Human Trafficking in  [Myanmar (Burma)]  [other countries]
Street Children in  [Myanmar (Burma)]  [other countries]
Child Prostitution in  [Myanmar (Burma)]  [other countries]
 

Child Prostitution

The Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children

Union of Myanmar (Burma)                                             [ Country-by-Country Reports ]

The Union of Myanmar [map] is one of the largest countries in South East Asia.  Ethnically diverse, Myanmar is a nation of many races - some 130 ethnic groups make up its population of nearly 45 million.  It is bounded by Bangladesh, India, and the Bay of Bengal (W); by China (N & NE); by Laos and Thailand (E); and by the Andaman Sea (S).  Its capital and largest city is Yangon (Rangoon).  Burma is a resource-rich country that suffers from government controls, inefficient economic policies, and abject rural poverty.  The junta took steps in the early 1990s to liberalize the economy after decades of failure under the "Burmese Way to Socialism", but those efforts have since stalled and some of the liberalization measures have been rescinded.

 

CAUTION:  The following links and accompanying text have been culled from the web to illuminate the situation in Burma.  Some of these links may lead to websites that present allegations that are unsubstantiated, misleading or even false.   No attempt has been made to validate their authenticity or to verify their content.

National Plan of Action

Bur of Democracy, Human Rights & Labor - Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2005

CHILDREN - Child prostitution and trafficking in girls for the purpose of prostitution‑‑especially Shan girls who were sent or lured to Thailand‑‑continued to be a major problem. In Rangoon and Mandalay, diplomatic representatives noted widespread employment of female prostitutes who appeared to be in their early teens and for whom there was reportedly a high demand. Additionally, some brothels offered young teenage "virgins" to their customers for a substantial additional fee. The June 2004 UN Committee on the Rights of the Child report commented: "The committee is concerned over the increasing number of child victims of sexual exploitation, including prostitution and pornography, especially among those engaged in child labor and street children. Concern is also expressed at the programs for the physical and psychological recovery and social reintegration of child victims of such abuse and exploitation which remain insufficient and inadequate.”

Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) - 1997

[24] The Committee expresses its regret that insufficient measures are being taken to address the problems of child abuse, including sexual abuse, and the sale and trafficking of children, child prostitution and child pornography.  It is especially concerned by the fact that a significant number of girls, and sometimes boys, are victims of transnational trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation in brothels across the border.

[25] In light of article 39 of the Convention, the Committee is worried about the insufficient measures taken to provide physical and psychological recovery and social reintegration to children victims of any form of neglect, abuse and/or exploitation, particularly victims of armed conflicts, sexual exploitation and child labor.

Child prostitutes available at $100 a night: the human cost of junta's repression

This is a side of life the Burmese military junta might prefer you did not see: girls who appear to be 13 and 14 years old paraded in front of customers at a nightclub where a beauty contest thinly veils child prostitution. Tottering in stiletto heels and miniskirts, young teenage girls criss-crossed the dance-floor as part of a nightly "modelling" show at the Asia Entertainment City nightclub on a recent evening in Rangoon.

Prostitution, particularly involving children, is a serious crime in military-ruled Burma, but girls taken from the club would have no problem with the authorities, the waiter assured the company, but did not explain why not.  It would seem that prostitution is one of the few things the Burmese military, fresh from its recent crushing of pro-democracy demonstrations by Buddhist monks, is still willing to tolerate.

The Protection Project - Myanmar

FORMS OF TRAFFICKING - Women and children are trafficked from Myanmar to Thailand primarily for the purpose of prostitution. Most of the victims are kept in Thai brothels.  An estimated 20,000 to 30,000 Myanmar women and girls are prostituted in Thailand; however, in 2002, it was estimated that 10,000 women and children from Myanmar enter into prostitution in Thailand every year alone. In fact, women and children from Myanmar constitute the largest number of migrants forced or lured into prostitution in Thailand. 

Reportedly, Myanmar women and girls are commonly sold to Chinese men as mail-order brides and for the purpose of forced marriage. More than 100 Myanmar women are reported to be living in the Chinese province of Anhwei alone, where they are exploited by their Chinese husbands sexually and forced to work on farms and as housemaids.

