UN Study focus of WUNRN
Juridical Aspects
A.International Covenant on Civil & Political
Rights
B.1.CEDAW
2.Convention on the Rights of the
Child
Factual Aspects
B.Women's & Girls' Health
E.1.Prostitution & Slavery
2.Rape & Sexual Abuse
G2.Sex Tourism
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
WUNRN posts this release for the human rights, health,
safety, and dignity of THE GIRL CHILD.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Child sex
tourism
July 21,
2006
Barbara Kralis
RenewAmerica analyst
Child Sex Tourism [CST] entails tourists, mostly men, engaged in sex
trafficking by purposely traveling to known sex destinations, seeking anonymity
in pornography or prostitution, or engaging in pederasty with young children and
homosexuality with young and older adults.
These sexual offenders come
from all different cultures and socio-economic levels, many holding positions of
government and religious leadership, faithfulness, and trust. The U.S.
Department of State reported previous cases of CST involving U.S. citizens that
included a pediatrician, a retired Army sergeant, a dentist, and a university
professor. Many times, the sex tourists travel with illegal drugs purposely to
control the minor's will or to bait and solicit sex with the minor.
The
Vatican has recently warned in a new Document, 'Pastoral Care For The Liberation
of Women of the Street' [street prostitutes], that men who are clients of
prostitution have deep-seated problems as they, too, are enslaved in sex and
domination. The document reveals that the largest numbers of men are over 40
years of age, but there are an increasing number of younger men, between 16-24,
involved as well. The Vatican reported that 500,000 women from Eastern Europe
are enslaved into prostitution on the streets of Western Europe,
alone.
Pope Benedict XVI warned the Bishops of Sri Lanka in May 2005:
"No effort must be spared to encourage civil authorities and the
international community to fight child abuse and assure young people the
necessary legal protection."
Siri's story of child sex
tourism"Thailand has always had slavery but never before on this
scale and never before as the new slavery," said Dr. Kevin Bales to this
journalist. Dr. Bales describes one young sex slave, Siri, whom he met and
interviewed at a brothel in Ubon Ratchitani, northeastern
Thailand:
"When Siri wakes, it is about noon. In the instant of
waking, she knows exactly who and what she has become. The soreness in her
genitals reminds her of the fifteen men she had sex with the night before. Siri
is fifteen years old. Sold by her parents a year ago to a woman broker from a
Northern village, the broker assured her parents they would be well paid for
their daughter. After some negotiation, they received 50,000 baht [$2,000] for
Siri. This exchange began the process of debt bondage that is used to enslave
the girl. The daughter's labor must pay back the loaned money before she is free
to leave the brothel. However, her debt has escalated in a short time to 200,000
baht for her rent, food, drinks, medicine, and fines if she did not work hard
enough.
"Siri's resistance and desire to escape the brothel are breaking
down, and acceptance and resignation are taking their place. After she was sold
and taken to the brothel, she discovered that the work was not what she thought
it would be. Siri had a sheltered childhood and was ignorant of what it meant to
work in a brothel. Her first client hurt her and at the earliest opportunity,
she ran away. On the street with no money, she was quickly caught, dragged back,
beaten, and raped. That night she was forced to take on a chain of clients until
the early morning. The beatings and work continued night after night until her
will was broken. Now she is sure that she is a bad person. Girls in Thailand,
like Siri, are sold into sex slavery by the thousands. Money, culture, and
society blend in new and powerful ways to enslave girls like Siri." (Source:
"Disposable People-New Slavery in the Global Economy," by Dr. Kevin Bales,
University of California Press, 1999.)
(
Editor's note: Read all 16
columns on the subject of Trafficking of Human Slaves by Barbara Kralis at
RenewAmerica.us: "
21st Century
Slavery," "
Modern
Day Slavery Flourishes," "
Different Forms of Human
Slavery," "
Child
Sex Tourism," "
Slavery as Domestic
Servitude," "
Combatant Human
Slaves," "
Involuntary Human
Servitude," "Child Slaves for Sport," "Trafficking
--A
Trans-National Criminal Enterprise," "How the Trafficking Scams Work,"
"Trafficking in Your Own Back Yard," "Smart Raids & Rescues of Slaves,"
"U.S. Government Leads Global Battle Against Trafficking," "Catholic Church's
Fight Against Trafficking & Human Slavery," "The Hope That No One Should Be
a Human Slave," "Exposure of Evil Makes Way For the Good.")