The Women's Freedom Network Newsletter Sept/Oct and Nov/Dec, 1999, Vol. 6, Number 5 & 6. NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON SEXUAL TRAFFICKING Ending Child Prostitution, Child Pornography, and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes: ECPAT - USA Carol Smolenski, Co-ordinator

C hild prostitution has become a multi-billion-dollar-a-year international industry. It is an organized industry with clients, traders, distribution routes and outlets, originating partly as a response to demand from tourists. Some of the causes of the growth of the prostitution of boys and girls are outlined below. I will start out by mentioning the reasons anybody is trafficked, and then talk about why children, epecially, are trafficked. These include economic conditions, such as rural poverty, fueled by economic development policies and the erosion of the agricultural sectors.

An increase has been noted in commercial sex in many countries undergoing structural adjustment. Among the causes for this increase are: 1. Political and economic upheavals which have caused an increase in economic disparities; 2. The movement from rural to urban migration and a growth in urban industrial centers; 3. The existence of gender inequality and the low status of women and girls in many areas. Girls and women are especially vulnerable to family abuse and violence, including incest and total neglect, and they are often viewed as commodities to be bought and sold; 4. An increase in consumerism; 5. Lack of employment or vocational opportunities; 6. Lack of laws and law enforcement, and 7. Discrimination against ethnic minorities.

All of these causes apply to children, but there are a number of causes specific to children as well. Among them are the responsibility that children are given to help to support their families, the growth in the number of homeless children, and the lack of educational opportunities. On the demand side, the causes include criminal networks who organize the sex industry and recruit the children; the corruption of authorities involved in the child sex trade; traditional and cultural practices, including the demand by tourists and pedophiles -- related to this is the problem of the spread of the AIDS virus. Of course, it is well known by now that one of the reasons for the increase in the demand for young girls is the belief that younger prostitutes are less likely to be infected by AIDS. So men are seeking out younger and younger girls or boys, thinking that this is a healthier solution. To meet the demand for virgins, agents have intensified the recruitment of very young girls from remote villages and across borders.

In addition there has been the international promotion of the sex tourism industry through information technology, the demands of foreign sex industries creating an international trade in girls and women, arranged marriages of child brides, sometimes only to be sold into brothels after marriage, military presence creating demand for child prostitutes, and demand from the migrant labor force. Children are coerced, kidnapped, sold, deceived, or otherwise trafficked into enforced sexual encounters. Some are pushed by circumstances as a way of surviving on the street, helping to support their families or to pay for clothes and goods. Others are seduced by the bombardment of consumer images and the advertising media. The circumstances and conditions may vary, but the commercial sexual exploitation of children is always illegal and always damaging to the child.