KoreKorea was a term used for girls in Kiribati who Korean fishermen paid for sex. [2] They are now called ainen matawa locally "in deference to Korean sensitivities", because the word "Korekorea" was overtly linked to the "principal nationality of their clients". [3] Some of the girls are as young as fourteen years old. [4] They board foreign fishing vessels and engage in sex in exchange for money, clothes and fish. [3] [5]
A 2005 news article in The Korea Times said that, according to ECPAT-Korea, "te korekorea" are "the best known cases of commercial sexual exploitation of children". [6]
A 2006 news article in The Sydney Morning Herald said that "all Korean fishing boats" had been banned by Kiribati from going to Kiribati's ports for a time in 2003 following reports in The Korea Herald "that 30 to 50 girls, mostly under age, were servicing the Korean fishermen". [7]
The KoreKorea issue is being addressed by a Korean institution in collaboration with the Kiribati Government cooperating with the ILO Youth unemployment programme and with the New Zealand's International Aid and Development Agency (NZAID). [8]
A 2005 news article in The Korea Times said that the National Youth Commission would try to get the "Korean fishermen" punished as South Korea's "anti-juvenile-prostitution law" did not allow for "sex trade". [6]
A 2005 news article in The Hankyoreh said that children had been fathered by "some" "KoreKorea" and "Korean fishermen". [2]
A 2010 report made by the International HIV Research Group of the University of New South Wales said that children had been fathered by "a number" of ainen matawa and "Korean seafarers", and the report said that the Korean fathers send financial support to these children. [3]
A 2005 news article in The Hankyoreh said that the KoreKorea females were about 18 years old. [2]
A 2006 report by UNICEF Pacific said that "80 young te korekorea... had visited boats in port in 2000". [5]
A 2007 news article in The Korea Times said that te korekorea were "teenage girls", and 8 of 24 of the interviewed te korekorea were younger than 19; one was 14 years old. The news article also said that the age when te korekorea first start was "getting younger". [9]
A 2008 report by the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency said that "Teenage girls from the outer islands" were the group who were "particularly vulnerable to becoming te korekorea". [10]
A 2010 report made by the International HIV Research Group of the University of New South Wales said that the ainen matawa were "young women". [3]
A 2012 document made by the Kiribati Local Government Association explained the term ainen matawa with the words "teenage prostitution, involving very young girls". [11]
A web page on UNICEF's website said that the korekorea were "young women". [1]
A 2007 study involving 80 ainen matawa (a 2010 study estimated there to be a total of 130) [3] found only ~11% used condoms every time during sex, whilst 57.5% had at least one sexually transmitted infection. [12]
A 2013 document by the World Health Organization said that ainen matawa were inhibited from utilizing "sexual and reproductive health services", because of the "stigma, discrimination, violence and/or social exclusion" that they faced. [13]
A 2013 report on the United States Department of State's website said that ainen matawa had a stigma within their society. [14]
A 2014 report by WorldFish said that ainen matawa were "socially marginalized" for prostituting themselves, because what they were doing went against the values of their culture. [15]
Sexual slavery and sexual exploitation is an attachment of any ownership right over one or more people with the intent of coercing or otherwise forcing them to engage in sexual activities. This includes forced labor, reducing a person to a servile status and sex trafficking persons, such as the sexual trafficking of children.
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.
Commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) is a commercial transaction that involves the sexual exploitation of a child, or person under the age of consent. CSEC involves a range of abuses, including but not limited to: the prostitution of children, child pornography, stripping, erotic massage, phone sex lines, internet-based exploitation, and early forced marriage.
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 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.
Prostitution in Kenya is widespread. The legal situation is complex. Although prostitution is not criminalised by National law, municipal by-laws may prohibit it.. It is illegal to profit from the prostitution of others, and to aid, abet, compel or incite prostitution.. UNAIDS estimate there to be 133,675 prostitutes in the country.
Prostitution in Burkina Faso is not specifically prohibited by the law, but soliciting and pimping are illegal. Burkinabe society only accepts sexual intercourse within marriage. In 2009, Voice of America reported that the number of prostitutes in Burkina Faso had increased as a result of the country's poverty. The increase in prostitution has given rise to fears of an increase in the number of Burkinabés infected with HIV and AIDS. UNAIDS estimate there to be 31,000 prostitutes in the country.
Some of the personnel of the United Nations peacekeeping are accused of commiting sexual abuse in general and of child sexual abuse in particular. An Associated Press (AP) investigation revealed in 2017 that more than 100 United Nations (UN) peacekeepers ran a child sex ring in Haiti over a 10-year period and none were ever jailed. The report further found that over the previous 12 years, there had been almost 2,000 allegations of sexual abuse and exploitation by peacekeepers and other UN personnel around the world. AP found the abuse to be much greater than originally thought. After the AP report, U.S. Ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, urged all countries to hold UN peacekeepers accountable for any sexual abuse and exploitation. As early as 2004, Amnesty International reported that underage girls were being kidnapped, tortured and forced into prostitution in Kosovo with UN and NATO personnel being the customers driving the demand for the sex slaves. The UN's department of peacekeeping in New York acknowledged at that time that "peacekeepers have come to be seen as part of the problem in trafficking rather than the solution".
