Code of Conduct for the Sexual Exploitation of Children in Travel and Tourism

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The Code of Conduct for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation in Travel and Tourism ("The Code") is an international organization composed of representatives from the tourism industry and children's rights experts.

Contents

The Code's mission is to provide the structure and tools to combat the sexual exploitation of children in the tourism industry. The key aspect of The Code is a set of six criteria that tourism companies can adopt for implementation. [1] Participating companies work with The Code to implement the six criteria to reduce the occurrence of child sexual exploitation. [2]

History

After the 1996 First World Congress against the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children in Stockholm, ECPAT (End Child Prostitution in Asian Tourism) in collaboration with Nordic tour operators, developed the Code of Conduct for the Protection of Children from Commercial Sexual Exploitation in Travel and Tourism. [3]

The Code of Conduct for the Protection of Children from Commercial Sexual Exploitation in Travel and Tourism was adopted in 1998 with the support of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). According to UNICEF, the code has gained over 1000 signatories, in 42 countries. The Code of Conduct for the Protection of Children from Commercial Sexual Exploitation in Travel and Tourism is now considered one of ECPAT's significant successes and has raised awareness of the sexual exploitation of children. [4]

Since 2004, the Code has operated as an independent international organization but maintain close ties with the ECPAT International network as many national ECPAT members work to promote the Code as Local Code Representatives. Currently, the Code secretariat is based in Bangkok, Thailand. [5]

Objectives

There are six criteria that form the guiding principles of the Code, and participating companies are expected to fulfill each of them. The criteria are as follows: establish a policy regarding child sex exploitation; train personnel; integrate anti-exploitation clauses into contracts with suppliers; educate guests about child exploitation by making relevant information available on the company premises; enlist the help of appointed "key persons" who offer their expertise on the subject of combating sexual exploitation; and include information on progress toward achieving the goals of the Code in the annual business reporting. [6]

Participation in The Code is solicited on a voluntary basis. [7] As such, companies that become members of the Code are not legally bound to adhere to the six criteria; instead, these criteria are intended to serve as a road map that enables companies to fulfill their ethical and social responsibilities to the countries in which they operate. [7]

Members and training

As of the 24 February 2013 more than 1,000 travel and hospitality companies from 42 different countries had signed the Code, agreeing to uphold its principles and work towards fulfilling the six essential criteria. Since 2011 many leading names in the tourism industry, including Delta Air Lines, Wyndham Worldwide, and Hilton Worldwide have begun to show their engagement with the problem of sexual exploitation of children, by signing the Code. As a result, the staff of these companies receive training that allows them to identify signs of child exploitation among hospitality guests, and create a general environment of awareness in their establishments. [8]

Other signatories of the Code include Accor, the Kuoni Travel and TUI Travel. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sex tourism</span> Travel to engage in sexual activity

Sex tourism refers to the practice of traveling to foreign countries, often on a different continent, with the intention of engaging in sexual activity or relationships in exchange for money or lifestyle support. This practice predominantly operates in countries where sex work is legal. The World Tourism Organization of the United Nations has acknowledged about this industry is organized both within and outside the structured laws and networks created by them.

Child sex tourism (CST) is tourism for the purpose of engaging in the prostitution of children, which is commercially facilitated child sexual abuse. The definition of child in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child is "every human being below the age of 18 years". Child sex tourism results in both mental and physical consequences for the exploited children, which may include sexually transmitted infections, "drug addiction, pregnancy, malnutrition, social ostracism, and death", according to the State Department of the United States. Child sex tourism, part of the multibillion-dollar global sex tourism industry, is a form of child prostitution within the wider issue of commercial sexual exploitation of children. Child sex tourism victimizes approximately 2 million children around the world. The children who perform as prostitutes in the child sex tourism trade often have been lured or abducted into sexual slavery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Child prostitution</span> Prostitution involving a child

Child prostitution is prostitution involving a child, and it is a form of commercial sexual exploitation of children. The term normally refers to prostitution of a minor, or person under the legal age of consent. In most jurisdictions, child prostitution is illegal as part of general prohibition on prostitution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Commercial sexual exploitation of children</span> Commercial transaction that involves the sexual exploitation of a child

Commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) is a commercial transaction that involves the sexual exploitation of a minor, or person under the age of consent. CSEC involves a range of abuses, including but not limited to: the, child pornography, stripping, erotic massage, phone sex lines, internet-based exploitation, and early forced marriage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human trafficking in the Philippines</span> Human trafficking as it relates to the Philippines

Human trafficking and the prostitution of children has been a significant issue in the Philippines, often controlled by organized crime syndicates. Human trafficking is a crime against humanity.

