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Commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) is a form of child labour.

A Convention was drawn up after the first World Congress against Commercial Sexual Exploitation held in Stockholm in 1996. CSEC was defined in the declaration adopted at this congress as ‘sexual abuse by the adult and remuneration in cash or kind to the child or a third person or persons. The child is treated as a sexual object and as a commercial object. ’ CSEC includes the prostitution of children; child pornography; and other forms of transactional sex where a child engages in sexual activities to have key needs fulfilled, such as food, shelter or access to education. Prostitution of children refers to the use of children as Prostitutes The definition of a "child prostitute" can vary depending on who is using the term Child pornography refers to material depicting Children being in a state of undress engaged in erotic poses or sexual activity It includes forms of transactional sex where the sexual abuse of children is not stopped or reported by household members, due to benefits derived by the household from the perpetrator. CSEC also potentially includes arranged marriages involving children under the age of 18 years, where the child has not freely consented to marriage and where the child is sexually abused. Arranged marriage (also called prearranged marriage) is a Marriage arranged by someone other than the persons getting married curtailing or avoiding the process

Prostitution of children under the age of 18 years, child pornography and the (often related) sale and trafficking of children are often considered to be crimes of violence against children. Prostitution of children refers to the use of children as Prostitutes The definition of a "child prostitute" can vary depending on who is using the term Child pornography refers to material depicting Children being in a state of undress engaged in erotic poses or sexual activity Trafficking of children is the recruitment transportation transfer harboring or receipt of children for the purpose of exploitation They are considered to be forms of economic exploitation akin to forced labour or slavery. The term " exploitation " may carry two distinct meanings The act of utilizing something for any purpose Unfree labour is a generic or collective term for those work relations especially in modern or early modern history in which people are employed against their will As a social-economic system slavery is a legal institution under which a Person (called "a slave" is compelled to work for another Such children often suffer irreparable damage to their physical and mental health. They face early pregnancy and risk sexually transmitted diseases, particularly AIDS. Teenage pregnancy is defined as a Teenage or underage girl usually within the ages of 13-17 becoming pregnant A sexually transmitted disease ( STD) or venereal disease ( VD) is an illness that has a significant probability of transmission between Humans They are often inadequately protected by the law and may be treated as criminals.

Child trafficking and CSEC sometimes overlap. On the one hand, children who are trafficked are often trafficked for the purposes of CSEC. However, not all trafficked children are trafficked for these purposes. Further, even if some of the children trafficked for other forms of work are subsequently sexually abused at work, this does not necessarily constitute CSEC. On the other hand, by no means all children involved in CSEC have been trafficked. Many are involved in CSEC near their homes.

CSEC is also part of, but distinct from, child abuse, or even child sexual abuse. Child rape, for example, will not usually constitute CSEC. Neither will domestic violence.

Although CSEC is considered as child labour, and indeed one of the Worst Forms of Child Labor, in terms of international conventions, in legislation, policy and programmatic terms, CSEC is often treated as a form of child abuse or a crime.

Contents

Causes

The causes of CSEC are complex and patterns differ among countries and regions. For example, in some areas the commercial sexual exploitation of children is clearly related to foreign child sex tourism, in others it is associated with the local demand. Child sex tourism (CST, unrelated to Adult sex tourism (AST is travel to engage in commercial sexual abuse of children In most countries, girls represent 80 to 90% of the victims, although in some places boys predominate.

As is the case for other worst forms of child labour, severe poverty, the possibility of relatively high earnings, low value attached to education, family dysfunction, a cultural obligation to help support the family or the need to earn money to simply survive are all factors that make children vulnerable to CSEC.

There are other non-economic factors that also push children into commercial sexual exploitation. Children who are at greatest risk of becoming victims of CSEC are those that have previously experienced physical or sexual abuse. A family environment of little protection, where caregivers are absent or where there is a high level of violence or alcohol or drug consumption, induces boys and girls to run away from home, making them highly susceptible to abuse. Gender discrimination and low educational levels of caregivers are also risk factors. Sexism is the belief or attitude that one Gender or Sex is inferior to or less valuable than the other and can also refer to a Hatred or distrust towards

Children with extreme poverty and marginalized families in coastal areas also becoming victims of CSEC

On the demand side, certain factors can aggravate the problem. For example, sex tourists are a source of demand for prostitution. Sex tourism is travel to engage in Sexual intercourse or sexual activity with prostitutes, and is typically undertaken internationally by tourists from wealthier countries The presence of military troops or of large public works may also create demand. Client preferences for young children, particularly in the context of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, pull in additional children. Additionally, the expansion of the Internet has facilitated the growth of child pornography. The Internet is a global system of interconnected Computer networks Child pornography refers to material depicting Children being in a state of undress engaged in erotic poses or sexual activity

Experience has shown that certain socio-economic characteristics, such as population density, concentration of night entertainment (bars and discos), high poverty and unemployment levels, movement of people, and access to highways, ports, or borders are also associated with CSEC.

