Children
The definitional issues regarding child trafficking are different
from those related to adult women. Specifically, following the UN
Trafficking Protocol and basic human rights standards, the issue of
consent for minors engaged in commercial sexual activities is always
irrelevant.13 Instead, the questions relate to the nature of the prohibited
act (e.g. sexual exploitation) and status.
First, the international community has outlined several basic
norms that help shape an understanding of commercial sexual
exploitation. In 1996 and 2001, UNICEF, in partnership with other
organizations, hosted the First and Second World Congresses against
Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children.
The general definition of commercial sexual exploitation adopted in the Declaration and Action
for Agenda of the World Congress Against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (1996) states:
The commercial sexual exploitation of children is a
fundamental violation of children's rights. It compromises
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. The
commercial sexual exploitation of children constitutes a
form of coercion and violence against children, and
amounts to forced labor and a contemporary form of
slavery.
Accordingly, the study examined all circumstances of
"recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt" of children
for prostitution, the production of pornographic materials, or other
commercial sexual activities (stripping, table dancing, "barra show",
etc.).
Second, determining whether or not an individual is a "child"
or minor arises as a significant concern. Variations exist within the
region as to when a child comes of age. Thus, in some countries, a
child over the age of twelve or fourteen is considered an adult whereas
in other countries anyone under eighteen years of age is considered a
minor. For purposes of this study, researchers considered a child to be
any person less than eighteen years of age, consistent with the UN
Convention on the Rights of the Child and the UN Trafficking
Protocol.
SOCIO-ECONOMIC CONTEXT: POVERTY AND MIGRATION
The trafficking of women and children detected in the region
occurs within the context of larger migratory movements and economic
struggle. These characteristics form an important backdrop to
trafficking activity, as they affect the supply of women and children,
the demand for available sexual services, and the quality of the
government response.
Status of Development
Central America is easily considered a single territory. The
countries, which share numerous economic, historical, social and
political characteristics, enjoy a variety of regional inter governmental
bodies and forums, and since the early 1990s, have been negotiating
toward economic and trade integration. Within the hemisphere, it is
one of the more impoverished regions; over 70% of the region's
population lives below the poverty line. These longstanding
economic woes have been exacerbated by the recent natural disasters of
Hurricane Mitch in 1998 that significantly impacted Nicaragua and
Honduras and earthquakes in El Salvador in 2001.
Women, in particular, face enormous challenges, as they
increasingly assume sole responsibility for families. From 1988 to
1999, in Costa Rica, the percentage of women as head of the house rose
from 19.3% to 27.9%. During the same time period in Honduras, the
number of women increased from 27.9% to 30.3%. From 1991 to 1998
in Panama, the percentage of women as heads of a household increased
from 26.0% to 30.6%. In 1997, women headed 30.2% of the houses in
El Salvador. In that same year in Nicaragua, the percentage was 36.6%
and in the Dominican Republic it was 31.4%. In 1999 in Guatemala,
women ran 24.3% of the households.