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Prostitution of children refers to the use of children as prostitutes. The definition of a "child prostitute" can vary depending on who is using the term. Under many laws a child is defined as anyone under the age of 18. Some definitions limit child prostitutes to prepubescent and early-pubescent children, with "teen prostitute" being a separate category. The Optional protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography to the Convention on the Rights of the Child states that the prostitution of children or child prostitution is the practice whereby a child is used by others for sexual activities in return for remuneration or any other form of consideration (Article 2(b)). The remuneration or other consideration could be provided to the child or to another person. Prostitution is the sale of sexual services (typically manual stimulation, oral sex, sexual intercourse, or anal sex) for cash or other kind of return, generally indiscriminately with many persons. ... A male Caucasian toddler child A child (plural: children) is a young human. ... Puberty refers to the process of physical changes by which a childs body becomes an adult body capable of reproduction. ... The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography is relevant to the articles on child labour and especially the worst forms of child labour. ... Convention on the Rights of the Child Opened for signature 20 November 1989 in - Entered into force September 2, 1990 Conditions for entry into force 20 ratifications or accessions (Article 49) Parties 193 (only 2 non-parties: USA and Somalia) The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child...

Most generally, the prostitution of children means that a party other than the child benefits from a commercial transaction in which the child is made available for sexual purposes - either an exploiter intermediary (pimp) who controls or oversees the child’s activities for profit, or an abuser who negotiates an exchange directly with a child in order to receive sexual gratification. The provision of children for sexual purposes may also be a medium of exchange between adults. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Child abuse is the physical, sexual, or emotional maltreatment or neglect of children by parents, guardians, or others. ...

The Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (Convention No 182) of the International Labour Organization (ILO) provides that the use, procuring or offering of a child for prostitution is one of the worst forms of child labour. This convention, adopted in 1999, provides that countries that had ratified it must eliminate the practice urgently. It enjoys the fastest pace of ratifications in the ILO's history since 1919. The Convention concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour, known in short as the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, was adopted by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in 1999 as ILO Convention No 182. ... The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations to deal with labour issues. ... Single European Act A treaty is a binding agreement under international law entered into by actors in international law, namely states and international organizations. ... Year 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1999 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 1919 (MCMXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar). ...

The prostitution of children is seen as forming part of the commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC), and is sometimes connected to the trafficking of children for sexual purposes. Child sex tourism also falls within the category of the prostitution of children. Whore redirects here. ... The commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) has been defined as one of the worst forms of child labour by the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (Convention No 182) of the International Labour Organization (ILO). ... Trafficking is a term to define the recruiting, harboring, obtaining, transportation of a person by use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjecting them to involuntary acts, such as acts related to commercial sexual exploitation (including prostitution) or involuntary labor. ... Sex tourism is travel to engage in sexual intercourse or sexual activity with prostitutes, and is typically undertaken internationally by tourists from wealthier countries whose payment for services may then be rendered either in cash or in kind. ...

Terminology

Child prostitution is sometimes used to describe the wider concept of commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC). However, child prostitution excludes other identifiable manifestations of CSEC, such as commercial sexual exploitation through child marriage, domestic child labour and the trafficking of children for sexual purposes. The commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) has been defined as one of the worst forms of child labour by the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (Convention No 182) of the International Labour Organization (ILO). ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Trafficking is a term to define the recruiting, harboring, obtaining, transportation of a person by use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjecting them to involuntary acts, such as acts related to commercial sexual exploitation (including prostitution) or involuntary labor. ...

It was the limitations of the term child prostitution that led to the development in the mid-1990s of the term commercial sexual exploitation of children as a more encompassing description of specific forms of sexual trade involving children. Nevertheless, ‘child prostitution’ remains in common usage and is indeed the wording embedded in international instruments of law.

Some believe that the terms child prostitution and child prostitute carry problematic connotations. They claim this is because these terms, on their own, fail to make it clear that children cannot be expected to make an informed choice to prostitute themselves. The act of prostituting a child is often carried out by another party, as stated in the definition provided by the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. Prostitution is the sale of sexual services (typically manual stimulation, oral sex, sexual intercourse, or anal sex) for cash or other kind of return, generally indiscriminately with many persons. ... On 20 November 1989, the United Nations General Assembly in New York adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child. ...

