NGLS Roundup 85

NGLS Roundup 85, January 2002

2ND WORLD CONGRESS AGAINST THE COMMERCIAL SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF CHILDREN

From 17-20 December 2001, the Japanese city of Yokohama hosted the Second World Congress (SWC) Against the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC). The Congress was organized by the Government of Japan, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the NGO Group for the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and ECPAT (End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking in Children for Sexual Purposes). After four days of discussions, the Congress ended with the adoption of the Yokohama Global Commitment 2001 on 20 December in which participants reaffirmed their commitment to fight the commercial sexual exploitation of children worldwide.

INTRODUCTION

Millions of children throughout the world are being exploited for commercial sex, a multi-billion dollar business that engulfs an estimated 3,000 new child victims every day. Bought and sold like goods, abducted and trafficked within and across borders, drawn into vulnerable situations such as forced marriage, prostitution and child pornography, they are subject to the most pervasive violations of human rights. Deprived of their right to education and denied their childhood, many are forced to work from a very young age in bars, hotel rooms, massage parlours, brothels or in the streets. Most children find themselves trapped in the commercial sex trade in which many will die before reaching adulthood from the consequences of their exploitation: malnutrition, physical violence or sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV/AIDS. Those who are able to escape often face stigmatization and rejection when they go back to their families and communities, and often return to their former situation.

Commercial sexual exploitation is a universal phenomenon and its offenders and victims come from all social groups, races, and income and education levels. Its root causes are complex and vary from poverty, natural disasters, armed conflict and displacement, racial and gender discrimination, to a lack of education or opportunities, HIV/AIDS, abusive family environments and materialistic value systems. They create conditions and circumstances in which children are forced, deceived or abducted into the business, or in which they see no other option in life but to sell themselves. The root causes are often interlinked with their consequences, creating a vicious circle that is hard to break.

FROM STOCKHOLM TO YOKOHAMA: LITTLE PROGRESS MADE

In 1996 the First World Congress Against the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children in Stockholm placed CSEC on the international political agenda and incited governments to tackle the problem. Before then, CSEC was merely regarded as a “country's best kept dirty secret,” as some of the delegates put it, and national policies and legislation on the subject were rare as it largely remained the domain of engaged national and international NGOs. However, the wide public and media attention given to the Stockholm Congress generated awareness of the urgency of the problem while showing the need for political involvement and coordinated actions. The resulting Stockholm Declaration and Agenda for Action committed participating countries to develop national action agendas and strategies, or plans of action, in order to combat commercial sexual exploitation of children within their borders.

As a follow-up meeting to Stockholm, the Second World Congress took stock of these commitments, where during four days over 3,000 participants—representing more than 130 governments, international organizations, NGOs, academics, trade union representatives, the private sector and around 100 young people—gathered to discuss strategies on national, regional and international levels to fight CSEC. They reviewed progress made since 1996, identified challenges that remain, and recommitted to the Stockholm Declaration and Agenda for Action, noting that five years later, many countries had failed in their commitments to adopt and implement national action plans while CSEC continues to flourish.

As socio-economic, cultural, and religious considerations were seen as fundamental in determining the approach needed to combat CSEC, the Second World Congress was preceded by regional consultations with region-specific priorities and contexts in Bangkok (Thailand), Rabat (Morocco), Dhaka (Bangladesh), Montevideo (Uruguay), Budapest (Hungary) and Philadelphia (United States) during the latter half of 2001. The outcome documents of the regional consultations were annexed to the outcome document of the Congress.

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Some Estimates Related To CSEC

Statistical data on CSEC are often scarce and unreliable. The clandestine nature of the international sex industry and the diverging methodology for data collection used by different countries has made it difficult to move beyond broad estimates. UNICEF estimates in its 2001 publication, Profiting from Abuse, that:

—Approximately one million children enter the commercial sex trade in Asia each year;

—In a Human Rights Vigilance survey in Cambodia, of 6,110 sex workers in the city of Phnom Penh and in 11 provinces, 31% of those interviewed were children aged 12 to 17;

—Around 50,000 Nepali girls have been sold and trafficked to India as bonded labour in Bombay brothels;

—There are an estimated 25,000 child sex workers in the Dominican Republic;

—In West Africa an estimated 35,000 children are sex workers;

—In Mexico, a study of six cities (Acapulco, Cancún, Ciudad Juarez, Guadalajara, Tapachula and Tijuana) estimates that a total of 4,600 children are sexually exploited in these cities.

