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

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Government actions have been limited, as has their integration with civil society interventions. 455 According to the 2004 Plan of Action for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation in Travel and Tourism, Sri Lanka Tourist Board 456 has been designated the primary actor in combating sexual exploitation of children in travel and tourism. With UNICEF support, the Tourist Board has supported several knowledge, attitude and practice studies and has created a database of unregistered guest houses and hotels frequented by travelling sex offenders. Few concerted activities by government agencies, including surveillance, law enforcement and prosecution, have taken place in recent years. The focus has been almost entirely on foreign offenders to the exclusion of domestic exploitation. The many girls exploited in the local tourism industry have not been addressed. However, NGOs in Sri Lanka have campaigned for years to raise local and international awareness of child sex exploitation in tourism and to mobilize government action. PEACE and its counterpart ECPAT International have conducted advocacy activities with international tourism organizations, including the United Nations World Tourism Organization as well as airlines and tour operators, to communicate the message of ‘zero tolerance’ of child sexual abuse to international tourists. PEACE works with the Ministry of Tourism and local tourism organizations to encourage the industry to take a visible stance against child sexual exploitation. Along with other NGOs such as LEADS, PEACE also assists the police in identifying cases of sexual abuse and exploitation, as well as providing police and judicial officers with information and skills to arrest and prosecute offenders and treat victims in a child-friendly way. One helpful action takes place in Negombo, where the Tour Guides Association regulates and registers three-wheel drivers to reduce their role as intermediaries in child sexual exploitation. 8.4.8 Responses to sexual abuse and exploitation 8.4.8.1 Children’s reporting of abuse UNICEF has assisted the Bureau for the Prevention of Abuse of Children, Young Persons and Women to establish a 24-hour hotline to report cases of abuse. Callers receive help, advice and emergency response for sexual and physical abuse, rape, incest and child labour. 457 More than 35 women and children police desks staffed by women officers have been established. These desks investigate complaints as well as take cases to court. Priority is given to domestic violence and child abuse cases. 458 455 Zulfi, A., 2007, ‘Issues of child trafficking in eastern Sri Lanka: A case study of Batticaloa District’; and International Labour Organization (Amarasinghe, S.), 2002, ‘Sri Lanka: The commercial sexual exploitation of children: A rapid assessment’. 456 Known as the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority. 457 UNICEF, 2008, ‘Real lives: Addressing sexual abuse in Sri Lanka’. 458 ECPAT International and South Asia Partnership International, 2003, ‘A situational analysis of child sex tourism in Sri Lanka’. 144
8.4.8.2 Safe shelter and crisis response Through the Probation and Child Care Services Department, the Government engages in ‘rehabilitation’ of children through government institutions and registered NGO shelters. 459 Children in prostitution, children living on the street and abandoned children are referred by court order or handed over by local organizations, and many are placed in institutions by parents or guardians. The intention is for children to be rehabilitated through educational programmes, counselling and employment training. However, as in Bangladesh, the prevalent concept of ‘rehabilitation’ through institutionalization has not proven beneficial to the majority of children, particularly in institutions operated by the government. Such settings have been shown to be detrimental to young people’s well-being and development 460 and the government and most NGOs lack the resources to conduct effective rehabilitation programmes. In addition, parents or guardians have been known to place children in institutions as an alternative to providing care themselves. Government and private shelters and ‘orphanages’ abound in Sri Lanka, and concern has been expressed about the excessive institutionalization of children. 461 Community-based rehabilitation alternatives have been little explored in Sri Lanka. The government operates a variety of institutions for children, including certified schools for children older than 12 years and remand homes in which victims of crimes aged 16 or younger are placed for short periods while awaiting presentation before the court or return to their parents or guardian. Some models of child-friendly institutional care have been developed, including a training and counselling institution in Kalutara district for sexually victimized children, maintained by the Probation and Child Care Services Department and previously supported by ILO. The children, who remain for a year and a half, receive care from child psychiatrists, doctors and vocational training instructors. The NCPA, with the Probation and Child Care Services Department, has also developed a model for institutional rehabilitation. It has been piloted in two centres for trafficked children established by the NCPA, in Negombo and Moratuna. NGO-operated institutions, referred to as children’s homes, serve as the primary residence for the many children institutionalized by the court and civil society groups. Their quality of care varies considerably, from exceptional to inadequate. Most provide adequate food, shelter and education and rudimentary vocational training activities. Few offer professional counselling services. Problems noted in both government and NGO institutions are the intermingling of child criminals and child victims and of young and older children; uniform programming for all children; and lack of funds for physical facilities, medical care and recreational space. Many have poorly trained staff. Discipline, including corporal punishment, is a concern. 462 459 International Labour Organization (S. Amarasinghe), 2002, ‘Sri Lanka: The commercial sexual exploitation of children: A rapid assessment”. 460 International Save the Children Alliance, 2003, ‘A last resort: The growing concern about children in residential care’. 461 International Labour Organization (S. Amarasinghe), 2002, op.cit. 462 International Labour Organization (S. Amarasinghe), 2002, ‘Sri Lanka: The commercial sexual exploitation of children: A rapid assessment’. 145
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UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre In
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UNICEF INNOCENTI RESEARCH CENTRE Th
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Sexual Abuse and Exploitation of Bo
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Contents 1. INTRODUCTION...........
