Congress on child exploitation ends

By Lela E. Madjiah

STOCKHOLM (JP): Participants of the first World Congress Against the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children ended their five-day conference yesterday with renewed determination to halt the problem.

"We owe this to the children who have been abused, tortured and even killed by sex offenders and to the children who are at risk of becoming victims," Sweden's Queen Silvia said in her closing statement.

More than 1,300 delegates from 119 countries agreed that the commercial sexual exploitation of children was a fundamental violation of children's rights. They also stressed that poverty could not be used as a justification for the commercial sexual exploitation of children, even though it contributed to an environment which could lead to such exploitation.

"Commoditization of children reflects declining values and a violation of children's rights," rapporteur general Prof. Vitit Muntarbhorn of Thailand said in summarizing the congress.

The problem, he said, reflected not only an economic crisis, but also moral and spiritual crises.

According to a study by End Child Prostitution in Asian Tourism submitted to the congress, offenders are often respected personalities like teachers, religious leaders, diplomats, businessmen and even aid workers who work with children.

"Monsters don't get close to children, nice people do," Muntarbhorn said, quoting a panel report on sex exploiters.

The report, part of which was based on Ray Wyre's study on sex exploiters, cited the case of a man who, while working for an aid agency in Bangladesh, ended up abusing 50 to 60 children in the village, with not one of them reporting him.

"The perpetrator will always make the child feel that they are responsible for the abuse. In many cases, the perpetrator will seek to get a child to abuse another child," Wyre said.

Muntarbhorn pointed out that although sexual exploitation of children existed in old times, its modern forms have become more sophisticated with the help of technology which allows, among other things, the distribution of child pornography through the Internet.

"There is this perception that if one has sex with virgins, he will be rejuvenated. There is also a growing belief that sex with children or young people will eliminate the risk of HIV/AIDS. This will move sexual exploitation or abuse of children toward younger and younger people," he warned.

Tourism, both local and international, and the existence of military bases are other contributing factors to the commercial sexual exploitation of children, he said, adding that the issue is aggravated by lack of protection for the child victim.

"To add to the multiple victimization of children, the legal system has failed to protect child victims. In most cases, it is the children who are prosecuted, while offenders buy their way out of the legal system," he said.

Muntarbhorn criticized governments for their limited political will to take real action to end the problem. "There are states which did not attend this congress," he noted.

"Money which should have been allocated for children is used to purchase arms instead," he said.

Global arms purchases amount to US$925 billion a year, of which $600 billion is spent by developing countries.

The congress proposed, among other things, better international cooperation in dealing with the problem, the establishment of recovery centers, setting up of networks, improvement of the legal system and criminalization and punishment of offenders.

Muntarbhorn urged all governments to take concrete actions to end the problem and to place children and young people in the foreground, not in the background.

"Children should have the choice of participating," he said, adding that the best part of the congress was the participation of children and young people.

"I hope you will not only listen, but act," he said, quoting the appeal by the 20 youths from eight countries who attended the congress.