In many countries, the sex industry fuels the expansion of the tourist industry and is a significant source of foreign exchange earnings. A study on the illegal economy of Thailand, for example, found that from 1993 to 1995 prostitution accounted for 10 to 14% of the country's annual gross domestic product (GDP). An estimated one-third of the females involved in prostitution in Thailand are minors.

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STRUCTURE OF THE CONGRESS

The SWC was a “working congress” which focused on sharing lessons learned, best practices, and ways to move forward with new partnerships. Morning plenary sessions hosted three large panel discussions on the themes: Lessons Learned; Challenges and Gaps; and Ways Forward. During afternoon sessions, government delegates made statements on national strategies, action plans and legislative developments. Parallel to the plenary sessions, over 100 workshops were organized by NGOs and international organizations covering a variety of topics such as sexual exploitation of refugee and displaced children, Internet safety programmes, and prevention through community empowerment. Discussions in all forums centred around six main themes: child pornography; prevention, protection and recovery of children from sexual exploitation; trafficking of children; the role and involvement of the private sector; legislation and law enforcement; and the profile of the sex exploiter.

Princess Takamodo of Japan and Queen Silvia of Sweden, both prominent figures in the fight against CSEC, opened the Congress on 17 December 2001. Queen Silvia, patron of the Stockholm World Congress, highlighted increased youth participation as well as the growing support of the private sector—including travel, tourism and information companies. As examples she cited efforts made by some airlines that run in-flight films to draw passengers' attention to the problem and some travel agents that have instituted codes of conduct. Calling CSEC a “crime against humanity” and “a form of slavery,” she reminded participants that in spite of greater public awareness since the First World Congress, the number of victims is still growing at a rapid rate. Carol Bellamy, UNICEF Executive Director, told delegates that commercial sexual exploitation of children is “a form of terrorism” that cannot be tolerated. She called the meeting a “historic opportunity” to see how much progress has been made since 1996, mentioning the action plans governments had drawn up, stepped-up police action, involvement of the private sector and the allocation of resources to fight the problem. She warned, however, that while “we know it is still big business out there…we also know that it could be taken more seriously” by some governments.

THE YOKOHAMA GLOBAL COMMITMENT 2001

Negotiating the Outcome Document

In the preparatory phase leading up to the SWC, a final outcome document was prepared by the General Rapporteur of the First and Second World Congress, Vitit Muntarbhorn (Thailand), in consultation with the participating governments. As the SWC was meant to be a “working” rather than a “negotiating” congress, it had been agreed that negotiations over the document would not be reopened in Yokohama. However, government representatives and others did consider the proposed final outcome document behind closed doors. Intense negotiations took place over the document, in particular the references to the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and laws with extra-territorial reach.

The Yokohama Global Commitment 2001

The final text of the Yokohama Global Commitment 2001 was adopted on 20 December 2001 and contains a number of important concepts. Clear references are made to a rights-based approach and to the CRC. Addressing developments made since the First World Congress, the text calls for “more effective implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child by State Parties.” The reference to “State Parties” was added in the text as a compromise reached after intense negotiations. The reference to the Optional Protocol (OP) to the CRC on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography, which entered into force in January 2002, was recognized as an important instrument in the fight against CSEC. The reference to the non-criminalization of children was another key element of the text, as international legislation on this issue does not exist. It is currently debated in relation to the criminal status of former child soldiers in Sierra Leone. In the text, participants commit to reinforce action to criminalize CSEC, “while not criminalizing or penalizing child victims.” Another strong point of the text is the reference to eliminate “all forms of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse of children,” which moves the text beyond the commercial sexual exploitation of children to include non-commercial sexual abuse.

Among the developments made since the First World Congress, the Global Commitment notes “the increasing mobilization of governments, local authorities, the non- governmental sector, as well as the international community to promote and protect the rights of the child.” It also takes into consideration enhanced and multi-faceted actions, strategies, programmes and measures against child prostitution, child pornography and trafficking of children, “including new laws to criminalize these phenomena including provisions with extra-territorial effect.” The text also welcomes the sustained involvement of the private sector, such as workers' and employers' organizations, the tourism industry and Internet service providers, and their adoption and implementation of corporate policies and codes of conduct to protect children. It calls for the greater involvement of children and young people in promoting and protecting their rights. The text further lists new legislative instruments developed since Stockholm to protect children from sexual exploitation, including the above-mentioned Optional Protocol to the CRC; the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children supplementing the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (2000); and relevant provisions of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (1998). It encourages implementation of these and other existing legal instruments such as ILO Convention 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labour (November 2000).

