What is Sex Tourism of Children?

Sex tourism is defined as traveling to a foreign country with the intent to engage in sexual activity with others. Sex tourism of children would therefore be defined as traveling to a foreign country with the intent to engage in sexual activity with a child younger than the age of 18. It is against the law for any citizen of the United States to travel to another country to engage in sexual activity with any child younger than the age of 18.1 Individuals who partake in this illegal activity are subject to prosecution in the United States even if they committed the crime on foreign soil.

While much of the initial international attention on sex tourism of children focused on Thailand and other countries of Southeast Asia, there is no hemisphere, continent, or region unaffected by this trade. As countries develop their economies and tourism industries, this form of tourism seems to surface.

Economic difficulties, civil unrest, poverty, and displacement of refugees all contribute to the growth of this industry.2 The United Nations International Children's Educational Fund (UNICEF) released a report in 1997 estimating more than 1 million children, overwhelmingly female, are forced into prostitution every year, the majority in Asia.3

End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography, and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes (ECPAT), however, also reports increasing evidence of children being exploited in former Eastern Bloc countries. Reports of children entering prostitution, being exploited by foreigners and aid workers, and trafficked to Western European brothels are coming from the Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, and Russia.4

To many governments around the world, international tourism can be the answer to economic growth and development. Tourism also brings consumerism to many parts of the world formerly denied access to luxury commodities and services. Growing consumerism and the commodification of sexuality may also be contributing to an increase in sex tourism of children.5

Why Does It Occur?

Children will continue to be victimized by these sexual predators for many reasons including

  1. Anonymity
  2. Availability
  3. Affordability
  4. Lack of child-protection laws in foreign countries
  5. Low risk of detection