Children's rights activists fear tourism in developing counties, because as good as it may be for the countries' economies, poor children as young as eight years old can be victims of sex tourism. Estimates also indicate that 25 percent of the abusers are North Americans. On the positive side, U.S. laws now allow for the prosecution of U.S. citizens for child molestation committed abroad. About a dozen such offenders have been convicted since the law was passed in 1994. While not enough, this is a step forward.
Preventive actions are urgent.
For example U.S. based airlines must join some European ones, in warning on their flights that child prostitution abroad is a crime. Congress defeated a bill in support of this measure. Global businesses tend to be ethically blind. They are too far away from the people at the source of their profits. The transnational nature of business should have a parallel in international law and its enforcement.