Child Exploitation
Most people have no idea how large the problem truly is.
BRAZIL
In Brazil, the problem is similar to that of Central America in that, except for local
prostitution rings in the northeast of the country and the Amazon, most of the selling occurs
in popular beach destinations. Mr. Enriques of the Brazilian Embassy stated that, while
there is no official data to confirm these occurrences, most of the international connection
with the child prostitution industry occurs with organized trips by European tour operators
to popular destinations such as Recife and Fortaleza. There is also evidence that
prostitution rackets in Brazil range from highway truck stops in the Amazon to the beaches
of Rio de Janeiro. Mr. Enriques further stated that the Brazilian government is taking action
to diminish this problem by educating the public on the subject and providing toll-free
numbers to call and report this type of occurrence. The Brazilian government?s agenda is
currently much more focused on keeping children out of the streets than on the sex tourism
industry per se.43 Brazil?s Child Protection Law has not only served as a model to other
Latin American countries but it has also enabled the government to reduce the number of
minors in the workforce from 4 million in 1997 to 2.9 million today. However, increasing
international awareness on the subject of child prostitution in Brazil has finally brought
forward a program that specifically addresses this issue. President Fernando Henrique
Cardoso recently approved Brazil?s first-ever US$3 million program to combat child
prostitution and the growing sex-tourism industry.44 Also, the Brazilian National Tourism
Board has created a logo accepted by the World Tourism Organization for ?No Child Sex
Tourism?, which often appears in sex-bars that advertise children. The growth in the
child-sex tourism industry in Brazil suggests again a direct correlation between poverty and
growth in transnational crime. Brazil, which has Latin America?s biggest economy and is
home to a very large poor population, is increasingly being trapped in the vicious cycle of
young children selling their bodies in order to support their families in spite of an existing
governmental program that offers children US$28 a month to stay off the streets.45