Signatories of the Global Commitment also committed to address root causes, such as poverty, inequality, discrimination, persecution, violence, armed conflicts, HIV/AIDS, and the demand factor in their efforts to combat commercial sexual exploitation of children. They emphasized the need to promote closer networking among key actors on all levels, to ensure adequate resource allocation to counter the problem, and to promote education and information.

Appendices

A number of States or groups of States made explanatory statements that were added as appendices to the Yokohama Global Commitment, reflecting text that was the subject of last-minute negotiations. European countries stressed their attachment to, among other things, the protection of all boys and girls up to the age of 18, the broadening of criminal offences to include the various forms of sexual exploitation of children by establishing extra-territorial responsibility, and the importance of ratification and implementation of the CRC. In its explanatory statement, the US drew attention to the fact that the Optional Protocol to the CRC on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography “unlike the Convention itself, requires that State Parties criminalize all activities relating to prostitution and pornography with children under the age of 18, without reference to state law or the age of sexual consent.” The US also said it plans to ratify the OP soon. The Republic of India explained its understanding of the reference to extra-territorial criminal laws as “to ensure that the offended is tried in the country in whose jurisdiction the offence is committed; if he cannot be so tried by virtue of his not being present in that country and his being not extradited for facing trial, he is tried in the country of which he is a national…or present,” in order to ensure punishment of the criminal. The Islamic Republic of Iran, however, rejected the concept of extra-territoriality as it appears in the Global Commitment, as being “too broad and inconsistent with international law.” Iran stressed that “laws and policies of all countries, in combating the crime of commercial sexual exploitation of children, should be fully respected and should by no means be substituted by the application of extra-territorial laws and measures.”

CSEC DISCUSSIONS AT YOKOHAMA

The Role of Culture in CSEC

Many workshops and panel discussions addressed the role culture plays both as a root cause for CSEC and as a tool in the rehabilitation and reintegration process. In the panel discussion on Lessons Learned, Gracy Fernandes from the College of Social Work in Mumbai (India) discussed how child prostitution in India has age-old cultural roots. She illustrated this with the example of the devadasi and jogin systems persisting in many villages in the States of Karnataka, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. In these systems every year, thousands of young girls from poor, often Dalit, families are sold or “married” to a deity and enter a system of forced prostitution from which they can rarely escape.

A number of workshops and panel discussions addressed the custom of early marriage that exists throughout the world. Although the legal age of marriage has risen steadily in most countries, the practice is widely accepted under traditional customary law and is therefore difficult to eradicate. In Niger, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, 70%, 54% and 51% of girls respectively are married by the age of 18 to men who are often two or three times older than they are, thus putting them in a precarious situation. It usually means the end of their education and it diminishes the girl's autonomy in making life choices related to work, health and reproduction. The dependency of these girls makes them particularly vulnerable to servitude, violence and sexual exploitation. Bogaletch Gebre from the Ethiopian Kembatta Women's Self-Help Centre explained that in Ethiopia the age of the first marriage for girls varies between eight and 12 years of age, whereas the average age for boys is 18. Ms. Gebre, citing a study by Menti Gezima, said that the abduction of girls for marriage is a common practice in the poor Kembatta Alaba Tembaro Zone in Ethiopia, where most parents cannot afford a dowry. The report notes that 87% of marriages in the area are formed through abduction, and should the young girl escape her abductor, she would be unwelcome back home.

Inter-family care is a deeply-rooted custom in many East African countries, which entails sending children away to wealthier relatives who will feed, clothe and educate the children in return for domestic work. These children, however, are vulnerable to sexual exploitation, both during their unaccompanied trip, which increasingly involves crossing a border, and during their stay with relatives they often do not know. Rubaramira Ruranga from the Ugandan NGO National Guidance and Empowerment Network of PHA added that the absence of law enforcement mechanisms and legislation on prostitution in many East African countries makes CSEC very hard to investigate and combat.

Nezha Chekrouni, Minister in Charge of Women's Condition, Family and Child Welfare of Morocco, addressed the culture of denial that exists in many countries in the Middle East, where public discussion of any sex-related matter is taboo. In some countries, the existence of CSEC is denied throughout society, making it a hidden problem that prevents children from speaking out and NGOs from getting involved.

