reallives9

THEIR NAMES are Chandrika, Hamida, Amod, Madhuri, Maria or Jenny. And as varied as
these children's names are their nationalities: Indian, Bangladeshi, Nepalese, Nicaraguan
or North American. What unites them is that they have been made to work as prostitutes
and, in the process, have endangered their lives and well-being and seriously
compromised their future. It is estimated that 4 million women and girls worldwide are
bought and sold each year -- either into marriage, prostitution or slavery. Approximately 1
million children enter the sex trade every year. (Although most are girls; boys are also
involved.)
As many as 50,000 women and children from Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe are
brought to the United States and forced to work as prostitutes or servants. In the United
States during the past two years, the government has prosecuted cases involving fewer
than 300 victims. In other countries where this problem is frequent, the prosecution rate is
even lower.
According to UNICEF, 10,000 girls annually enter Thailand from neighboring countries and
end up as sex workers. And between 5,000 and 7,000 Nepali girls are transported across
the border to India each year and end up in commercial sex work in Mumbai, Bombay or
New Delhi.
Although the greatest number of children working as prostitutes is in Asia, Eastern
European children from Eastern European countries, such as Russia, Poland, Romania,
Hungary and the Czech Republic, are increasingly vulnerable.
As a social pathological phenomenon, prostitution involving children does not show signs of
abating. In many cases, organized groups kidnap children and sell them into prostitution,
with border officials and police serving as accomplices.
In her 1997 report to the U.N. Commission on Human Rights, the U.N. Special Rapporteur
on Violence Against Women called attention to the levels of state participation and
complicity in the trafficking of women and children across borders. Because of their often
undocumented status, language deficiencies and lack of legal protection, kidnapped
children are particularly vulnerable in the hands of smugglers or corrupt and heartless
government officials.
Commercial sexual exploitation of children is increasing worldwide. There are several
reasons. These include increased trade across borders, poverty, unemployment, low
status of girls, lack of education (including sex education) of children and their parents,
inadequate legislation, lack of or poor law enforcement and the eroticization of children by
the media, a phenomenon increasingly seen in industrialized countries.
There are also special social and cultural reasons for children entering into the sex trade in
different regions of the world. In many cases, children from industrialized countries enter
the sex trade because they are fleeing abusive homes. In countries of Eastern and
Southern Africa, children who became orphans as a result of AIDS frequently lack the
protection of caregivers and are, therefore, more vulnerable to sexual abuse and
exploitation. In South Asia, traditional practices that perpetuate the low status of women
and girls in society are at the base of this problem. Children exploited sexually are prone to
sexually transmitted diseases and HIV/AIDS. In addition, because of the conditions in which
they live, children can become malnourished, and develop feelings of guilt, inadequacy and
depression.
Besides the moral and ethical implications, the impact that sexual exploitation has on
children's health and future development demands urgent attention.
Throughout the world, many individuals and nongovernmental organizations are working
intensely for the protection of children's rights. Many times, their work puts them in conflict
with governments and powerful interest groups.
Among the U.N. agencies, UNICEF has been particularly active in calling attention to this
phenomenon and in addressing the root causes of sexual exploitation by providing
economic support to families so that their children will not be at risk of sexual exploitation,
by improving access to education --
particularly for girls -- and by becoming a strong advocate for the rights of the child.
The work of such nongovernmental organizations and U.N. agencies should be a
complement to governments' actions to solve this problem. Those actions should include
preventing sexual exploitation through social mobilization and awareness building,
providing social services to exploited children and their families and creating the legal
framework and resources for psychosocial counseling and for the appropriate prosecution
of perpetrators.
Only when this phenomenon is eliminated, will we be able to say that the world's children
are exercising their right to a healthy, and peaceful, life.