Kiribati is a source country for girls subjected to trafficking, specifically commercial sexual exploitation. Crew members on Korean and perhaps other foreign fishing vessels in Kiribati or in its territorial waters exploit prostituted children aboard their ships. Some girls are also forced into prostitution in bars frequented by crew members. Local I-Kiribati, sometimes family members but also taxi drivers and owners of small boats, knowingly facilitate trafficking by transporting underage girls to the boats for the purposes of prostitution. The girls generally received cash, food, or goods in exchange for sexual services.
Prostitution in Mongolia is illegal but widespread in some areas. The Global Fund for Tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and Malaria estimated there were about 19,000 sex workers in the country in 2006. Many women in Mongolia turn to prostitution through poverty.
Prostitution in Togo is legal and commonplace. Related activities such as solicitation, living off the earnings of prostitution or procuring are prohibited. Punishment is up to 10 years imprisonment if minors or violence is involved.
Prostitution in Madagascar is legal, and common, especially in tourist areas. Related activities such as soliciting, procuring, living off the earnings of prostitution or keeping a brothel are prohibited. Public Order laws are also used against prostitutes. There are recent laws against "consorting with female prostitutes". People caught paying for sex with children under 14 can face criminal penalties of up to 10 years imprisonment. This is strictly enforced against foreign tourists. As well as in the tourist areas, prostitution also occurs around the mining towns of the interior such as Ilakaka and Andilamena. It was estimated that there were 167,443 sex workers in the country in 2014.
Prostitution in Somalia is officially illegal. There is generally very little voluntary prostitution in the country according to the African Medical Research and Education Foundation (AMREF). UNAIDS estimated there were 10,957 sex workers in Somalia in 2016.
During and following the Korean War, the United States military used regulated prostitution services in South Korean military camptowns. Despite prostitution being illegal since 1948, women in South Korea were the fundamental source of sexual services for the US military and a component of Korean-American relations. The women in South Korea who served as prostitutes are known as kijichon (기지촌) women, also called as "Korean Military Comfort Women", and were visited by the US military, Korean soldiers, and Korean civilians. The prostitutes were from Korea, Philippines, China, Vietnam, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Indonesia, and the Commonwealth of Independent States.
Prostitution in the Central African Republic is legal and commonplace. Procuring or profiting off the prostitution of others is illegal, as is coercing people into prostitution. Punishment is a fine and up to one year in prison, or 5 years if the case involves a minor.
Sex for fish, sometimes referred to as "fish for sex," is a phenomenon in which female fish traders engage in transactional sexual relationships with fishermen to secure their supply of fish, often out of coercion. Sex for fish as a phenomenon is common in many developing countries; however, the bulk of cases have been observed in Sub-Saharan Africa's inland fisheries. The most vulnerable victims are economically disadvantaged women, e.g. single or divorced women, as well as widows, residing in or along the shores of inland fisheries.
Prostitution in Oceania varies greatly across the region. In American Samoa, for instance, prostitution is illegal, whereas in New Zealand most aspects of the trade are decriminalised.
Prostitution in Papua New Guinea is generally regarded as illegal but widely practiced with the laws rarely enforced. Prostitution occurs on the streets, in bars, brothels and in logging, mining, and palm oil areas. In 2010 it was estimated there were 2.000 prostitutes in the capital, Port Moresby. The drought in 2016 caused a rise in prostitution. Many of the women have turned to sex work due to poverty or unemployment.
Prostitution in Samoa is illegal but is commonly practised. In 2009, an investigation by the Samoan Observer newspaper identified that prostitution was taking place on the islands. A study carried out in 2016 by the United Nations Development Programme, UNICEF and the University of New South Wales indicated that there were approximately 400 female sex workers in Samoa, serving local and foreign clients. This equates to 1 in every 140 of the adult women on the island. The primary reason for women doing sex work was economic; some starting sex work as early as 13 years old. In February 2017, Samoa Police prepared to launch an investigation into a foreign-owned business alleged to be using local women in a prostitution operation. In the same year the Ministry of Health put forward plans to offer counselling and educational services to sex workers as part of the National HIV, AIDS, and STI Policy 2017-2022.
Prostitution in the Solomon Islands is legal but related activities such as soliciting and brothel keeping are prohibited. Prostitution occurs mainly in the capital, Honiara, and around logging camps in Makira, Malaita and Isabel islands. Many of the women involved have turned to prostitution due to poverty, some starting at the age of 13. The laws are rarely enforced.