Another difficult factor in combating CSEC is the diverging definitions of the “child,” linked to the legal age of marriage and of sexual consent. The definitions are often culturally determined and do not always match international standards or even correspond within national jurisdictions. Worldwide, all but two countries have ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which defines a child as a person under 18 years of age; yet in many countries a child legally reaches adulthood with physical maturity, often well under the age of 18, where customary law and traditions prescribe a lower minimum age of the child than the one defined by the Convention. In addition, the age of sexual consent is different in many countries and does not often correspond with the legal age of marriage or the definition of a child. This is not only a complicating factor in a national context, but it also deters international cooperation in the fight against CSEC. In a study prepared for the Congress, Jane Warburton explained that “the dilemma in relation to sexual abuse and exploitation often centres on the debate around the age of consent to sexual activity. Clearly, not all sexual activity with or by a young person under the age of 18…is deemed abusive…[but this argument] can also obscure a fundamental aspect of the protection of children, whereby a young person cannot ‘consent' to sexual abuse.”

A number of participants in the panel discussions and workshops addressed the effects of globalization and new materialistic values in society, which can pull children into the business of commercial sex in both rich and poor countries alike. In Japan, NGOs have expressed concern over the “enjo-Kosai” girls that voluntarily prostitute themselves in order to buy the latest fashion accessories. Naira Khan from the Zimbabwean Child Law Foundation said that “in Africa children are overwhelmed by globalization needs and the new materialistic culture, a value system in which sex means easy money and in which the dehumanization of children is tolerated.” Another aspect of globalization is the emergence of modern technologies such as the Internet, which has created new opportunities for child sex abusers who use the anonymous medium to send or collect pornographic material or to make contact with children for the purpose of meeting and abusing them. Offenders take advantage of the legal vacuum that exists in many countries where it is often difficult to detect and prosecute sex abusers.

While culture impacts the root causes of CSEC, it can also be a valuable resource for healing and rehabilitation. Cherry Kingsley and Melanie Mark from Save the Children-Canada explained how their Canadian aboriginal culture and community values have helped them overcome their experiences with CSEC. “In our culture,” they explained, “we believe that we are born into a circle of life, with seven generations in front of us and seven generations behind us. This gives a strong feeling. Children are very important in our culture, as important as adults. Without our children the circle of life would be broken.” Other NGOs explained how they use traditional songs from their culture to empower exploited children and help them to cope with their experiences.

Addressing the Demand Side

At the Congress, CSEC was defined as a lucrative trade in a global market ruled by supply and demand, where children are commodities that are traded for petty amounts. The debate on CSEC largely focuses on the supply side—the child victims and the root causes of their exploitation. However, little research has been done on the demand side, the perpetrators of this exploitation, and few programmes target this group. A number of stereotypes persist—including the idea that most perpetrators are paedophiles and foreigners, or that they are all men—and are partly due to the media attention given to these groups. In reality, the profile of the sex exploiter is far more complex. Most child sexual exploitation is perpetrated by members of the local community. Although a large number of perpetrators are men, there is a significant number of women involved, either as a perpetrator or as a third party, such as agent, intermediary or madam, or both. In a study carried out in preparation for the Congress, Julia O'Connell Davidson points out that “it is not unusual for an individual ‘career' in the sex trade to start with selling sex, then progress to organizing the prostitution of others, including children.” UN agencies and NGOs such as Save the Children have also drawn attention to the role of children as sex exploiters, most of whom are current or former victims themselves.

Denise Ritchie from ECPAT-New Zealand urged participants to focus more on the demand side. “If there would be no demand, it would not be commercially viable to have supply,” she told delegates. She stressed the need to address male sexual behaviour and male domination in society and explained the vital role men themselves play in creating good male role models. “Where men are the problem, they must become the solution,” she said.

Most legislative instruments related to CSEC focus on its victims. One exception is the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children, to supplement the 2000 United Nations Convention on Transnational Organized Crime. In Section III, Article 9.5 requires that State Parties take measures to “discourage the demand that fosters all forms of exploitation of persons, especially women and children, that leads to trafficking.”

Boy Victims

Although the majority of sexually abused and exploited children are girls, boys are also victims. UNICEF indicates that Sri Lanka's estimated 20,000-30,000 child prostitutes are primarily boys, mostly exploited by male sex tourists. The United States' Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) estimates that over 50% of all child pornography seized in the US depicts boys.

