YOKOHAMA WORLD CONGRESS ENDS
Consensus
on Fighting Child Sex Exploitation Grows Wider
By Johanna Son
YOKOHAMA, Japan, Dec 20 (IPS) - Governments, activists and young
people on Thursday widened the international consensus on fighting
the sexual exploitation of children, by reaffirming their commitment
to ''all forms'' of the problem at the close of a world congress
here .
Unlike other big conferences, the Second World Congress against
the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children was not a negotiating
summit. Instead, its 3,045 participants adopted by consensus a
''global commitment'' that goes further than the issues tackled
at the first congress five years ago. [more]
Sexually
Exploited Boys Often Forgotten
By
Suvendrini Kakuchi
YOKOHAMA, Japan, Dec 20 (IPS) - Saman (not his real name) was
12 years old when he was lured into becoming the sex partner of
a foreign man living in a large house in a famous beach resort
in Sri Lanka .
''I first went because I was offered work by the man who wanted
me to weed the garden. A few weeks later I was seduced by my master
in his swimming pool,'' he later told a counselor.
''I kept seeing him because I could send money to my mother, who
was working alone to support my five siblings and also because
he showed me a lot of love and affection,'' he added. Saman is
one of the estimated 30,000 male children in Sri Lanka known as
''beach boys''.[more]
Taiwan Question Bugs Yokohama
Some activists are not too
happy with what they call "politics" at the Yokohama congress
-- Japan's hesitance to list China and Taiwan together in the
list of participants to the just-finished meeting.
''It's all because of Taiwan,'' activists with the Audrey Hepburn
Children's Fund said, meeting participants entering the congress
site on Dec. 20, the closing day of the meeting.
Instead, they put up a box at the
entrance asking people to put in their name cards. Japanese officials
confirmed that there would be no official list because of this
diplomatic consideration, saying it follows from Tokyo's non-recognition
of Taiwan, which Beijing considers a renegade province.
''For Japan, the top concern is
keeping all its diplomatic relations smooth and the issue here
is to respect our diplomatic relations with China. By keeping
out official country lists, we can keep both sides, China and
Taiwan, happy," an official told IPS.
Africa Gets New Tools against Child
Sex Trade
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
YOKOHAMA, Japan, Dec 20 (IPS) š Representatives from more than
20 African countries attending a just-finished conference here
succeeded in drawing global attention to the particular forms
of sex abuse their children are subject to -- more of them being
exploited are actually bein exploited outside the commercial sex
trade .
In Africa, there are more children who are victims of incest,
rape and forced early marriage than those who are in the sex industry,
they said during the four-day Second World Congress against Commercial
Sexual Exploitation of Children that ended Thursday. [more]
Central America Drawing More Sex Tourists - Report
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
YOKOHAMA, Japan, Dec 19 (IPS) - Due to a lack
of political will and weak laws, Central American countries are
fast replacing South-east Asian countries like Thailand and the
Philippines as the most sought-after destination of sex tourists,
according to regional experts.
This makes the children of Central America and their peers
in nearby Mexico among the most vulnerable in the world, they
told reporters Wednesday during the release of the first regional
report from Central America and Mexico on commercial sexual exploitation
of children. '[more]
Cyber Sleuths Catching up with Sex Abusers
By Johanna Son
YOKOHAMA, Japan, Dec 19 (IPS) Internet remains a major tool
used for the sexual exploitation of children across borders, but
cyber sleuths at a global congress here say they The Iare learning to get to know to the enemy -- and
making an ally of this double-edged technology . [more]
South-east Asia Gets Badly Needed Help
South-east Asia has made key successes in improving
the quality of life of children in recent years, but could do
more if it had more resources to fight the factors that make them
vulnerable to sexual exploitation, government officials and child
experts said here Tuesday. [more]
YOUTHSPEAK
Kids Tired, Busy, and Prepared
for More Meetings
By Vera Ocampo (Vera, a 20-year-old student
from the University of the Philippines, is covering the Yokohama
Congress with the IPS team.)