However, a number of people who are legally classified as children may, in fact, willingly engage in the practice of prostitution. This has been especially prominent in Japan, where it is not uncommon for teenagers and younger school-girls to sell their services to raise money for expensive clothing and accessories without the assistance of a "pimp".^[1]

In addition, worldwide public understanding of prostitution and prostitute has been shifting as a result of the introduction of terms such as sex worker, intended to raise the perceived status of women in prostitution. Some contend this is a misleading term when applied to children. This contention is based on the belief that anyone under the legal age of consent for sexual intercourse is incapable of willingly participating. They may disapprove of the concept that a child ‘worker’ has somehow chosen to follow a ‘profession’. Others contend that, even if many "child prostitutes" are being used against their will, a number of underage prostitutes are in fact participating willingly. In light of these concerns, international mainstream writing is increasingly avoiding the term child prostitute.

Causes and Context

Children are often pushed by social structures and individual agents into situations in which adults take advantage of their vulnerability and sexually exploit and abuse them. Structure and agency commonly combine to force a child into commercial sex: for example, the prostitution of a child frequently follows from prior sexual abuse, often in the child's home.^{[citation needed]}

The prostitution of children is usually conducted in particular environments, such as brothels, bars and clubs, or homes, or particular streets and areas (usually in socially downtrodden places). Sometimes it is not organized, but often it is, either on a small scale through individual exploiter-pimps or on a larger scale through extensive criminal networks. See organized crime. Organized crime or criminal organizations are groups or operations run by criminals, most commonly for the purpose of generating a monetary profit. ...

Children also engage in prostitution, however, when they exchange sex outside these environments and in return not only for basic needs such as accommodation, food, clothing, or safety, but also for extra pocket money for desired consumer goods otherwise out of their reach. There is a subculture of "pocket money prostitution" in many consumer societies, whereby girls and boys under 18 rent out their sexual services for cash or expensive gifts, or to save up for cars, motorcycles, even college tuition. In Japan it's called Enjo kosai "sponsored dating", in Germany "Schulmädchen-Strich/Strichjunge" (= school girl street prostitution/boy-hooker). American/Canadian high schools are not exempt from this phenomenon.^{[citation needed]} The title given to this article is incorrect due to technical limitations. ...

These teenagers are prostituted in conditions that appear otherwise perfectly normal. Enjo kosai, the pay-dating practice reported in Japan, is considered^{[Who says this?]} a prime example of this. However, this latter practice is by definition voluntary rather than via manipulation. The title given to this article is incorrect due to technical limitations. ...

Living and working conditions for children that are prostituted are frequently substandard. Such children are commonly poorly paid or unpaid, kept in unsanitary conditions, denied access to proper medical care, and constantly watched and kept subservient through threat of force. These threats may be physical or psychological in nature.^{[citation needed]}

While some sex tourists use children involved in prostitution, it is likely that the majority of their 'clients' are locals.^{[Who says this?]} Sex tourism is travel to engage in sexual intercourse or sexual activity with prostitutes, and is typically undertaken internationally by tourists from wealthier countries whose payment for services may then be rendered either in cash or in kind. ...

Impact on children

Prostitutes may experience a lifetime of recurrent illnesses, such as venereal diseases, fertility problems, pregnancy complications, malnutrition, tuberculosis and depression. Children involved in the sex trade face new and potentially fatal dangers in light of the spread of HIV and AIDS. In addition to this they often suffer from the same psychological symptoms as children who are molested.^{[citation needed]} Sexually-transmitted infections (STIs), also known as sexually-transmitted diseases (STDs), are diseases that are commonly transmitted between partners through some form of sexual activity, most commonly vaginal intercourse, oral sex, or anal sex. ... Percentage of population affected by malnutrition by country, according to United Nations statistics. ... Tuberculosis (abbreviated as TB for Tubercle Bacillus) is a common and deadly infectious disease that is caused by mycobacteria, primarily Mycobacterium tuberculosis. ... Clinical depression (also called major depressive disorder, or unipolar depression when compared to bipolar disorder) is a state of intense sadness, melancholia or despair that has advanced to the point of being disruptive to an individuals social functioning and/or activities of daily living. ... Species Human immunodeficiency virus 1 Human immunodeficiency virus 2 Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS, a condition in humans in which the immune system begins to fail, leading to life-threatening opportunistic infections). ... Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS or Aids) is a collection of symptoms and infections resulting from the specific damage to the immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). ...

