Brittany Demski
Mr. McComb
GT English 10
3/21/11
A Global Disgrace
Throughout the world, families struggle to make ends meet and have to find ways to get
the money needed. For some, they sell their homes and belongings. But for others, the
only option is to sell the children of the family into a trade that is full of disgrace and
ignorance. This is Child Prostitution.
The statistics are horrifying. In child prostitution hotspots, like India, Brazil, The United
States, Thailand and China, the numbers of active child prostitutes could reach up to or
exceed ten million children. Both ECPAT (End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography
and the Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes) and UNICEF (United Nations
Children's Fund) estimate that one million children are forced into prostitution per year
worldwide, not including the hotspots. This is only an average of all the data collected, so
the numbers per specific area are different than what is estimated as the worldwide total.
(ECPAT International, Trafficking Violates the Entire Spectrum of Children's Rights)
The effects of this on the children is devastating, not only to those children but to their
families as well. “Child sexual abuse often negatively affects long-term psychological
and social well-being, although more than half of all sexual abuse survivors do not suffer
the most extreme forms of psychiatric trauma” is stated by an article on the effects of
sexual abuse on children, which includes the prostitution of children. (Flinn, Susan K.)
Some of the specific effects on the child are low self-esteem, depression, anxiety, fear,
hostility, chronic tension, eating disorders, sexual dysfunction, self-destructive or suicidal
behavior, PSTD (post traumatic stress disorder) , dissociation, multiple personality
disorder, repeat victimization, running away, criminal behavior, academic problems,
substance abuse and prostitution in their adult lives. (Flinn, Susan K.) These behaviors if
left untreated by a therapist will last a lifetime and will impact the future of the children.
There are types of prostitution. “Forced prostitution, also known as involuntary
prostitution, is the act of performing sexual activity in exchange for money on a nonvoluntary basis. There are a wide range of entry routes into prostitution, ranging from
"voluntary and deliberate" entry, "semi-voluntary" based on pressure of circumstances,
and "involuntary" recruitment via outright force or coercion” (Lim, Lean (1998)) Most
children are either forced into prostitution by a person or by circumstances where there
are no alternatives to get any source of income besides resorting to selling their bodies for
someone else’s pleasure. Also, those children who are forced are increasingly being
bought and sold across national borders to be put into workshops or into brothels. (Child
Prostitution – China)
So, what organizations are there out there that have the mission of trying to save
these children? There are many organizations worldwide that made is their mission to
help children who are the victim of child prostitution, and other heinous and immoral acts
done to children. A few examples of these types of organizations are EPCAT, which
stands for End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and the Trafficking of Children for
Sexual Purposes, UNICEF, and World Vision: The Child Sex Tourism Prevention Project.
EPCAT’S mission is exactly as stated: to end child prostitution, the trade of child
pornography and the trafficking of children for sexual purposes. EPCAT international’s
base is in Thailand. The global action part of EPCAT tell us about what they plan to do
on a global scale to prevent and save the children who have been exploited and
prostituted for money. The quote on the page says this: “Every child is entitled to full
protection from all forms of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse... States are required to
protect the child from sexual exploitation and sexual abuse and promote physical and
psychological recovery and social integration of the child victim.”(EPCAT) Also, it tells
about how Child pornography hurts children, which is: “Children may be deceived,
tricked or coerced into engaging in sexual acts for the production of pornography. Abuse
images may also be made in the process of sexually exploiting a child without the child’s
knowledge.”(EPCAT) World Vision tells us how sex tourists move around a lot, mostly
going to child prostitution hotspots because of the low-cost prostitution, easily accessible
children. About one third of all of the children in Cambodia are prostitutes. Although the
United States has a law banning such things from happening, it still does. But U.S.
citizens that engage in acts of child prostitution can face up to 30 years of jail time in a
U.S. prison. Also, citizens of the United States account for 25% of child sex tourists
worldwide. World vision has created a lot of deterrent messages for billboards against
these sex tourists, most are in Cambodia, Costa Rica, Thailand, Mexico, Brazil and The
U.S.
Overall, there are things to be done to help these children, but there will always be
a demand for these children as long as there are sex tourists around the world.