YOKOHAMA, Japan, Dec 18 - Twenty-five children
and young people took part in the Stockholm World Congress against
Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children in 1996. [more]
French Push for New Document after Stockholm Pledges
YOKOHAMA, Japan - The French government is leading
a European Union (EU) effort to have the 137 governments at the
Second World Congress on Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children
produce a special document at its conclusion - one that underscores
their commitments more forcefully. [more]
Time to Chip Away at Male Demand for Child Sex --
Experts
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
YOKOHAMA, Japan, Dec 18 (IPS) - When Denise Ritchie, a 45-year-old
New Zealand lawyer, called on men in her country to participate
in a public event to highlight the dominant role that men play
among child sex abusers, she was asked to ''get lost'' .
That reaction was only one of the many hostile responses that
local newspapers ran in their letters section in October, following
the publication of a news story that had Ritchie urging the men
to participate in a 'Day of Shame' to protest the commercial sexual
exploitation of children.
She had proposed observing the 'Day of Shame' to underscore the
role men play in the sexual abuse of young people - indeed, she
said that between 1996 and 2000, 99.1 percent of the convicted
cases of child sex abuse in New Zealand involved male offenders.
[more]
Trafficked Children
Vulnerable to Sexual Exploitation
By Suvendrini Kakuchi
YOKOHAMA, Japan, Dec 18 (IPS) - Nuri, a Bangladeshi girl faced
with grinding poverty at home, was eight years old when she was
trafficked to Pakistan by a man who promised her a job .
[more]
Communities Can Protect Children from Sex Trade
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
YOKOHAMA, Japan, Dec 17 (IPS) - Close to 30 slums in India's southern
city of Madras have been enjoying a rare distinction in the past
three years: Not a single child from this 40,000-strong community
works in the sex trade . [more]
Young People Speak
up, But not Without Caution
By Johanna Son
YOKOHAMA, Japan, Dec 17 (IPS) - ''What if a child wants to
work? Is that child labour or a working child?'' asked a Filipino
youngster in a workshop at the ongoing global congress on the
commercial sexual exploitation of children here .
|
|
Youngsters ask about child
labour, poverty and rights. |
''Why haven't all the countries approved the Convention on the Rights
of the Child?'' a teener asked. ''What are you doing to get the
United States to support it?''
''We met some young women at the Manila airport and they were
going to Japan to work as entertainers,'' explained one Filipino
participant. ''Why does Japan accept them, when they are young
girls?''
These were some of the probing questions young people asked Monday
of speakers from the International Labour Organisation (ILO) to
the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), with people like
Princess Tamakado of Japan and Queen Silvia of Sweden in the audience.
[more]
Child Sexual Exploitation Needs Fight on Many Fronts
By Suvendrini Kakuchi
YOKOHAMA, Japan, Dec 17 (IPS) - The continued growth of commercial
sexual exploitation needs no less than urgent action on all its
different fronts across the globe, political leaders and experts
said here at the start of a global conference on the issue Monday
. [more]
For Japan, High-Tech Edge is Also a Headache
YOKOHAM,
Japan - Japan, a world leader in the mobile phone market, is fast
realising one downside of its high-technology edge: the growing
number of web-based ''date sites'' that encourage men to date
young girls by making contact through their handphones.
.[more]
Fighting Sexual Exploitation Goes Beyond Paper Pledges
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
YOKOHAMA, Japan, Dec 16 (IPS) - The last five years have brought
greater awareness of child sexual exploitation as a global problem,
but it is time to go beyond making new paper pledges and use stronger
weapons to combat this scourge, U. N. Children's Fund (UNICEF)
chief Carol Bellamy said here Sunday . . [more]
YOUTHSPEAK
Youngsters Reach out to Kids-and Adults
too
by Chayanit Poonyarat
PHAN, Thailandó"Child exploitation has been a significant problem
in northern Thailand for a long time. It was only never exposed,"
said 28-year-old Natnaree Luangmoy or Loy, director of the Centre
for Girls here.
She recalls how she 'lost' one of her own friends to the sex trade
in the south of Thailand, right after she graduated from high
school. "I remember my friend was crying and kept begging her
parents not to make her leave for prostitution," recalled Natnaree.
[more]
