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Momodou
Denmark
11717 Posts |
 Posted - 13 Feb 2007 : 13:40:56
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CHILDREN'S CORNER ABUSE ON CHILDREN
By Amie Sanneh
Keeping children safe from violence and abuse is central to achieving the Millennium Development Goals and fulfilling the Millennium Declaration. Sexual exploitation of children for commercial ends is a fundamental violation of children as stated in the rights of children in the UNICEF's Media and Child Protection document.
Sexual exploitation involves sexual abuse by an adult, for some type of remuneration in kind or monetary benefit to the child, a person or a third party. The child is treated in such cases as a sexual object. The sexual exploitation of children for commercial gain is a form of coercion and violation committed against them and amounts to forced labour and a contemporary form of slavery.
The media and child protection document which is a guideline for journalists, highlights three main forms of child sexual exploitation for commercial gain that exists and are closely linked. They are prostitution, pornography and sex trafficking, sex tourism, involving children, and early marriage is part of it.
The sexual exploitation of children for commercial end is one of the worst forms of child labour as defined in Convention 182 of the International Labour Organisation (ILO).
The different types of sexual exploitation can be noted as thus:
- Child prostitution is defined as "the use of children by others for sexual activities in return for remuneration or any other form of consideration;"
- Child pornography is defined as any representation by whatever means, of a child engaged in real stimulated explicit sexual activities or any representation of the sexual part of a child for primary sexual purposes;"
- Sex tourism involving children is a phenomenon in certain geographic areas. It can be defined as the sexual exploitation of children by persons who have left their country to go to another country for primary sexual purposes;"
Tourism in itself is not one of the main causes of exploitation and sexual abuse; but it is being said that it is without doubt a common practice amongst those who exploit children and paedophiles to take advantage of tourism structures (motels, bars, nigh clubs etc) to satisfy their desires.
One cannot identify paedophiles and sexual exploitation of children just by targeting one sector of society, a particular cultural phenomenon or an exact location, because sex tourists belongs to all social classes.
In the majority of cases, child sex tourism involves men, married and singles, who have organised their trips with the aim of seeking out sexual relations with children. They can also be travellers who are taking advantage of their anonymity and the fact of being far from the social and moral constraints of their of their country of origin to abuse children. Often sex tourists justify their behaviour by claiming that in some countries it is culturally acceptable, or that it is a form of financial aid.
The tourism industry also contributes to creating a demand by extolling the exotic image of destination. Even though, in general, sex tourism is informal and organised between friends or colleagues, there have been cases of prosecutions against travel agents for having organised trips with a sexual aim. Another form of sexual abuse is the rape of children. It is defined by the 1999 Law as being an act of sexual penetration of what\ever nature committed on another individual through violence, constraints, threat or purpose. The act of penetration, strictly speaking, can be not only an act of sexual union, but also sodomy or penetration with an object.
CHILD LABOUR - the worst forms of child labour cover all forms of slavery or practices similar to slavery, such as the sale and trafficking of children, debt bondage, forced or compulsory labour, involving forced or compulsory recruitment of children for use in armed conflicts.
- It also covers the use, procuring or offering of a child for prostitution, for the production of pornography or for pornographic performance;
- The use, procuring or offering of a child for illicit activities particular for the production and trafficking of drugs as defined in the relevant international treaties.
The list of activities identified in Senegal by the ILO as coming under the worst forms of child labour are:
- Begging done by children on behalf of a third party
- Forced labour or work done in servitude by children on behalf of a third party (prostitution, pornographic outputs or acts, production and sale of drugs, illegal activities, etc).
- Taxing labour carried out by children (early or taxing domestic work, underground works, working at dangerous heights etc).
- Dangerous works carried out by children (dangerous domestic work at a young age, work exposing children to physical or sexual abuses, manipulation, transport and use of toxic chemical and biological products etc).
- Public transporting of goods or people carried and by children;
- Slaughtering of animals by children.
- The role of UNICEF is to mobilise partners towards the realisation of children's rights and to strengthen the will and capacities of governments to ensure children's protection.
Source: Foroyaa Newspaper Burning Issue
Issue No. 017/2007, 12-13 February, 2007
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