Observations on CSEC from recent IPEC Rapid Assessments

While it is practically impossible to know the true extent of the problem, given its illegal nature, International Labour Organization (ILO) global child labour figures for the year 2003 estimate that there are as many as 1. The International Labour Organization 8 million children exploited in prostitution or pornography worldwide. [1]

The Rapid Assessment survey, developed by the ILO's International Programme for the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) and UNICEF, relies on interviews and other, mainly qualitative, techniques, to provide a picture of a specific activity in a limited geographic area. The United Nations Children's Fund (or UNICEF) was created by the United Nations General Assembly on December 11, 1946 It is a highly useful tool for collecting information on the worst forms of child labour, like CSEC, that is difficult to capture with standard quantitative surveys.

United States

New York

The New York State Office of Children and Family Services estimates that New York City is home to more than 2,000 sexually exploited children under 18. At least 85 percent of these youths statewide have had some contact with the child welfare system, mostly through abuse or neglect proceedings. In New York City, 75 percent have been in foster care. Most are female and black. [3] Mishi Faruqee, who is in charge of juvenile justice issues for the Correctional Association of New York, questioned the reliability of the estimate. “We believe that number is really an undercount. " [4] The average age for entry into prostitution is 12 in New York, and according to Rachel Lloyd, founder of an organization called GEMS that helps under-age girls in the sex trade, “Many of the guys who buy sex with children would never consider themselves pedophiles. They’re not necessarily out there looking for 12-year-olds or teenagers. They just kind of don’t care. " The Safe Harbor for Exploited Youth Act, legislation which would have provided services for sexually exploited youth instead of incarceration--making treatment of domestic youth parallel to that of foreign trafficking victims-- did not pass in New York in 2008. The New York Times criticized both the failure of the state government to pass the Act, and called for a "paradigm shift," away from blaming sexually exploited youth for their own exploitation, "If a 35-year-old pimp puts a 16-year-old girl on the street and a 30-year-old john pays to have sex with her, how is it reasonable that the girl is most often the point in that triangle that is targeted by law enforcement?" [5]

See also

Relevant ILO Conventions and Recommendations

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Facts on commercial sexual exploitation of children. Child pornography refers to material depicting Children being in a state of undress engaged in erotic poses or sexual activity ECPAT is a network of organizations and individuals working together to eliminate the Commercial sexual exploitation of children. OneChild (or "One Child" is a Canadian-based, Non-governmental organization which seeks to eliminate the Commercial sexual exploitation of children The International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC is a programme that the International Labour Organization has run since 1992. KIDPOWER TEENPOWER FULLPOWER International (also known as KIDPOWER) is a non-profit organization that teaches people of all ages and abilities safety confidence self-protection The term pedophilia or paedophilia has a range of definitions as found in Psychology, law enforcement and the popular vernacular Prostitution of children refers to the use of children as Prostitutes The definition of a "child prostitute" can vary depending on who is using the term Human trafficking is the recruitment transportation harbouring or receipt of people for the purposes of slavery forced labor (including bonded labor or debt bondage and servitude South Africa In South Africa the TECL programme is essentially an executing agency for key elements of the national Child Labour Programme of Action, as The Convention concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour, known in short as the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention The Worst Forms of Child Labour Recommendation was adopted by the International Labour Organisation (ILO in 1999 as ILO Recommendation No 190 ILO (2004).
  2. ^ BBC Politics 97
  3. ^ Report Finds 2,000 of State’s Children Are Sexually Exploited, Many in New York City. New York Times (2007).
  4. ^ Clyde Haberman. "The Sexually Exploited Ask for Change: Help, Not Jail", New York Times.  
  5. ^ Bob Herbert (2008). The Wrong Target.

External links

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