In many places, younger and younger children are being sought for sex in the mistaken belief that clients can lessen their risk of HIV infection. Further, it should be noted that this trafficking of children and women for sexual purposes is increasingly international in nature, with women and children trafficked across borders. Such flagrant violations of children's rights constitute a modern form of slavery, and there is an urgent need for international cooperation to counter this illicit trade.
The children most likely to be targeted for sexual exploitation
are girls, especially members of ethnic minorities, stateless children,
and children in refugee camps. But both boys and girls are vulnerable
to sexual exploitation. The situations they wind up in are tantamount to
slavery. Forced labor, forced prostitution, illegal adoptions or
involuntary marriage cause human beings to be stripped of their rights.
Often, they have little recourse in the law; they are too fearful of further
abuse, including abuse from authorities.
The effects of sexual exploitation of children are profound and
may be permanent. Normal sexual, physical and emotional
development is compromised. Self esteem and confidence are
undermined. Violence, drugs and sexually transmitted diseases only
heighten their vulnerability. Even if trafficked children return home,
they are likely to be stigmatized, ostracized by their families and
communities. At the same time, the vast majority of sexually exploited
children are denied their right to education.
Four years ago, in Stockholm, scores of governments
represented at the World Congress against the Commercial Sexual
Exploitation of Children sent a clear and unequivocal message: that this
gross violation of the human rights of children cannot be allowed to
continue.
Governments and civil society came together to affirm,
without compromise, that children are not property to be bought and
sold; that their human rights are to be regarded with utmost seriousness
and that their voices must be heard in the fulfillment of those rights.
At the same time, it was recognised that there is no single
remedy to the complex problem of child commercial sexual
exploitation and that solutions must arise from the diverse national,
local and cultural realities in which the commercial exploitation of
children is grounded.
In its standard setting activities, the international community
has also demonstrated concern for sexual exploitation, forced labor and
related issues, including contemporary forms of slavery with specific
reference to children. These instruments have been drawn up in
different contexts from human rights to humanitarian law. Thus,
various international instruments are relevant to the consideration of the
question of trafficking of persons generally.
It must be recalled that different international instruments already exist:
. the 1949 Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in
Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others
continues to be the main international convention on the
subject;
. the 1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women; and
. the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which is
almost universally ratified (191 states). Trafficking in
children, for any purpose and in any form, is explicitly
prohibited under articles 34 and 35 of the CRC.