Boys are often targeted by other men—paedophiles or sex tourists—but also by older women. Whereas girls tend to be exploited in organized clubs or brothels, boys in the commercial sex trade often operate alone or in small groups in parks, beaches, in the streets or in hotels. Participants at the Congress pointed to the lack of attention given to boy victims in CSEC discussions and research, partly due to the attention given to gender discrimination as one of the root causes of CSEC, and partly because of cultural values that prevent boys from showing their emotions or from disclosing information about sexual abuse. A recent UNICEF report on CSEC states that “adolescent boys who are targeted by other men may feel that their manhood or sexual orientation will be called into question if they reveal the abuse.” In many cultures, sexual experiences are a way of proving manhood, and in certain cultures homosexuality is taboo. The report further says that “adolescent boys who are targeted by older females may not view the sexual contact as abusive.”

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Trafficking flows that fuel CSEC

Children increasingly enter the commercial sex trade through large human smuggling networks active in all parts of the world. Unaccompanied children and those living in (post) conflict situations such as refugee and displaced children and (former) child combatants, as well as the millions of (HIV/AIDS) orphans living in child-headed households, are particularly at risk and an easy prey for traffickers.

A number of large-scale trafficking flows can be identified. In West Africa, children are trafficked from countries such as Benin, Burkina Faso, Senegal and Togo to work on cacao plantations and as domestic workers in Cote d'Ivoire and Gabon. Many enter the commercial sex business either before they arrive at their final destination or after a few years. In South Asia and the Greater Mekong sub-region, large child trafficking networks exist from Nepal into India, from the Philippines and Thailand to Japan and Singapore, from China and Vietnam into Thailand and Cambodia, and from Myanmar and Laos into Thailand. Many of the children come from impoverished rural areas and secluded tribal communities living in mountains, and are deceived with promises of a better life or well-paid work. According to Lars Lööf from Save the Children Alliance, “CSEC in Europe is intrinsically linked to trafficking in children and migration. Many of the abused children are minors smuggled from abroad, which makes them very vulnerable.” The International Labour Organization (ILO) has noted that “Europe in particular has seen an explosion of trafficking since the break-up of the former Soviet Union.” The ILO and the International Organization for Migration say that children are trafficked to Western European countries from and via Nigeria, Thailand, Central and Eastern European countries such as Belarus, Russia and Ukraine, and Balkan states such as Albania, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

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LESSONS LEARNED: MEASURES THAT WORK

Apart from discussing root causes and manifestations of CSEC, NGO participants shared good practices in ways to reach and rescue exploited children, emphasizing the need to help them recover and reintegrate into society. A variety of practical measures were mentioned, from the establishment of free telephone hotlines and legal assistance, to easily accessible drop-in centres and more formal rehabilitation centres where children receive counselling, medical care and vocational training. Vocational training can provide child victims with a money-earning skill that will benefit their family and can be used as leverage for acceptance by the family and community.

A number of NGO delegates working directly with child victims of CSEC stressed capacity building through psychosocial counselling. Justa Elias Mwaituka from the Tanzanian NGO Kiota for Women's Health and Development explained how her organization tries to empower young women through songs, role plays and education, while teaching them to understand and value their bodies and their sexuality, and stressing the important role girls and women play in the continuation of society. She indicated how traumatic it is for the girls to face their scars and overcome their feelings of shame, and how eye-opening this education is for many women.

NGO representatives also pointed to strengthening community capacity through cooperation with local agencies, and awareness-raising projects. Many community programmes that focus on vocational training and strengthening the school system indirectly address sensitive subjects such as gender roles and discrimination, and sexual behaviour and health. NGOs in “high risk regions” also use theatre and songs to raise awareness about commercial sexual exploitation of children and about how to recognize potential exploiters.

VOICES OF YOUTH

At the opening ceremony, Cherry Kingsley urged delegates to involve children in the fight against CSEC. Ms. Kingsley, who grew up in Canada's sex trade between the age of 14-22, told delegates that their commitments must go beyond voicing outrage over the abuse and violation of rights, and move towards more practical and meaningful solutions in which the voices of the exploited children themselves are heard. “If you see us only as victims, you have missed the point. We could be leaders. Indeed, many of us are,” she said.

Recognizing the importance of involving young people in discussions over preventing, combating and recovering from CSEC, the organizers encouraged the participation of engaged, young people to participate in both the Congress and the preparatory regional consultations. From 13-17 December 2001 in Kawasaki (Japan), a youth meeting was organized where young people from all over the world met and discussed the subject with their peers. In Yokohama, around 100 young people participated as part of government and NGO delegations, and as individual participants. They participated in a number of panel discussions, where they made well-prepared interventions, and shared experiences in youth sessions held in parallel to the Congress. Participants commended the many concrete recommendations made by the youth for fighting CSEC.