Prostitution in Guatemala is legal but procuring is prohibited. There is an offence of “aggravated procuring” where a minor is involved. Keeping a brothel is not prohibited.

Prostitution in Costa Rica is legal. Costa Rica's legal system is based on Roman law rather than common law, and so for prostitution to be illegal it would have to be explicitly stated as such in a penal code, and it is not. Nevertheless, many of the activities surrounding it are illegal, as the law forbids promoting or facilitating the prostitution of another, and therefore pimping, brothels, or prostitution rings are illegal. Prostitution is common and is practiced openly throughout the country, particularly in popular tourism destinations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prostitution in Ukraine</span> Overview of prostitution in Ukraine

Prostitution in Ukraine is illegal but widespread and largely ignored by the government. In recent times, Ukraine has become a popular prostitution and sex trafficking destination. Ukraine is a source, transit, and destination country for women and children trafficked transnationally for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation. Ukraine's dissolution from the Soviet Union, saw the nation attempt to transition from a planned economy to a market economy. The transition process inflicted economic hardship in the nation, with nearly 80% of the population forced into poverty in the decade that followed its independence. Unemployment in Ukraine was growing at an increasing rate, with female unemployment rising to 64% by 1997. The economic decline in Ukraine made the nation vulnerable and forced many to depend on prostitution and trafficking as a source of income. Sex tourism rose as the country attracted greater numbers of foreign tourists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human trafficking in South Africa</span>

Human trafficking in South Africa occurs as a practice of forced labour and commercial sexual exploitation among imported and exported trafficked men, women, and children. Generally, South African girls are trafficked for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and domestic servitude, while boys are used for street vending, food service, and agriculture. Anecdotal evidence suggests that South African children can also be forced to provide unpaid labor for landowners in return for land occupancy, living accommodation, or for maintaining labor tenancy rights. In any case, this form of unpaid labor has caused human trafficking to be described as a modern form of slavery. Human trafficking is the result of a combination of several factors, including gender inequality, economic instability, and political conflict. Since Africa experiences all of these, it is an active hub for human trafficking. Many urge for the need of a cultural shift to reduce instances of human trafficking by lessening the demand for sex and unpaid labor.

Vietnam is primarily a source country for women and children trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor. Women and children's are trafficked to the People’s Republic of China (P.R.C), Cambodia, Thailand, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Macau for sexual exploitation. Vietnamese women are trafficked to the P.R.C., Taiwan, and the Republic of Korea via fraudulent or misrepresented marriages for commercial exploitation or forced labor. Vietnam is also a source country for men and women who migrate willingly and legally for work in the construction, fishing, or manufacturing sectors in Malaysia, Taiwan, P.R.C., Thailand, and the Middle East but subsequently face conditions of forced labor or debt bondage. Vietnam is a destination country for Cambodian children trafficked to urban centers for forced labor or commercial sexual exploitation. Vietnam has an internal trafficking problem with women and children from rural areas trafficked to urban centers for commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor. Vietnam is increasingly a destination for child sex tourism, with perpetrators from Japan, the Republic of Korea, the P.R.C., Taiwan, the UK, Australia, Europe, and the U.S. In 2007, an Australian non-governmental organization (NGO) uncovered 80 cases of commercial sexual exploitation of children by foreign tourists in the Sa Pa tourist area of Vietnam alone.

Luxembourg is a destination country for women trafficked transnationally for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation. During the reporting period, women were trafficked from Bulgaria and Ukraine. According to the Luxembourg Red Cross, an increasing number of women from Africa and Latin America are engaged in prostitution in the country, and could be victims of trafficking.