Prohibition

While the legality of adult prostitution varies between different parts of the world, the prostitution of minors is illegal in most countries, though these laws may not be enforced.^{[citation needed]}. Furthermore, some countries, such as the United States^[2], enforce worldwide jurisdiction on their nationals traveling abroad. Whore redirects here. ... In law, a person who is not yet a legal adult is known as a minor (known in some places as an infant or juvenile). ...

As previously mentioned, some literature refers to prostitutes between 13 to 17 years of age as 'teenage prostitutes,' but the most common definition of a 'child' is a person that is under the age of 18. The latter definition is used by the ILO's Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, discussed above. Therefore prostitution of children usually assumed to refer to the prostitution of persons under 18.^{[Who says this?]} The Convention concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour, known in short as the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, was adopted by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in 1999 as ILO Convention No 182. ...

The laws of some countries do, however, distinguish between teenage prostitutes and the prostitution of younger children. For example, the Thai government defines a teenage prostitute as being between 15 and 18 years old, while the Japanese government defines one as being between 13 and 18. The basis for making this distinction may be that older children are considered legally able to consent to sex, while sex with younger children is automatically rendered unlawful as statutory rape. However, the definitions of teenage prostitution in some countries do not correlate to the relevant age of consent laws. In the People's Republic of China, only prostitution of children under 14 is illegal.[1] This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... While the phrase age of consent typically does not appear in legal statutes,[1] when used with reference to criminal law the age of consent is the minimum age at which a person is considered to be capable of legally giving informed consent to any contract or behaviour regulated by...

Extent

It is very difficult to determine the extent of prostitution of children due to the illegal and hidden nature thereof. Whilst there has been some moral panic and exaggeration of the scale, there is extensive evidence that the practice is widespread globally. A moral panic is a reaction by a group of people based on the false or exaggerated perception that some cultural behavior or group, frequently a minority group or a subculture, is dangerously deviant and poses a menace to society. ...

In the Ukraine, a survey conducted by the group “La Strada-Ukraine” in 2001-2003, based on a sample of 106 women being 'trafficked' out of Ukraine found that 3% were under 18, and the US State Department reported in 2004 that incidents of minors being trafficked was increasing. Trafficking in the context of trafficking of human beings is a term to define the recruiting, harbouring, obtaining and transportation of a person by use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjecting them to involuntary acts, such as acts related to commercial sexual exploitation (including prostitution) or... The United States Department of State, often referred to as the State Department, is the Cabinet-level foreign affairs agency of the United States government, equivalent to foreign ministries in other countries. ...

In Thailand, NGOs have estimated that up to a third of prostitutes are children under 18. [2] A study by the International Labour Organization on child prostitution in Vietnam reported that incidence of children in prostitution is steadily increasing and children under 18 make up between 5 percent and 20 percent of prostitution depending on the geographical area. [3]

In the Philippines, UNICEF estimated that there are 60,000 child prostitutes and many of the 200 brothels in the notorious Angeles City offer children for sex.^[3]

ECPAT New Zealand [4] and Stop Demand Foundation have cited in a report “The Nature and Extent of the Sex Industry in New Zealand,” a police survey of the New Zealand sex industry that 210 children under the age of 18 years were identified as selling sex, with three-quarters being concentrated in one Police District. [5] ECPAT is a network of organizations and individuals working together to eliminate the commercial sexual exploitation of children. ...

The 1996 report of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography estimates that about one million children in Asia alone are victims of the sex trade. According to the International Labour Organization, the problem is especially alarming in Korea, Thailand, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Cambodia and Nepal. [6] 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ...

