Q: Is the problem of child sex tourism in Asia on the rise?

This is hard to gauge, unfortunately. The full extent of the problem is unknown and, as with other criminal phenomena, has so far been the subject of various estimates. We normally use arrests and prosecutions as dummies to try and identify ‘trends’ within countries or regions.

This, in turn, may be misleading, because a sudden increase in arrests in a given country may not necessarily stem from an increase in the underlying number of cases of exploitation, but perhaps from the police having received better training or resources, or having overcome – at least in part – issues like, for instance, corruption.

To give you a more concrete example, I can say that the perception of the situation in Thailand was felt to be one of improvement around the turn of the century (new laws, sufficiently reactive police engagement, etc.) However, a few years later, with several perpetrators that had moved to neighbouring Cambodia or Vietnam, the attitude of law enforcement appeared to take a turn for self-complacence, and nowadays the problem is once again rampant in several hotspots around the country (although this is not reflected in a sufficient number of arrests).

Q: What are the trends?

Similar trends can be spotted across countries. Perpetrators are gradually moving from mainstream tourism accommodation (hotels, guesthouses, etc.) to more ‘private’ locations, such as privately-rented flats, houses and villas, where the filter and screening is far less likely to have an impact. Also, homestays and the approach to more remote communities are aspects that are generating increasing concern with us and other child-rights agencies. This is also true of the expansion of tourism in countries like Laos or Myanmar, where the population (and children) may be even more vulnerable, both in economic terms and because of extremely low awareness of this issue.

Q: Where are the hot spots for child sex tourism in Asia?

In Asia, we are aware of what we have come to call “traditional” hotspots, such as Thailand and the Philippines, while other countries (Cambodia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Vietnam) are more in an “emerging” position. These countries stand out for the sheer size of the phenomenon. However, child-sex tourism can occur basically anywhere. We have, for example, reports of cases from Mongolia, but also an interesting study focusing on pilgrimage sites in India, where the sexual exploitation of boys appears to be far worse than expected.

Q: Where are the customers coming from?

Westerners (Europeans, Americans, Canadians, Australians) are easy to spot in this region, and probably can pay higher prices. Orientals are known to be offenders, too, but can keep a much lower profile. The bottom line, however, is that local exploiters are by far the large majority of offenders in each country.

Sex tourists normally come to exploit (and to generate additional demand in) an existing market. It is however true that often local demand is directed at teen age girls (14-17), while foreigners – at least the paedophiles among them – may easily target younger children.

Q: The rise of technology is of course making it easier for perpetrators but at the same time, is it making it easier to catch the paedophiles?

Thankfully, yes. I believe we are beyond the point that used to be lamented until a few years ago, when law enforcement invariably played catch-up with technology-savvy offenders. Adequate training and technological resources have worked wonders in innumerable cases and secured perpetrators to justice. Neither training nor technological resources, on the other hand, are easily available to a number of police forces around the globe yet.

Q: Are you working with companies such as Google and Facebook to track people through searches and their online activity?

We are working with internet companies mostly by participating in mixed working groups where our child-protection expertise is sought by legal and technological experts. The actual tracking of perpetrators is normally done by specialised police forces. Their record of collaboration with Internet companies is still fairly mixed, as technology companies are still not completely on board (or, often, sufficiently reactive), in spite of what some of their statements may say.

Q: Are you using Web Analytics to track online behaviour of suspected criminals?

This is not really ECPAT’s mandate, which is more in the field of advocacy, technical support to government and the private sector, training and research.

Q: What can travel websites and online travel agencies do to help eradicate child sex tourism?

Spread as much awareness as possible about the issue. Mainstream traveller know – more or less – about child-sex tourism, but normally don’t know there are reporting mechanisms (hotlines, e-mail addresses, etc.) which could use their help, too. Also, more information may help dispel some prejudices around child-sex tourism, while highlighting (and rewarding) destinations where companies and authorities are seriously engaged in collaborating against child-sex tourism, vis-à-vis other countries were the attitude is rather lax.

Often, hotels and travel agencies are committed to distributing information brochures, stickers, etc. that provide this additional information. The electronic equivalent is banners and links to pages (within the same web sites) devoted to providing this information (this example shows such a page, reachable from a link near the bottom of the company’s homepage).

Alternatively, a banner on a company’s web site may lead to the ECPAT web site, as a broader source of information.

Note: Companies who wish to give banner space on their websites to ECPAT International, please contact us at [email protected]

Featured image credit (helping hand): Ockra/iStock