Page 9 and 10:
INTRODUCTION Across South Asia and
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1.2 Definitions While acknowledging
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oys in the home, community, institu
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general, adolescent girls are thoug
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accountable for their actions, blam
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sexual abuse is reported to be prev
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abuse. 49 Death and abduction of pa
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eaches puberty. Such boys may be at
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knowledge of the intermediate situa
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2.0 SOUTH ASIA OVERVIEW 2.1 Researc
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have long experience working with a
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exploitation. The legal definition
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Afghanistan’s National Plan of Ac
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strengthen family and community pro
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constraints with the intention of i
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3.0 COUNTRY PROFILE: AFGHANISTAN 3.
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Afghanistan. Traditionally, boys ar
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unravel from cases of children sent
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well as the ‘violation of chastit
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Social Affairs, Martyrs and Disable
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orders. Data collection on the Paki
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trafficked or abused children are l
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4.0 COUNTRY PROFILE: BANGLADESH 4.1
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concerning level of child sexual ab
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As elsewhere in the world, certain
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female children in prostitution are
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control the areas where the boys wo
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In general, the country’s legisla
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children from the sexual violence i
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NPA was facilitated by an advisory
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4.4 Programme Responses 4.4.1 Child
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children living on the street. In i
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4.4.7 Addressing exploitation in tr
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5.0 COUNTRY PROFILE: INDIA 5.1 Rese
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living on the street or on boys sex
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times, these traditions have eroded
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interviewed in the study stated tha
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The Immoral Traffic Prevention Act
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assault’, which covers additional
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esidences with persons not related
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institutions. However, the NPAC has
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The Sangath Centre for Child Develo
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tourism operators, including airlin
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negotiation and protection from sex
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6.1.2 Knowledge base The knowledge
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the boys and one-quarter of the gir
Page 101 and 102: situations such as domestic labour
Page 103 and 104: fondling. 285 While an ‘unnatural
Page 105 and 106: person “shall be deemed to have c
Page 107 and 108: The NPA does not address linkages b
Page 109 and 110: programmes on child rights and chil
Page 111 and 112: The Youth Club in Narayangadh provi
Page 113 and 114: etween males is socially tolerated.
Page 115 and 116: men. Boys cannot get pregnant and a
Page 117 and 118: The extent to which children are ap
Page 119 and 120: Children living on the street the w
Page 121 and 122: Amendment) Act 2006; and the Pakist
Page 123 and 124: woman or animal…’ 354 However,
Page 125 and 126: punishment. 363 The Trafficking Ord
Page 127 and 128: The trafficking NPA is consistent w
Page 129 and 130: LHRLA’s Madadgaar programme raise
Page 131 and 132: children (Nigehban) in divisional h
Page 133 and 134: 8.0 COUNTRY PROFILE: SRI LANKA 377
Page 135 and 136: The development community in Sri La
Page 137 and 138: women. 397 For this reason, prostit
Page 139 and 140: Unlike other countries in South Asi
Page 141 and 142: however, face deep stigma if they a
Page 143 and 144: Section 365(a) of PCA 1995 forbids
Page 145 and 146: an offense to allow a child to ‘r
Page 147 and 148: destination. Thus the law includes
Page 149 and 150: addition, except for local coordina
Page 151: dangers of sexual abuse and the pen
Page 155 and 156: identify signs of child sexual abus
Page 157 and 158: 9.1 Research Prioritize research ac
Page 159 and 160: • Work to harmonize national laws
Page 161 and 162: • There should be mechanisms in p
Page 163 and 164: • Develop interventions to addres
Page 165 and 166: Boyden, J. and de Berry, J. et al.,
Page 167 and 168: Agency Coordinating Body for Afghan
Page 169 and 170: UNICEF Bangladesh (Kabir, R.), 2002
Page 171 and 172: International Labour Organization a
Page 173: World Organisation Against Torture,
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