The Final Appeal of Children and Young People was adopted on 20 December 2001 in combination with an impressive performance of drama, music and poetry. The document makes a plea for the involvement of young people, especially exploited youth, in fighting CSEC. The text calls for, among other things, education; life skills development; awareness raising and advocacy about the CRC and CSEC for all sexes and age groups; the need for addressing gender issues in CSEC; fighting corruption as one of the contributors to the growth of CSEC; efforts to punish the perpetrators, not the child victims of CSEC; and the use of positive cultural, traditional and religious values in the fight against CSEC. Young people committed themselves to building a network of children and young people across the globe, and to initiating a CSEC Fund For Youth, which would make financial means available for young people to carry out CSEC-related activities worldwide.

CONCLUSIONS AND WAYS FORWARD

The Second World Congress showed the universal and complex nature of commercial sexual exploitation of children that encompasses a range of abusers, different forms of abuse and a web of deep-rooted causes that go beyond simplistic analysis and easy answers. The Congress succeeded in bringing together in a frank atmosphere a variety of actors involved in the fight against CSEC not only to share good practices but also to identify shortcomings and gaps. At the end of the Congress, many participants appeared positive, and welcomed the extensive information sharing that had taken place and the useful contacts they had made to strengthen their networking back home. Many lauded the strong rights-based approach and the unequivocal references to the CRC in the outcome document.

However, there was also criticism as some participants pointed to the fact that little progress had been made since the First World Congress. Many States had failed to adopt or implement the national action plan they had committed to in Stockholm. Chairperson of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, Jacob Doek (Netherlands), told delegates that of those governments that had adopted a national action plan, few had allocated sufficient resources for its implementation. Five years later, progress made did not amount to more than “increased awareness of the problem of CSEC,” he said. Another point of criticism was the expensive location and timing of the Congress, which prevented many interested and engaged NGOs from attending. Some NGOs also expressed their disappointment, saying the process in which the final outcome document had been prepared was not transparent and that they could provide little input even during the ad hoc negotiations that took place in Yokohama. Many felt the document could have been more meaningful and concrete.

Acknowledging the urgency of the task, participants pragmatically focused on ways forward. Mr. Doek stressed the important monitoring role NGOs play in the fight against CSEC and urged them to develop strategies for follow-up by using relevant legislative instruments such as ILO Convention 182 and, in particular, the new Optional Protocol to the CRC. He called on NGOs to make their governments more active in the fight against CSEC by encouraging them to ratify the Optional Protocol that entered into force in January 2002. He also suggested that NGOs develop a framework of national action plans that can provide practical examples for the drafting of the official national action plan.

Vitit Muntarbhorn, Rapporteur of the Yokohama Global Commitment, stressed again the importance of treating children not merely as victims, but as survivors and leaders in the fight against CSEC. Others mentioned the need to address the root causes of the problem in an inter-disciplinary way, suggesting that CSEC should be discussed in forums on gender equality, racial discrimination and poverty reduction.

In the meantime, a number of medium and short-term measures were proposed. Many participants pointed to the need to develop reliable statistics and to step up research on certain areas related to CSEC, including the demand side and the sexual exploitation of boys. Strengthening legal mechanisms was mentioned as another priority area in which NGOs can play a role as “watch dogs.” Existing laws should be better implemented, national laws should be harmonized with international legal standards, law enforcement mechanisms should be strengthened and legal procedures involving child victims of CSEC should be made child-friendly. Finally, some participants raised the question of developing another Protocol to the CRC on the establishment of an individual complaints mechanism, accessible to both adults and children.

CONTACT

NGOs

Hélène Sackstein, Coordinator, Focal Point Programme on Sexual Exploitation against Children, NGO Group for the Convention on the Rights of the Child, c/o Defence for Children International, PO Box 88, CH-1211 Geneva 20, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/740 4711, fax +41-22/740 1145, e-mail <info@focalpointngo.org>, website (www.focalpointngo.org). Official papers on the conference themes can be found on this website.

ECPAT International, 328 Phaya Thai Road, Bangkok 10400, Thailand, telephone +66-2/215 3388, fax +66-2/215 8272, e-mail <info@ecpat.net>, website (www.ecpat.net).

Gopalan Balagopal, Senior Adviser, Child Protection Unit, UNICEF, UNICEF House, 3 UN Plaza, New York, NY 10017, USA, telephone +1-212/824 6632, fax +1-212/824 6473, e-mail <gbalagopal@unicef.org>, website (www.unicef.org).