Child Sex Tourism

Child Sex Tourism

Child sex tourism (CST) is tourism for the purpose of engaging in the prostitution of children, that is commercially facilitated child sexual abuse. Child sex tourism results in both mental and physical consequences for the exploited children, that may include "disease (including HIV/AIDS), drug addiction, pregnancy, malnutrition, social ostracism, and possibly death", according to the State Department of the United States. Child sex tourism, part of the multi-billion-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.

Users of children for commercial and sexual purposes can be categorized by motive. Contrary to popular belief, pedophiles (those who actively seek out prepubescent children for sex) are not the majority of users. There are preferential abusers, that is those who may prefer children because they perceive the risk of disease to be lower (for example, the risk of HIV). There are also situational users, those who do not actively seek out children but for whom the actual act is opportunistic; there may be a lack of concern to check the age of a prostitute before engaging in sexual activity. The majority of the exploited children are under 12 years old. Pedophiles use the internet to plan their trips by seeking out and trading information about opportunities for child sex tourism and where the most vulnerable children can be found, generally in areas of low income. Many governments have enacted laws to allow prosecution of its citizens for child sexual abuse committed outside of their home country. However while laws against child sex tourism may deter situational offenders who may act impulsively, pedophiles who travel specifically for the purpose of exploiting children are not easily deterred.