Child Sex Tourism

What is child sex tourism ?

Child sex tourism (CST) is defined as the commercial sexual exploitation of children by individuals who travel outside of their province or country to have sexual relations with children less than 18 years of age.

CST usually affects children from disadvantaged backgrounds or from unstable environments.

There is no typical profile of abusers; they can be of any age and come from any social background. The majority of sex tourists are occasional criminals, coming from North America, Western Europe and Asia. They are travelling for any reason, e.g. work, leisure, humanitarian work. Sex tourists represent 10% of leisure and work travellers, and the main destinations are Thailand and Sri Lanka (which are the most known destinations for this type of tourism), but also increasingly in Latin American and Caribbean countries.

CST is an exchange of money, clothes or food as a counterpart for a sexual relation with a child, sometimes through a third party.

Sexual exploitation happens in various places, e.g. hotels, brothels, beaches, and in urban, rural, and coastal areas.

Sex tourism often encourages the use of services such as accommodation, transportation and other touristic services that facilitate the contact with children and allow for the tourist to remain anonymous within the local environment and population.

In some cases, the abuser builds a relationship with a vulnerable child, in order to gain his/her trust before exploiting him/her sexually. In other cases, the sex tourist buys sexual services directly from a third party that maintains the child in an exploitation position and puts him/her at the disposition of the tourist.

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