CHAPTER 2
There is growing acknowledgement that boys are also highly vulnerable to SECTT and that their experiences of exploitation are little understood and often de-valued. In Southeast Asia boys are reported to be most commonly involved in street-based sexual exploitation. Another emerging area of grave concern is the PUђS[YH[PVU I` [YHUZUH[PVUHS JOPSK ZL_ VMMLUKLYZ PU[V pseudo-care professions such as teaching and work with child-focused NGOs in shelters and orphanages in a professional or voluntary capacity. Orphanages have been found to employ unethical tactics and to put children at risk through exposure to un-vetted “volunteers”.184 Finally, proliferation of the Internet and related communication technologies presents several new modalities of solicitation and exploitation for TCSOs. Online grooming and solicitation, the increasing ease HUK WYVђ[HIPSP[` VM ZL_\HS HI\ZP]L PTHNLZ VM JOPSKYLU and the advent of cybersex have rapidly changed the methods used by offenders and led to unprecedented numbers of vulnerable children being exploited across [OL YLNPVU IV[O KPYLJ[S` HUK PUKPYLJ[S` VY [YHMђJRLK for exploitation elsewhere. The Philippines is believed to be a key location in Southeast Asia for organised cybersex involving children; numerous cases have come to light in recent years. It has been estimated that tens of thousands of children in the Philippines alone are exploited by what is described by the Dutch NGO Terre des Hommes as ‘webcam child sex tourism’, which involves children performing sexual acts in front of a camera controlled by the abuser through an intermediary.185
Response Throughout Southeast Asia, serious efforts have been made to combat child sexual exploitation in recent years. At the regional level, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has acknowledged the issue in numerous regional declarations and initiatives against [YHMђJRPUN ]PVSLUJL HUK J`ILYJYPTL 7\ISPJ LK\JH[PVU campaigns have been carried out, in some cases funded by Australia’s aid agency, since Australian offenders are active in the region. However, the commitment and capacity of national governments to combat SECTT varies across the region. The development of National Plans of Action (NPAs); establishment of coordination and cooperation mechanisms and actions; development, revision and application of legal frameworks; implementation of prevention programmes; provision of support services to victims; and engagement of children and young people have been undertaken to a greater or lesser extent in different countries. In some instances, civil society organisations have been the driving force behind anti-SECTT activities across the region. Yet UVUL VM [OL YLNPVUϦZ JV\U[YPLZ OHZ H ZWLJPђJ 57( [V
address SECTT or a designated agency to oversee and coordinate anti-SECTT initiatives. International contributions to anti-SECTT actions in the region have mainly taken the form of establishing and/or tightening extraterritorial legislation; support for KL]LSVWPUN ZL_ VMMLUKLY YLNPZ[YH[PVU HUK UV[PђJH[PVU systems; and building cooperative relationships between regional, national and international law enforcement agencies. :PNUPђJHU[ LMMVY[Z OH]L ILLU \UKLY[HRLU PU :V\[OLHZ[ Asia to enhance national legal frameworks, but no country fully complies with the recommendations outlined in the OPSC, which address SECTT-related JYPTLZ 6US` [OL 7OPSPWWPULZ OHZ ZWLJPђJ YVI\Z[ UH[PVUHS legislation describing and prohibiting SECTT. In many countries, legislation that could be applied to cases of :,*;; PZ JVTWYVTPZLK I` H MHPS\YL [V HKLX\H[LS` KLђUL criminalise and/or suitably penalise sexual offences against children. Troublingly, a number of countries also fail to explicitly state that children involved in cases of sexual exploitation are, in fact, victims, rather than offenders. Most SECTT prevention efforts in the region have been undertaken by NGOs or supported by development partners; and while some public and private programmes exist to assist child victims of violence and abuse, Z\WWVY[ ZLY]PJLZ ZWLJPђJHSS` KLZPNULK MVY ]PJ[PTZ VM SECTT are rare.
SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA The region Sub-Saharan Africa includes 46 countries, several of which are among the world’s poorest and least KL]LSVWLK ;OL M\SS YLWVY[ WYLZLU[Z [OL ђUKPUNZ VM national-level research conducted in Ghana (West Africa), Kenya (East Africa), South Africa and Zambia (southern Africa), complemented by evidence from elsewhere in the region.186 In the four countries studied in-depth, consultations were held with a range of stakeholders, including child victims of sexual exploitation, the results of which provide a foundation for the conclusions drawn about the current dynamics and trends of SECTT in the region.
Travel and tourism According to data from UNWTO, tourism in Africa has more than tripled in the last 20 years. International tourism in Africa has seen a 2% increase in 2014, which amounts to one million arrivals, adding up to 56 million [V\YPZ[Z PU [V[HS HM[LY [OL (TLYPJHZ (ZPH HUK [OL 7HJPђJ 4PKKSL ,HZ[ HUK ,\YVWL ;OPZ ђN\YL PZ WYLKPJ[LK [V JSPTI to 134 million by 2030.187 The motive for travel and tourism varies widely across the region; for example, highly developed South Africa draws large numbers
OFFENDERS ON THE MOVE
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