Asians to unite against commercial sex

Asians to unite against commercial sex

The Jakarta Post, Denpasar, Bali

Alarmed by the rapid growth of human trafficking in the region,
26 countries in the East Asia and Pacific regions vowed on
Wednesday to improve their collaborative research and
comprehensive data gathering as well as analyses on the
commercial sex industry.

In a statement issued at the end of a three-day ministerial
consultation in Denpasar, the countries also pledged to work
toward greater support and reintegration for those affected,
ensuring that their rights were protected and that they were
treated as victims and not criminals.

"We are distressed by the rapid growth of human trafficking in
the region, which involves an increasingly large number of women
and children each year," said the statement, called the Bali
Consensus.

Delegations from 26 countries in East Asia and Pacific met in
Bali from May 5 through May 7 for the sixth Ministerial
Consultation on Children.

During the meeting, the delegation discussed various women and
children's issues, focusing on the HIV/AIDS pandemic, child
trafficking and the related commercial sexual exploitation of
children, maternal and neonatal mortality and malnutrition.

According to the delegations, children were being trafficked
for labor, sexual exploitation, forced marriage, begging and
adoption. Among this group, a large number of children, primarily
girls, were being forced into the commercial sex industry and in
a number of countries, children under the age of 18 represented
one-third of all sex workers.

The greatest flow was within the Mekong subregion but children
were also being trafficked within and between other countries in
the region, as well as to countries in other parts of the world.

"These children are frequently subjected to physical and
sexual violence and psychological trauma and are highly
vulnerable to HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases,"
they said in the statement.

Over two million people in the East Asia and Pacific region
are believed to be HIV-positive and infections are continuing to
rise rapidly.

According to the delegations, those at highest risk were young
people with a high vulnerability, including girls, street
children, injecting drug users, migrant and mobile workers.

"We are alarmed at the extent and progress of the HIV/AIDS
pandemic," they said.

"We resolve to extend voluntary counseling and testing and we
are striving to ensure the availability of appropriate
antiretroviral drugs and other necessary treatments for HIV-
positive mothers and their newborn babies to prolong and promote
their quality of life.

"In the years ahead, we will also have to provide support for
millions of children and young people whose lives have been
severely affected by the illness and their parents, especially
those who have been orphaned," they said.

Discrimination and stigmatization suffered by HIV-positive
people and people affected by AIDS hampers prevention and care
efforts.

The countries also pledged to reduce the proportion of infants
living with HIV by 20 percent by 2005 and to cut HIV infection
among 20- to 24-year olds in the worst affected countries by 25
percent by 2005.

The delegations also expressed deep concern about the number
of women and newborns dying from causes related to pregnancy and
childbirth and the fact that most countries in the East Asia and
Pacific region had been unable to significantly reduce maternal
and neonatal mortality rates.

"We affirm that maternal and neonatal mortality can be
effectively reduced by empowering families and communities, and
in particular women, through better education, income-earning
opportunities and better access to reproductive health services,"
the statement said.

The delegations also noted that millions of women and children
in the region still lacked essential micronutrients -- the most
common deficiencies being shortages of iron, iodine and vitamin
A.

"We resolve to strengthen programs to improve the iron intake
of pregnant mothers and children, to ensure all salt is iodized
and to develop sustainable ways of distributing vitamin A
capsules to populations in need," they said in the statement.