Child Sex Tourism

I just attended a conference about "Helping the Poor". Speaker Jackie Pullinger mentioned that more than a million children are drawn into prostitution each year. One million is alot.

"On this trip, I've had sex with a 14 year-old girl in Mexico and a 15 year-old in Colombia. I'm helping them financially. If they don't have sex with me, they may not have enough food. If someone has a problem with me doing this, let UNICEF feed them."
-Retired U.S. Schoolteacher

"Maria is . . . prostituted by her aunt. Maria is obliged to sell her body exclusively to foreign tourists in Costa Rica, she only works mornings as she has to attend school in the afternoon. Maria is in fifth grade." (Fifth graders are about 10-12yrs old)

Child sex tourists are individuals that travel to foreign countries to engage in sexual activity with children. The non-profit organization End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography, and the Trafficking of Children (ECPAT) estimates that more than one million children worldwide are drawn into the sex trade each year.

Poverty is the main reason that pushes children into prostitution. Many nations with thriving sex tourism industries are nations that suffer from widespread poverty resulting from turbulent politics and unstable economies. Young children are lured away from broken homes by "recruiters" who promise them jobs in a city and then force the children into prostitution. Some poor families themselves prostitute their children or sell their children into the sex trade to obtain desperately needed money.

The Internet has also facilitated the recent rise in child sex tourism by providing a convenient marketing channel. Websites detail sexual exploits with children and supply information on prices in various destinations etc.The easy availability of this information on the Internet generates interest in child sex tourism and facilitates child sex abusers in making their travel plans.

Information taken from the U.S. Department of State
http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/ceos/sextour.html
http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/fs/2005/51351.htm

There's a special evil in the abuse and exploitation of the most innocent and vulnerable. The victims of sex trade see little of life before they see the very worst of life -- an underground of brutality and lonely fear. —President George W. Bush before the UN General Assembly, September 2003

Who will help these children?

Sweeting Talking No More

One of the guys who arranged to meet the 13 year old girl up introduced himself as a basketball coach after she revealed that her true identity - a reporter. According to him he just wanted to recruit female basketballers for his school

A week after the article was flashed on the front page of The Straits Times I read in the papers that the basketball coach was fired. What happened was that a member of the school found the man mentioned in the papers very familiar and highlighted it to the principal. The school proceeded to call and verify with The Straits Time. The coach was subsequently called in. The principal (an all girls primary school) asked him if the person was really him. And guessed what this guy said:" It's me but I asked her all those questions because I just want to make sure that no sluts will join our school's basketball team"

For the safety & well being of the students, the school fired the coach as they are concerned over the kind of influence he might have over the young girls under his care.

Thank goodness for the alertness of the teacher who raised the alarm!!!

Don't Get SWEET-TALKED!

Check out the recent Sunday Times on 6th May 2007:

Men prowl Internet chatrooms & lure young irls into meeting them for sex. Reporter Cheryl Tan poses as a 13-year-old schoolgirl & gets indecent proposal one after another.

"Petting is like a massage. Just wear your bikini and I'll give ou a full body massage" - SPRING, 24

"I let you see me naked, you also show me yourself naked." - UnWANTED, 17

"I teach you everything tomorrow," he promised. But I had to let him "feel feel" me. - Eric,32.

Darren, whose pick-up line was to ask if I was keen on earning $1,500, called me "girl". HE asked for my age, my school, and why I was not in class on a Friday morning. For that amount of money, all he wanted from me was to "accompany" him. The 27-year-old who claimed to be an advertising manager said he wanted us to "chill out" together at his home. He asked to meet me at a playground near the HDB flat he lived in. Offered to pay for my cab fare & said we could have breakfast & watch comedy movies. He gave me his mobile number.

When I got there and called him, he asked me again if I was really 13. WHile I waited on a slide, Darren circled the playground several times. He then disappeared behind a block of flats and hid behind a pillar.

My phone rang - it was him. He claimed he did not see me and asked to meet at the lift lobby instead. When I faked unfamiliarity with the area, he finally approached me.

The first thing he asked me was: "Are you the girl I chatted with online?"

When I identified myself as a reporter, Darren immediately denied knowing that I was 13. Even after he tried to inch away from me, he insisted that his motive was purely innocent. He "really just wanted to watch movies" with me at his flat. Two hours later, a woman who claimed to be his girlfriend called to say someone has impersonated Darren & posted his mobile number on the Net.

Girls, don't get sweet talk. I don't even waste my time with any online strangers. The real posion lies deep within the sweet honey coated words. This reporter was just doing a case study. But I wonder how many young innocent gals may have fallen prey to some of these sweet talking perverts.