Violence against Children
in Southeast Asia:
pthe case of child sex tourism inThailand, Lao PDR and Cambodia
Dr. Sita Sumrit
Chief of the Women and Children Empowerment Programme
Thailand Institute of Justice

Violence against Womenin Southeast Asia

Violence against Children
is prevalent

in all countries

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VISITING EXPERTʼS LECTURES

Violence against Womenin Southeast Asia

-A Regional Review andSynthesis of Findings on
VAC (UNICEF 2014)

Preliminary result on childsex tourism in Thailand,Cambodia, and Lao PDR(TIJ,Thai Police Force andFight Against Child
Exploitation (FACE), (2016)

Violence against Womenin Southeast Asia
17 – 35% Prevalencein Lower – Middle IncomeCountries

Violence against Children ismore prevalent inlower income countries
1 - 13% Prevalencein Upper Middle - High IncomeCountries

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ASEAN Regional Plan of Action (RPA)
on the Elimination of Violence against Children

Institutionalize
policies on

Promote theelimination of violenceagainst children among
ASEAN member states

establishment ofprevention andprotection services

supported by national legal
framework and institutionalmechanisms

ASEAN Regional Plan of Action (RPA)
on the Elimination of Violence against Children
Review andCommunication

PartnershipandCollaboration

Protection,
Responses andSupportServices

8 Plans
UN-Model Strategies
on VACManagement,
Coordination,
Monitoring andEvaluation

28

PreventionofAction

Researchand Data
Collection

Legal
Framework,
Prosecution andJustice System

Capacity
Building

163RD INTERNATIONAL TRAINING COURSE
VISITING EXPERTʼS LECTURESASEAN Regional Plan of Action (RPA)
on the Elimination of Violence against Children

Lack of specific plan or designated agency to tackle sexual
exploitation of children in travel and tourism
Lack of specially trained
personnel to facilitate
implementation

No systematic financial
support and staffing

Newly developed soft law,

not fully implemented
by countries

Difficulties in solving
trans-national issues

Each country has

No monitoringmechanisms

its own “context andreservations”

Key Challenges

Child Sexual Abuse“Child sexual abuse occurs when someone
involves a child in a sexual activity byusing their power over them or taking
advantage of their trust. Child sexual abuse
includes all forms of unwanted sexual
behaviour. This can involve touching or even nocontact at all.”(World Vision 2014)

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Child Sexual Abuse
Child sexual abuse in travel and tourism
denotes child sexual abuse bytourists, travelers or foreign
residents who commit child sexual
abuse in the country or countries inwhich they are visiting or living

Child Sexual Abuse
Child sexual abuse ismore prevalent forgirls than boys inmost areas
11 – 22%30

3 – 16.5%(UNICEF 2014)

163RD INTERNATIONAL TRAINING COURSE
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Child Sexual Abuse
For low income
countries, child sexual
abuse is slightly moreprevalent for boys
13%(UNICEF 2014)

16.5%

Needs more study to learn why the prevalence andoutcomes may be different for boys and address
high prevalence of violence against girls in the region

Child Sex Tourism

in Southeast Asia – Overview
In 2014, fastest growth insexual exploitation ofchildren by foreigners

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Child Sex Tourism

in Southeast Asia – Overview
Traditional
Destinations:Thailand andThe Philippines

Child Sex Tourism

in Southeast Asia – Overview
Emerging Destinations:Cambodia,Lao PDR, Myanmarand Vietnam

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163RD INTERNATIONAL TRAINING COURSE
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Child Sex Tourism

in Southeast Asia – Overview
Male from another
Southeast Asian
country or East Asian
countries (Japan,China, South Korea)

Stateless children,refugees, indigenous
children, ethnic
minority groups,
children working close
to tourists

OffendersChildren at Risk

Child Sex Tourism

in Southeast Asia – Overview

Emerging Pattern:

Cheap Travel costs
and new technology
allow for expedient
information sharing- A record of 96.6 million
international visitors in 2014
- A rise of webcam-based child sex
tourism due to the advancement ofinformation technologies

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Child Sex Tourism

in Southeast Asia – Causes

Offenders’preference forsexual activities
with children
DemandTake advantageof the demands
and seek out
children to create
supplyProviderVictims’ need forfinancial security
contributes in asmall part
SupplyChild Sex Tourism

in Southeast Asia – Impacts and Consequences
Victims traumatized

imposing negative
impact on both
physical andmental health34

Many survivors have

Survivors havesubstance abuse increased suicidal
problems as means thoughts andto cope with theirtendencies
pain163RD INTERNATIONAL TRAINING COURSE
VISITING EXPERTʼS LECTURES