ECPAT: Fifth Report on implementation of the Agenda for Action [DOC]

[B] COUNTRY UPDATES – MYANMAR – The Government of Myanmar is not participating in the UN Inter-Agency Project on Trafficking in Women and Children in the Mekong Sub-Region. However, trafficking victims from Myanmar have been repatriated with the help of international organizations such as the IOM.

Report by Special Rapporteur [DOC]

[57] Following ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Child Law was promulgated in 1993 and a National Committee on the Rights of the Child was formed the same year.  Under the Child Law, a “child” means a person up to the age of 16, and a “youth” is aged between 16 and 18.  Prostitution involving children comes under section 66 of the Child Law which criminalizes those who allow girls under 16 and under guardianship to earn a livelihood by prostitution, or who permit a child under their guardianship to live with or consort with a person who earns a livelihood by prostitution.  There have been no prosecutions in Myanmar related to child prostitution.

Written statement on item 13. Rights of the child

According to the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO), many prostitutes working in Mon State in Myanmar are under the age of 18. In interviews gathered for their website UNPO quotes a business man as saying that “about 30 percent of [prostitutes] are children”. He also added that in Ye Township alone, there are over ten brothels, each of which approximately has about 8 prostitutes working, where men can easily buy alcohol and sex at a cost of 5-10 dollars (5,000-10,000 Kyats).

New Global Treaty to Combat "Sex Slavery" of Women and Girls

Legal experts are putting the final touches on a landmark international treaty that would take nations a huge step forward in the fight against trafficking in women and children.  For many trafficked women and girls, forced prostitution has proved fatal, leaving them with the HIV virus, which causes AIDS.  Human Rights Watch recently interviewed 19 women and girls from Myanmar who had been trafficked into Thailand.  Some 14 were found to be infected with the dreaded disease.

Sacrifice - The Story of Child Prostitutes from Burma

The 50-minute film Sacrifice examines the social, cultural, and economic forces at work in the trafficking of Burmese girls into prostitution in Thailand. It is the story of the valuation and sale of human beings, and the efforts of teenage girls to survive a personal crisis born of economic and political repression.

New Weapons Against Child Trafficking In Asia

In recent years, large numbers of children from Cambodia, China, Laos and Myanmar have been forced to work as prostitutes in Thailand. Both girls and boys from poor rural areas are lured by professional recruiters and traffickers with promises of legitimate jobs in Thailand's booming economy. The trafficking routes are well known, but are difficult to close down. Girls from Myanmar are brought into Thailand through various border checkpoints.

Trafficking of Burmese Women and Children into Thailand

Many thousands of women and children from Myanmar are lured, abducted or sold into brothels in Thailand.  They are bartered at prices that vary depending on their age, beauty and virginity.  Women and children who have been trafficked can rarely escape, and are victims of exploitation.  While it is true that heavy trafficking of persons, particularly women, has taken place from the Shan State in Myanmar for an extended period, the present situation sees women from all over Myanmar being lured into prostitution because of economic difficulties.

Statistical Dimension of Sexual Exploitation of Children

In 1996, there were almost 200,000 foreign children from Burma, Laos and Cambodia who had been trafficked into Thailand for prostitution and work at construction sites and sweatshops.  The number of Burmese women and girls traveling to Thailand through Mae Sai to enter the sex industry is increasing.  60% of them are under 18 years of age.

8.3  Policies and Implementations at the National Level

(3) MYANMAR

First, Education and Vocational Training for Children and Women

Second, Set up Strict Regulations in Controlling Legal Women Migration

Third, Plan of Organizing a Committee Suppressing Trafficking in Children and Women

Fourth, Response to the Problem of AIDS Spreading

Fifth, Rehabilitation Activities

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Human Trafficking in  [Myanmar (Burma)]  [other countries]
Street Children in  [Myanmar (Burma)]  [other countries]
Child Prostitution in  [Myanmar (Burma)]  [other countries]