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

structures at district and local levels, which lack the resources, will or mandate to carry out
anti-trafficking programmes.
The 10-Year National Plan of Action for Children addresses sexual exploitation, abuse and
harassment and also promotes strengthening of monitoring and response to child abuse at the
local level. It addresses some issues of concern to boys, including child labour, and promotes
the development of mechanisms to protect children living on the street. However, as with the
trafficking NPA, it depends on government structures to implement activities and does not
extensively involve NGOs or community participants.
Pakistan’s National Plan of Action for Combatting Human Trafficking (2005) is consistent
with past government interventions to address trafficking, framed largely in terms of
addressing illegal migration and human smuggling as well as trafficking. It does not address
situations of child vulnerability that are conducive to trafficking, and its protection activities
are primarily focused on establishing and operating shelters to protect victims and witnesses.
The National Plan of Action against Child Abuse and Exploitation, appended to the National
Plan of Action on Children in 2006, inadequately covers activities needed for prevention,
protection, recovery and rehabilitation, and does not fully address sexual abuse. The NPA
does not include preventive outreach to high-risk children, such as children living on the
street or working, or the development of abuse reporting systems, nor does it address the
causes of vulnerability in families and communities.
The Sri Lankan National Plan of Action on Trafficking in Children (2001) is exceptional in
South Asia for recognizing family dysfunction as a key cause of trafficking and for addressing
the common root causes, such as poverty and lack of education. While this NPA does not
identify certain elements of family dysfunction, such as domestic violence, as contributing to
trafficking, it does recognize the family’s need for health care and economic and social
stability. Community-based development initiatives are endorsed as means to strengthen the
family’s protection of the child. Notably, the NPA addresses the excessive institutionalization
of children in Sri Lanka by encouraging community and family involvement in rehabilitation.
While not directly covered in the NPA, child sexual abuse is addressed by legislation
establishing the National Child Protection Authority, an interdisciplinary governmental body
mandated to address sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, trafficking, forced labour and illegal
adoption.
Aside from the relative strengths or weaknesses of national policies, the entire region – in
fact, the entire world – faces the challenge of putting policies into practice. 88 The inability of
governments to implement policies stems from a variety of challenges and barriers. Policy
development is inhibited by lack of evidence-based criteria, including gender-disaggregated
data, as well as information on what works and what doesn’t, due to lack of monitoring and
evaluation of programmes. Thus, poorly informed policymakers often take a simplistic view
of complex issues such as child sexual abuse or the sexual exploitation of boys. This may
explain, for example, the omission of precise mechanisms in most policy documents to
88 Oak Foundation (Asquith, S. and Turner, E.), 2008, ‘Recovery and reintegration of children from the effects of
sexual exploitation and related trafficking’.
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