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

interviewed in the study stated that they were drawn to the work because of the relatively high
pay, which allows many to send money to their families, and because it frees them to express
their female identities.
Seventy per cent of the dancers enter the profession as children. Approximately 10 per cent
are castrated members of hijra communities. Although they may originate from many states,
the dancers are primarily recruited from the large gay community in Kolkata, from the
‘cruising circuits’ where men seek men. About 80 per cent of the boys are from urban or
semi-urban families and 20 per cent are from rural families. About 60 per cent of the launda
dancers conduct prostitution, according to the study. However, many are abused and
sometimes gang raped by marriage party celebrants, who get drunk and molest the dancers.
During the off-season, some of the boys return to Kolkata, hijras rejoin their communities
and a few are taken into the houses of local wealthy men as ‘mistresses’, similar to the
tradition of bacha baazi in Afghanistan and northwest Pakistan.
5.1.5.2 Exploitation in travel and tourism
Sexual exploitation of children in travel and tourism is prevalent at tourist destinations
throughout India. Despite the emphasis in media and programming on ‘foreign paedophiles’,
most of the perpetrators appear to be Indian tourists and local residents rather than foreign
tourists. A study of tourism-related sexual exploitation of children conducted in tourist
destinations of the east coast of the country (including Mamallapuram in Tamil Nadu, Puri in
Orissa and Digha in West Bengal) noted that the primary offenders were local tourists, often
from the same state. 230 The children ranged in age from 8 to 18, and the majority came from
families affected by poverty, an absence of primary caregivers and debt bondage. Many of the
children were from fishing communities, which have recently faced difficulties due to
reduction of the fishing industry.
A 2003 study of sexual exploitation in tourism in Goa and Kerala was primarily aimed at
assessing exploitation by male foreign tourists. 231 The majority of the children conducting
prostitution were from impoverished fishing communities, living in coastal villages or hut
communities near the tourist beaches. Girls primarily worked out of the brothel area of Goa.
Most of the boys were employed in restaurants, hotels and tourist shops near the beach and
conducted prostitution as an adjunct. Many acted as tourist ‘guides’. The majority of the
children in the sample were under 12 years of age, although the mean age of boys being
exploited in prostitution in Goa cannot be concluded from the small sample of the study. The
exploiters included foreign tourists, long-term foreign residents, local men, migrant workers
and seamen. However, the study focused on foreign tourists, implying that the majority of
clients in Goa are non-Indian. Yet another study notes that Goa is a primary tourist
destination for Indians, including the young, and is dominated by Indian tourist ‘lads’ on
holiday, who also exploit children working in prostitution. 232 The latter study also noted the
prevalence of female foreign tourists exploiting boys working in prostitution.
230
Equations, 2002, ‘Tourism-related commercial sexual exploitation of children in the eastern coast of India’.
231
ECPAT International and Equations, 2003, ‘A situational analysis of child sex tourism in India (Kerala and
Goa)’.
232
O’Connell Davidson, J. and Taylor, J.S., 1995, ‘Child prostitution and sex tourism: Goa’.
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