Child sex tourism. Child pornography. Child prostitution. Those are terms you have probably heard about, but terms you probably preferred to forget. We do not like to hear about such things, “it's disgusting, it can’t be true. Let's talk about something else.”...right ? Yet it is a reality that is much more present than most people think. This is the reality faced by a considerable number of children in Colombia every year.
A colombian boy holding a “thank you” sign to express his gratitude colombia-facts.htm
The sexual exploitation of children is what might more commonly be understood as the unjust taking advantage of an imbalance of power between a vulnerable person, in this case a child, for the purpose of sexual profit and/or personal pleasure. We usually find three main types of sexual exploitation: the first one being sexual abuse (carried out by a person having authority over the child, be it a member of the family or someone outside of the family sphere), then sexual violence (rape, incest…) and finally sexual exploitation for commercial purpose (which includes prostitution and trafficking).
The sexual exploitation of children is an unfortunately widespread but underestimated phenomenon worldwide. As a highly vulnerable population, they are often targeted. It is, in fact, the fastest-growing sector of human sex trafficking everywhere in the world.
In Colombia, the government estimates that around 200,000 children are sexually abused every year, and over 35,000 are involved in commercial sexual exploitation networks. But what could possibly lead to it ?
Well, first, there’s poverty. In Colombia, the poverty rate reached 42.5% in 2020. Survival is therefore paramount, and families do not hesitate to prostitute their children in order to secure an income. Some of them are also sold to brothels or simply to human trafficking networks that lead to trade with neighboring countries.
The high rate of violence is also a big factor : “the 2019 Violence Against Children and Youth Survey (VACS) reported that 41% of girls and 42% of boys in Colombia had experienced some type of violence in childhood.” So to escape their abusive environment, children turn to the sex industry in the hope of a better life. But what worsens it is that there is a general lack of education, especially in poor neighborhoods abandoned by the state, where the population is not informed about the forms that sexual exploitation can take. Children have no idea what is really happening to them and are unable to distinguish the normal from the abnormal.
Now remember when I mentioned child sex tourism? Well, little did you know that Colombia is a widely known sex tourism destination, famous for being “a human supply company for prostitution networks abroad”. As for children, they are usually promised money, a phone, shoes, or just simple things that a child who has been living in extreme poverty dreams of ... So how can they refuse? That's what makes them perfect targets.
As you can imagine, those have massive impacts on the physical and mental well being of children, such as illnesses, infertility, PTSD and homelessness. Those are the most common ones but there are many others. This creates a vicious circle that reproduces the same pattern (mothers being in the sex industry for years thinking it’s normal (since they usually don’t know it’s a crime), it becomes easy or even obvious for their children to be quickly introduced to the sex industry) in which future generations are trapped.
Now you're probably wondering whether any child protection measures are taken, and the answer is partly yes. There are indeed Colombian organizations that promote and defend children's rights, such as ECPAT , Children Change Colombia (whose actions focus on creating artistic activities with children, but also on psychological support for vulnerable children) but also the government, which launches prevention campaigns in collaboration with the police. However, the latter don't always do their job, and sometimes take the liberty of mistreating child prostitutes, or even shooting them up in the streets. There's still a lot of progress to be made, but the situation is evolving slowly but surely.
This is why we cannot afford to turn a blind eye to the alarming situation of so many sexually exploited children in Colombia and the rest of the world. The simple act of informing and warning is a first form of prevention. Let's not remain ignorant, let alone silent. Let's protect these children. Our children.
Maïssa Boudouh
Bibliography:
Children Change Colombia : “Colombia’s silent problem” child-sexual-exploitation-colombia 2023.10.11
Humanium.org : “L’exploitation sexuelle des enfants” exploitation-sexuelle-enfants 2023.10.11
End Violence Against Children : “Colombia” colombia
2023.10.12
US department of state : “ 2022 Trafficking in Person’s report:
Colombia”
https://www.state.gov/reports/2022-trafficking-in-persons-report/colombia__trashed/ 2023.10.12
Monique Burr Foundation for Children : “Why you should be concerned about human trafficking” concerned-human-trafficking
2023.10.13
WURNR : “A child in danger is a child that cannot wait. Colombia and child’s prostitution in today’s world” colombia-child-prostitution
Tereza Biskova (Sept. 27, 2021) in The Bogota Post : “A look into child trafficking in Colombia” https://thebogotapost.com/a-look-into-child-trafficking-in-colombia/49278/ 2023.10.13
ECAPT : “Colombia”colombia