ASEAN tourist bodies, NGOs move to curb child exploitation<\/p>\n
Wahyoe Boediwardhana, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar, Bali<\/p>\n
In a bid to fight the sexual exploitation of children,
\nparticularly in the tourism industry, a group of ASEAN tourism
\nauthorities and non-governmental organizations adopted on Friday
\nthe draft of the ASEAN Traveler's Code (ATC).<\/p>\n
The ATC urges travelers to \"help prevent the abuse and
\nexploitation of people\". It also states that \"everyone has the
\nright to protection from exploitation and abuse\".<\/p>\n
The code also urges travelers to \"consider people's rights,
\nparticularly women and children --- be mindful of the activities
\nyou undertake and the businesses you support\".<\/p>\n
It warns travelers that sexual exploitation of children is
\nillegal in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
\ncountries and that laws were in place to prosecute travelers in
\ntheir home country for sexual exploitation of children conducted
\noverseas.<\/p>\n
The code was adopted at the end of a two-day Tourism Think
\nTank Meeting on The Prevention of Child Abuse in ASEAN Tourism
\nDestinations attended by high-level tourism officials and NGOs
\nfrom Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and
\nthe Philippines.<\/p>\n
The meeting was coorganized by Australia's leading child
\nprotection advocacy organization Child Wise and the Indonesian
\nMinistry of Culture and Tourism. Funding for the meeting was
\nprovided by AusAID.<\/p>\n
Copies of the ATC will be distributed to travelers through
\nairlines offices and travel agents in various countries. It will
\nalso be posted at all immigration posts in the region.<\/p>\n
\"We hope that the ATC will prompt local governments in this
\nregion to immediately revise their laws on child abuse to cope
\nwith the present condition,\" the Center for Study and Child
\nProtection's executive secretary Ahmad Sofian said.<\/p>\n
Citing data issued by the Ministry of Social Affairs, Sofian
\npointed out that 60 percent of 71,281 registered prostitutes were
\ngirls aged between 15 years and 20 years old. Therefore, the
\nnumber of child sex workers in the country may be as high as
\n40,000.<\/p>\n
Moreover, up to 3,000 visitors from neighboring countries of
\nMalaysia and Singapore visit Batam island each week solely to
\navail of the island's sex workers.<\/p>\n
\"Around 30 percent of a total of 5,000 to 6,000 sex workers on
\nthat island are children under 18 years of age,\" Sofian stressed.<\/p>\n
Cases of child prostitution have been reportedly taking place
\nin various areas across Indonesia, such as Medan, Pontianak,
\nPalembang, Jakarta, Indramayu, Jepara, Pati, Surabaya, Makassar,
\nManado, Maluku and Papua. Batam, Bali and Pontianak were
\nconsidered to be areas with the largest number of children
\nprostitutes.<\/p>\n
It its release titled Bali: A Mecca for Child Sex, Child Wise
\nclaimed that the recent arrest in Bali's eastern regency of
\nKarangasem of an Australian teacher for child molestation was
\nonly the tip of the iceberg.<\/p>\n
Child Wise National Director Bernadette McMenamin said in the
\nrelease that: \"There has been evidence of pedophiles traveling to
\nBali since the 1920s... This (Karangasem) is a very poor area of
\nBali and has always been vulnerable and since the bombing it is
\neven more vulnerable to these crimes.\"<\/p>\n
Data provided by Child Wise showed that over one million
\nchildren were trafficked every year for sexual purposes and that
\nchild sex tourism was a major cause of child trafficking.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/asean-tourist-bodies-ngos-move-to-curb-child-exploitation-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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