Child pornography is illegal in most countries, but there is substantial variation in definitions, categories, penalties, and interpretations of laws. Differences include the definition of "child" under the laws, which can vary with the age of sexual consent; the definition of "child pornography" itself, for example on the basis of medium or degree of reality; and which actions are criminal. Laws surrounding fictional child pornography are a major source of variation between jurisdictions; some maintain distinctions in legality between real and fictive pornography depicting minors, while others regulate fictive material under general laws against child pornography.

Thailand is a centre for child sex tourism and child prostitution. Even though domestic and international authorities work to protect children from sexual abuse, the problem still persists in Thailand and many other Southeast Asian countries. Child prostitution, like other forms of child sexual abuse, not only causes death and high morbidity rates in millions of children but also violates their rights and dignity.

Transnational efforts to prevent human trafficking are being made to prevent human trafficking in specific countries and around the world.

Austria is a destination and transit country for women, men, and children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced prostitution and forced labor.

Mauritius is not a major source for children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically conditions of forced prostitution within the country. Secondary school-age girls and, to a lesser extent, younger girls from all areas of the country, including from Rodrigues Island, are induced into prostitution, often by their peers, family members, or businessmen offering other forms of employment. Taxi drivers are known to provide transportation and introductions for both the girls and the clients. Girls and boys whose mothers engage in prostitution are reportedly forced into prostitution at a young age. Some drug-addicted women are forced into prostitution by their boyfriends, who serve as their pimps. In Great Britain, two Malagasy nationals were convicted in 2009 of holding a small number of Mauritian nationals, as well as citizens of other countries, in conditions of forced labor; this appears to be an isolated case of transnational human trafficking involving Mauritian citizens. Students from all over the world are forced into prostitution within the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ECPAT International</span> Global network of organizations against child sexual exploitation

ECPAT International is a global network of civil society organisations that works to end the sexual exploitation of children. It focuses on ending the online sexual exploitation of children, the trafficking of children for sexual purposes, the sexual exploitation of children in prostitution, child, early and forced marriages, and the sexual exploitation of children in the travel and tourism industry.

Victims of human trafficking in Ecuador are generally women and children trafficked within the country from border and central highland areas to urban centers for commercial sexual exploitation, as well as for involuntary domestic servitude, forced begging, and forced labor in mines and other hazardous work. Ecuador prohibits human trafficking in its penal code, and penalties are commensurate with other serious crimes. Despite robust law enforcement efforts to combat trafficking, conviction rates remain low. The Ecuadorian government has ensured trafficking victims' access to legal, medical, psychological, and shelter services, in large part through its partnership with a network of NGOs. The government has also undertaken advertising campaigns against human trafficking, particularly child labor and child sex tourism. U.S. State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons placed the country in "Tier 2" in 2017.

Prostitution in the Gambia is widespread but illegal. Most of the estimated 3,100 prostitutes in the Gambia are from Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Guinea. Prostitution takes place on the beach, in bars and hotels on the coast. Away from the coast, prostitution mainly takes place in bars. The bars are frequently raided and the foreign prostitutes deported. They often return within a few days.

Child prostitution in Ukraine has been described by Juan Miguel Petit, Special Rapporteur on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography for the United Nations, as a major problem in the country.

References

  1. ↑ "About The Code". Archived from the original on 2013-05-11.
  2. 1 2 "Tourism Companies Join Forces With The Code to Protect Children from Sex Tourism". Virtual Global Taskforce. 2012-11-08. Archived from the original on 2013-05-08. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
  3. ↑ "Sexual Exploitation of Children and Adolescents in Tourism" (PDF). ECPAT. November 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-11-23. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
  4. ↑ Philip L. Reichel, ed. (2019). Global Crime: An Encyclopedia of Cyber Theft, Weapons Sales, and Other Illegal Activities. ABC-CLIO. p. 178. ISBN   9781440860157.
  5. ↑ "ECPAT Journal" (PDF). October 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-12-02. Retrieved 5 June 2013.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  6. ↑ Theo Noten (6 March 2013). "Combating the sexual exploitation of children in travel and tourism: Achievements and challenges" (PDF). Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
  7. 1 2 "Global Code of Ethics for Tourism". World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). Archived from the original on 2017-07-14. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
  8. ↑ Lori Robertson (2013-02-24). "Ethical Traveller: The Darker Side of Tourism". BBC. Archived from the original on 2013-03-09. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
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