A 2006 report by World Vision Middle East/Eastern Europe funded by the Canadian government and supported by six United Nations agencies and the International Organization for Migration reported that the sexual exploitation of children, child trafficking and sexual violence towards minors is increasing and that Russia is becoming a new destination for child sex tourism. The report adds that some studies claim approximately 20 per cent to 25 per cent of Moscow's sex workers are minors.[7] It has been suggested that World Vision India, World Vision Australia be merged into this article or section. ... The foundation of the U.N. The United Nations (UN) is an international organization whose stated aims are to facilitate co-operation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress and human rights issues. ... The International Organization for Migration is an intergovernmental organization. ... Position of Moscow in Europe Coordinates: Country District Subdivision Russia Central Federal District Federal City Government  - Mayor Yuriy Luzhkov Area  - City 1,081 km²  (417. ...

In Africa and South Asia, many countries are faced with a rising child prostitution problem and the linkage with tourism is evident. Child prostitution and the trafficking of children for sexual exploitation is also increasing in Europe, North America, Japan and Australia.^{[Who says this?]}

Notes

2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... March 21 is the 80th day of the year (81st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

See also

• List of organisations campaigning against human trafficking
• Sexology
• Child labour
• Child pornography
• Child sexuality
• Commercial sexual exploitation of children
• ECPAT
• International instruments relevant to prostitution of children
• Pedophilia
• Pedophilia and child sexual abuse in fiction
• Pedophilia and child sexual abuse in films
• Sex tourism
• Trafficking of children
• List of the worst forms of child labour (ILO convention)
• OneChild
• Andrea Dworkin for audio of Speeches on Trafficking, and on Pornography and Prostitution

This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Child labour or labor is the phenomenon of children in employment. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Child sexuality refers to sexual feelings, behavior and development in children. ... The commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) has been defined as one of the worst forms of child labour by the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (Convention No 182) of the International Labour Organization (ILO). ... ECPAT is a network of organizations and individuals working together to eliminate the commercial sexual exploitation of children. ... International instruments containing substantive provisions on all WFCL Instruments defining worst forms of child labour (WFCL) and containing substantive provisions on all WFCL: International Labour Organisation Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention: Definitions, and main provisions, binding states that have ratified the convention Worst Forms of Child Labour Recommendation: Recommendation... Pedophilia or pædophilia (see spelling differences) is the paraphilia of being sexually attracted primarily or exclusively to prepubescent or peripubescent children. ... This article is about pedophilia/paedophilia in literature, i. ... This article is about pedophilia/paedophilia in movies/films. ... Sex tourism is travel to engage in sexual intercourse or sexual activity with prostitutes, and is typically undertaken internationally by tourists from wealthier countries whose payment for services may then be rendered either in cash or in kind. ... Trafficking is a term to define the recruiting, harboring, obtaining, transportation of a person by use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjecting them to involuntary acts, such as acts related to commercial sexual exploitation (including prostitution) or involuntary labor. ... The term worst forms of child labour (WFCL) is defined in the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention of the International Labour Organisation. ... OneChild (or One Child) is a Canadian-based, non-governmental organization dedicated to the elimination of the commercial sexual exploitation of children abroad. ... Andrea Dworkin speaking to a federal commission on pornography in New York in January 1986 Andrea Rita Dworkin (September 26, 1946 – April 9, 2005) was an American radical feminist and writer best known for her criticism of pornography, which she linked with rape and other forms of violence against women. ...

Sources

• International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour of the International Labour Organization
• End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes (ECPAT), ECPAT
• International Labour Organization (Asia/Pacific Office) - Project to Combat Trafficking in Children and Women - reports
• International Labour Organization - Viet Nam Children in Prostitution in Hanoi, Hai Phong, Ho Chi Minh City and Can Tho
• UN Crime and Justice Research Unit - Trafficking in Minors - Costa Rica - Thailand - Ukraine
• 'Asia's sex trade is 'slavery' - BBC
• 5,000 child sex slaves in UK - The Independent
• 'Child traffic victims 'failed'- BBC
• Fears of rising child sex trade – The Guardian
• 'Streets of despair - The Observer
• Guilty Without Trial