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Legal Studies Assessment One – Human Rights Issues – Yr 12 Term 4
Tomas Ganderton – Ms Dunlop
Question: What has been the legal response in Australia to ‘Child Sex Tourism’?
Introduction
Few issues have gained such international support as the right of all children to be free from sexual abuse. All but two member states of the United Nations have signed and entirely ratified the 1989 ‘Convention on the Rights of the Child’, which requires signatory nations to, obligatorily, put provisions in place to ensure the rights of children are protected.
Child Sex Tourism is a sector of the sex-tourism trade, and accounts for a large amount of the trade. It is a growing phenomenon in today’s rapidly shrinking world, as access to relevant information on the topic has become easier to obtain.
This violation of child’s-rights can be defined as the act of traveling abroad to specifically engage in indecent acts with a minor (under the age of 16, as stated in the Crimes (Child Sex Tourism) Amendment Act, 1994, Commonwealth). ... Over two million children are enslaved in the child sex trade. Instances occur predominantly in third-world countries (mostly Africa and Asia), mainly Taiwan, Cambodia, and Thailand, due to the very low costs (when compared internationally) of hiring children for sexual services.
A number of myths surround the motivation of a person who intentionally travels overseas with the intention of engaging in sexual acts with a child. Firstly, most people think that, while the act is illegal in their home country, it is considered acceptable in their destination country to hire child prostitutes and not be subject to the laws of their own country. Although this may be true for non-signatory and poorer nations, for first world countries, like Australia, it is a myth.
Australian legislation includes provisions for intra-familial abuse (which accounts for a large percentage of sexual abuse) whilst overseas, and aims to target those who: “assist, organize, or benefit from child sex tourism”. (Source – CST paper, AIC)
Another Myth lies with the belief that child sex tourism patrons are doing the child and its family a ‘favour’ by providing them with income in return for services. The most common destination for money obtained through child-sex is in the hands of the brothel owner (who may pay the child a small percentage of this, if any).
Many also believe that by having sex with a child rather than an adult, the risk of contracting diseases such as HIV or AIDS is considerably lower. ...
In reply to the question at hand, Australia has effectively implemented legislation and law-enforcement agencies in an attempt to combat the occurrence of both domestic and overseas child sex tourism.
Methodology – the research task
This research paper required an extensive amount of research into foreign, domestic and international measures that combat child sex tourism, as well as research into background information, specific cases, and various commentaries by respected individuals to assist in backing the points made in this paper. ... The media used during research were: the Internet, newspaper articles, and books (legal journals and publications). Each research method has both its good and bad points. ... As child sex tourism has only recently i. ...
A seen in the above paragraphs, each source type has both good and bad sides in regards to their uses. ... ) reliable) information on the Internet, I have chosen to collect the bulk of my information from the Internet, allowing me to collect a wide range of articles and research papers (both domestically and internationally) for researching the impact of child sex tourism globally and Australia’s response to the situation. ... Every nation has an obligation to respect and protect its residents’ human rights, as other nations have a responsibility to observe that these obligations are carried out. ... Social rights cover freedom of speech in Australia. ...
Sexual tourism is found to breach two of these types of rights: cultural rights and social rights.
Socially, child sex tourism severely disrupts the family unit, but can also come as a result of disruption to the family unit. The majority of child sex workers come from poorer, rural areas. Two common scenarios for a child in this situation are: the child is sold of ‘sacrificed’ to a brothel or child-trafficker for money that the family may use to survive, or the child is forced to move to the city to actively seek out clients, and send the money back home to their family which they acquire through providing sexual-services. ... In some Asian nations, a girl child is seen as ‘useless’ once she is no longer a virgin, as she will not be able to be married off. ...
Culturally, child sex tourism destroys the passage a child would take from childhood to adulthood, as well as changing the natural psychological development of the child. Child sex tourism is also a violation of societal values everywhere; in no society or culture is it acceptable for a child to sell them selves, be sold, or be exploited in any way, let alone sexually. This is why the Convention on the Rights of the Child is so widely accepted. It is one of the most supported sets of values ever created by the UN, and no such issue as ‘child sex tourism’ has ever conjured so much support.
In conclusion, it is clearly the social and cultural rights that are being violated when examining how child sex tourism affects the right of the child.
Child sex tourism and international law
The United Nations was created in 1945 to unite nations together, and find ways, through civilized discussion and debating, to better operate relations between the nation states of the world and find ways to fight the problems that’s concern all international citizens. ...
Major human rights treaties of the past have included: the Slavery Convention (1926), the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination (1966) the four Geneva Conventions on International Humanitarian law, which includes the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1949) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The latter two are the conventions that most effectively deal with the issue of child sex tourism, a violation of the ‘right for all children to be free from sexual abuse’. The issue is also raised in the Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution, and child pornography. ... Article 23 in Section One of the declaration states ‘Everyone has the right to work, and to free choice of employment’. The fact that many child sex workers are forced into this line of work, either by pimps or ‘sacrificed’ into the trade by the family, clearly violates this article. Many child sex workers receive very little money, if any, and are forced to live in abysmal conditions.
To a much larger and more specific extent, the International Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) is the international treaty that deals most effectively with the breach. It was found by the United Nation General Assembly that the Four Geneva Conventions were not sufficient in protecting the full rights of a child, who required additional/different provisions to that of an adult. ... Australia became a signatory nation on 16th January 1991; just over a year after was accepted by the United Nations.
The preamble of the Convention states that: “the child, by reason of his physical immaturity, needs special safeguards and care, including appropriate legal protection, both before and after birth” Concurrently, the preamble also recognizes that, in other human related conventions, the need has been expressed to “extend particular care to the child” (Source – Para. ...
Specifically, articles 34 and 35 deal in depth with child sex tourism, as well as other forms of sexual exploitation. Article 34 deals with the sexual side of the trade, while 35 prohibits the actual sale/abduction/trafficking of the children, which can be a factor in some instances of child sex tourism.
Also, the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography (25th May, 2000) was created to provide additional protection of children who are forced into prostitution. Articles 1-10 of the protocol all deal with child prostitution and exploitation. Article One sums up the meaning of the whole protocol: “States Parties shall prohibit the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography as provided for by the present Protocol” (Source – OPCRC, 2000)
COROC’s implementation is safeguarded by an organization of the United Nations named the Committee on the Rights of the Child, as is the Optional Protocol’s relating to child prostitution and children I armed conflict.
Approximate Word count = 7168
Approximate Pages = 28.7
(250 words per page double spaced)
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