70,000 kids in prostitution

70,000 kids in prostitution

YOGYAKARTA, Central Java: As many as 70,000 children in Indonesia
are estimated to be working as prostitutes, most due to financial
hardship and lack of other work.

The Central Java representative of the United Nations
Children's Fund (UNICEF) I Made Sutama said on Thursday that
commercial sexploitation of children had become increasingly
prevalent in the past few years due to dire social and economic
conditions in the country.

He claimed that every month some 40 Indonesian females,
including children, were smuggled to other countries, especially
Taiwan and Hong Kong, to be domestic servants or prostitutes.

Sutama hoped Indonesia, as one of the 124 countries that
ratified the UN Convention on Anti Transnational Crime, could
take action to stop the exploitation of women and children.
--Antara