Child Sex Tourism

in Southeast Asia - Common Points of Access
Establishment-based prostitution: Bars, Karaoke Venues,
Beer Gardens, Massage Parlors that operate as brothels
Direct/facilitated solicitation of vulnerable children
living/working in public places popular among tourists
such as beaches and market places
Access may even be facilitated by those in childcontact roles such as schools and orphanages whotarget children from broken homes

Child SexSexTourism
ChildTourism

inAsia:AsiaCountry
Specific Findings - THAILANDin Southeast
Southeast- Thailand

Thailand- Infamously known as the“center of child sex tourism”- High risk areas are Chiang
Mai and Pattaya- Travel agencies and hotel
operators are the main
facilitators- Children are bought fromtheir parents and forced into
sex trade

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Child SexSex
TourismChildTourism

inAsia:Asia
Country
Specific Findings - THAILAND
in Southeast
Southeast- Thailand--State justice systems often inaccessible & inhospitable to child victimsof sexual violence
Corruption in certain factions of the police leads to the tipping off ofowners of brothels and sex clubs in exchange for bribes
State judicial systems often fail to monitor and restrict the movementsof accused exploiters in the pre-trial period
More common to confine the child victims who are often confined for along period of time following their rescue in highly restrictive andinadequate shelters for the duration of the criminal investigation andprosecution
Inconsistent implementation of child-friendly procedures
Prolonged and delayed prosecution of cases – leading to further distrustin the justice system

Flawed Justice Processes for Victims

Child SexSexTourism
ChildTourism

inAsia:Asia
Country
Specific Findings - CAMBODIA
in SoutheastSoutheast- Cambodia- Emerging as a growing target
destination for child sex
tourism- Weak laws against
prostitution and child sex
tourismCambodia36- High risk areas are Siem Reapand Mondulkiri

163RD INTERNATIONAL TRAINING COURSE
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Child Sex Tourism

in Southeast Asia - Cambodia

CambodiaChild Sex Tourism

in Cambodia
Southeast Asia - Cambodia

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RESOURCE MATERIAL SERIES No. 100

Child Sex Tourism

in Southeast Asia – Lao PDR- Rapid growth in child pornography
and emerging target for child sex
tourism due to the developmentof information technology
infrastructures

Lao PDR- Child prostitution activities
commonly found in beer shops,
where owners pay regular fees to
the government, therefore reducing
incentives for local officials to
inspect or close down beer bars.

ChildTourism
ChildSexSex
Tourism
inSoutheast
Asia: Recommendations
in Southeast Asia
- Recommendations

2 Prevention interventions should not only1

focus on child sexual abuseby travelers/tourists in tourist hubs, butalso by locals and foreigners inremote and indigenous areasPrevention interventions shouldtake an all-inclusive approach

3 Attitudes and practices

must be observed from a holisticand dynamic perspective to fully
address the risks and vulnerabilities
of children to sexual abuse

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4More attention should bepaid to the sexual abuse ofboys

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Child Sex Tourism

in Southeast Asia - Recommendations

5 Children
should be targeted inprevention interventions and provided

67

8 Parents should be targetted in

education to help them recognise signsof abuse and encourage them todisclose information to a trusted adultif they are being abused

Prevention information andmessaging should be conveyed
to children via their favourite
communications platforms

Prevention interventions shouldreach out to both school-goingand disadvantaged children

preventative interventions andprovided with the informationand skills to protect andcommunicate effectively with
their childrenChild Sex Tourism

in Southeast Asia - Recommendations

911

Parents and duty bearers must be
updated on children’s tools andcommunication channels

Interventions at community
level should work incooperation with, and insupport of, existing local childprotection mechanisms

10 Prevention interventions

should reach out to bothschool-going anddisadvantaged children

12 Besides providing informationand education, interventions
should also include advocacy
with relevant high-leveljurisdictional entities to amendand enforce criminal justiceresponses to child sex offending

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Child Sex Tourism

in Southeast Asia - Recommendations

13

Implementation of internationaland regional instruments andstrengthening of cooperation

14 Developing database and evidence

based research to inform policy andenhance understanding of patterns andevolutions of child sex tourism in theregion

15 Improving and strengthening legal

frameworks and law enforcement
to combat child sex tourism
through the adoption, revision andimplementation of relevant
legislation

Child Sex Tourism
in Southeast Asia

“It is much easier to place blame firmly on asexually perverse foreign man abusing innocent
children than it is to look at a situation where thesexual abuse of children is endemic and has
become normalized, and indeed, institutionalised”

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Child Sex Tourism

Catching the Predators41