SEXUAL ABUSE AND EXPLOITATION OF BOYS IN SOUTH ASIA A ...

women. 397 For this reason, prostitution and exploitation in travel and tourism are combined in
this chapter.
The number of children conducting prostitution in Sri Lanka and the proportion of boys
versus girls are unknown. Estimates regarding the number of children involved as of the late
1990s ranged from 15,000 398 to 36,000. 399 While estimates of the gender proportion tend to
be influenced by the country’s focus on the exploitation of boys in tourism, almost all sources
indicate a larger proportion of boys in prostitution. The NGO Protecting Environment and
Children Everywhere (PEACE) estimated a ratio of 80 per cent boys to 20 per cent girls in
1996. 400 A study in 1994, using a small sample of children, found that 63 per cent of children
conducting prostitution were boys. 401 However, it is thought that the proportion of girls in
prostitution has increased during the early years of the 21st century due to demand from
soldiers in conflict areas and local offenders. 402
Tourism destinations in Sri Lanka are primarily beachfront towns and villages. The boys who
are exploited by travelling sex offenders mostly come from coastal communities, primarily
from families that live by fishing or agricultural work, particularly on the coconut plantations.
Some live on the street, some have fled the conflict and some have left other labour situations
to earn money from tourists. The decline of coconut plantations and the fishing industry have
led to high rates of unemployment among coastal families. In addition, boys are increasingly
disinclined to be fishermen or agricultural labourers when the tourism industry can provide
them with higher income. 403
Unlike many boys in prostitution in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan, few boys in Sri Lanka
engage in ‘casual’ prostitution to supplement income from other jobs. A 2002 study of 78
boys and 42 girls sexually exploited in prostitution showed that 80 per cent of the boys had no
other source of income. 404
Although the average educational achievement of Sri Lankan children is high for South Asia,
as of 2000, 29 per cent of all children aged 15 to 17 were not in school. 405 Children being
sexually exploited in prostitution have much less education than the average child. The 2002
study found that one-quarter of the children being sexually exploited in prostitution had
completed only up to class five, and two-thirds had only completed class nine – low
397 International Labour Organization (S. Amarasinghe), 2002, ‘Sri Lanka: The commercial sexual exploitation
of children: A rapid assessment’.
398 PEACE, 1999, ‘Sexually exploited and abused children: A qualitative assessment of their health needs and
services available to them in Sri Lanka’.
399 ECPAT UK, 2005, ‘Child sex tourism in Sri Lanka’ (quoting estimate from 1998 UNICEF study).
400 PEACE, 1996, ‘Studies on the commercial sexual exploitation of children in Sri Lanka’.
401 Weeramunda, A.J., 1994, ‘Child Prostitution or Poverty’, Economic Review, May-June 1994.
402 Zulfi, A., 2007, ‘Issues of child trafficking in eastern Sri Lanka: A case study of Batticaloa District’.
403 ECPAT International and South Asia Partnership International, 2003, ‘A situational analysis of child sex
tourism in Sri Lanka’.
404 International Labour Organization (Amarasinghe, S.), 2002, ‘Sri Lanka: The commercial sexual exploitation
of children: A rapid assessment’.
405 Department of Census and Statistics, Government of Sri Lanka, 1999, ‘Child activity survey’.
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