are partnering to bring the underground exploitation of children and young people to an end.
“Child trafficking is happening virtually everywhere. We need to protect children and young people from being victimised as they have rights, too. The Body Shop has come up with a hand cream called Soft Hands Kind Heart Cream, of which RM30 from one's purchase will be donated to ECPAT, Tenaganita, Nur Salam and PS The Children for the fight to stop child trafficking,” said The Body Shop Malaysia managing director Datin Mina Cheah-Foong.
The full report and additional campaign information are available at www.thebodyshop.com/stop
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