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.