NCJ Number
198163
Journal
Indian Police Journal Volume: 47 Issue: 4 Dated: October-December 2000 Pages: 66-72
Date Published
October 2000
Length
7 pages
Annotation
This article discusses the need for international cooperation to combat child prostitution.
Abstract
Child abuse is a secret sex crime in which the offender is in a dominant position and the victim's complaints are not taken seriously because of the stigma attached to this crime. Consequently, victims suffer high risk of severe psychological impairment. Child prostitution, which is the worst form of child abuse, is flourishing in several parts of the world. It has become an organized crime in which a number of tourist groups are also involved. The problem of child abuse is out in the open now after decades of what amounted to a conspiracy of silence. The World Congress Against Commercial Exploitation of Children, held in Sweden in 1996, put the issue on the world's agenda for the first time. The National Human Rights Commission, the National Commission for Women, and UNICEF have also initiated steps to counter this evil in selected areas, in conjunction with governmental agencies. The media have also played a positive role in this regard. Only the police seem to have lagged behind. The author suggests that the least the police could do is to treat this evil as a transnational organized crime akin to drug trafficking.