C S E C The Commercial Sexual
Exploitation of Children In the early years of the 21st Century, 2000 to
2025 gvnet.com/childprostitution/Kiribati.htm
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CAUTION: The following links
and accompanying text have been culled from the web to illuminate the
situation in Kiribati. 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. HOW TO USE THIS WEBPAGE Students If you are looking
for material to use in a term-paper, you are advised to scan the postings on
this page and others to see which aspects of child prostitution are of
particular interest to you. You might
be interested in exploring how children got started, how they survive, and
how some succeed in leaving. Perhaps
your paper could focus on runaways and the abuse that led to their
leaving. Other factors of interest
might be poverty, rejection, drug dependence, coercion, violence, addiction,
hunger, neglect, etc. On the other
hand, you might choose to write about the manipulative and dangerous adults
who control this activity. There is a
lot to the subject of Child Prostitution.
Scan other countries as well as this one. Draw comparisons between activity in
adjacent countries and/or regions.
Meanwhile, check out some of the Term-Paper resources
that are available on-line. Teachers Check out some of
the Resources
for Teachers attached to this website. ***
FEATURED ARTICLE *** Pacific Island
children risk sex abuse Pacific Island News
Association (Fiji) Pacnews, Wellington, 15 December
2006 lyris.spc.int/read/messages?id=51271 [accessed 6 October
2012] Children in Pacific
Island countries are at high risk of being traded for sex by family members
and friends, a United Nations study has found, Stuff
NZ reports. The report from studies in
five Pacific Island countries found an alarming degree of sexual abuse and
sexual exploitation of children and that "children are most at risk in
their homes and communities and with people they know and trust". The report, by the
UN Children's Fund Pacific, the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia
and the Pacific and End Child Prostitution, and Child Pornography and
Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes, is based on studies in 2004 and
2005 in Fiji, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. The report in its
summary said the five studies confirmed that in each country children were
sexually abused by family members and neighbours,
and that child prostitution, child pornography, early marriage, child sex
tourism and trafficking occurred. ***
ARCHIVES *** ECPAT Perceptions
of Frontline Welfare Workers on the Sexual Exploitation of Children in the
Pacific
[PDF] Rosalind Fennell,
ECPAT International, June 2019 [accessed 1
September 2020] In 2019, ECPAT
International conducted a detailed survey that targeted Pacific region welfare
workers directly managing a range of cases with children. Frontline staff in
Fiji, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Tonga, Samoa and Kiribati
were identified by local experts and supported to complete an online survey.
The main objective was to collect new data that helps describe a nuanced
picture of how sexual exploitation of children (SEC) is occurring within
Pacific communities and how it is presenting to those working on the welfare
frontline. Human
Rights Reports » 2019 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices U.S. Dept of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and
Labor, March 10, 2020 www.state.gov/reports/2019-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/kiribati/ [accessed 1
September 2020] SEXUAL
EXPLOITATION OF CHILDREN - The law prohibits the procurement of any girl younger
than 18 for the purpose of prostitution and prohibits using a child of either
gender younger than 15 for prostitution. In both cases the maximum penalty is
two years in prison. The minimum age for consensual sex is 15. Sexual
relations with a girl younger than 13 carry a maximum penalty of life
imprisonment, and sexual relations with a girl ages 13 to 14 carry a maximum
penalty of five years in prison. The victim’s consent is not a permissible
defense under either provision; however, in the latter case, reasonable
belief the victim was 15 or older is a permissible defense. While this
provision applies only to female children, male-on-male sexual exploitation
of children can be prosecuted under provisions against “unnatural” offenses
(which cover both male and female victims) and as acts of “gross indecency
between males,” with maximum penalties of 14 and five years in prison,
respectively. The penal code has no specific provision concerning child
pornography. Anecdotal
information from local government and nongovernment sources suggested that a
small number of underage girls were among groups of women alleged to engage
in commercial sex with crewmembers from foreign fishing vessels. 2018 Findings on
the Worst Forms of Child Labor Office of Child
Labor, Forced Labor, and Human Trafficking, Bureau of International Labor Affairs,
US Dept of Labor, 2019 www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/ILAB/child_labor_reports/tda2018/ChildLaborReportBook.pdf [accessed 1
September 2020] Note:: Also check out this country’s report in the more recent edition DOL
Worst Forms of Child Labor [page 686] During the
reporting period, evidence indicated that a small number of underage girls
were allegedly engaged in commercial sexual exploitation with crewmembers
from foreign fishing vessels. In exchange, the girls received cash, alcohol,
food, and goods. (4) Additionally, the government did not collect or publish
data on child labor in 2018. Kiribati’s penal
code does not criminalize the use, procurement, or offering of children for
pornography or pornographic performances. Kiribati’s penal code also does not
criminalize the use of children for prostitution and does not criminalize the
procurement or offering of boys ages 15-18 for prostitution. (6,8) Concluding
Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) UN Convention on the
Rights of the Child, 29 September 2006 www1.umn.edu/humanrts/crc/kiribati2006.html [accessed 6 October
2012] [60] The Committee is concerned at the
reported increase in commercial sexual exploitation of children in Kiribati. Prostitution and
Pacific fishing Ben Bohane Greenpeace International, Kiribati, October 13,
2006 www.greenpeace.org/international/en/news/features/fish-and-sex-trade131006/ [accessed 10 June
2011] KORAKOREA GIRLS - There is no law against
prostitution in Kiribati, which was highlighted recently when 80 girls were
rounded up and brought before a local court before being released. Yet there
is growing concern that Kiribati maybe breaching international conventions on
child protection since many of the girls are only 14 and 15 years of age.
UNICEF is preparing to release a damning document relating to underage
prostitution in several Pacific countries, including Kiribati. KATHY - One girl
involved in the trade, "Kathy", claims girls as young as 12 are
involved. "I know about
one 12 year old girl who was taken out to a fishing boat by her aunty and she
has disappeared. Her family are very worried since she has been missing now
for 4 months". Kathy is a pretty
21 year old girl who lives with her father, an unemployed former government
worker, in a crowded settlement near the Betio port
on south Tarawa. She claims there are many local girls involved in the trade
and they all have different motivations. "It all
depends because some they really need money to support their families with
food, so they feel some pressure. Other girls need money to buy drinks for
themselves and friends when they want to go out to the bars". Kathy says that
even though their have been crackdowns by local authorities the girls are not
scared of getting caught by police because "their family are supporting
them". ‘Ugly Koreans’
Continue Sordid Antics in South Seas Editorial, The Chosunilbo, 2 26,
2007 english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2007/02/26/2007022661023.html [accessed 10 June
2011] After a
fact-finding visit to the South Pacific island nation of Kiribati, the
National Youth Commission revealed that Korean fishermen had not stopped
buying sex from young girls there. It’s been two years since the commission
paid a visit to Kiribati after child prostitution there grabbed international
attention. During their latest trip, seven out of 24 female prostitutes the
commission met were between 14 to 18 years of age. Report on the
Pacific Regional Workshop on Combating Poverty and Commercial Sexual
Exploitation of Children and Youth [PDF] Inter-Agency Group
(IAG) consisting of ESCAP, UNICEF-EAPRO and ECPAT International, Nadi Fijii, 15-19 September, 2003 Click [here]
for more information. The URL is not displayed because of its length www.unescap.org/esid/GAD/Issues/CSEC/Pacific_Regional_Consultation_report_Sept2003.pdf [accessed 10 June
2011] [p.40] KIRIBATI -
CSEC -
There have been reported cases of CSEC in Kiribati. Two nightclubs operating
on Tarawa are known to have used young girls for business promotional
purposes and the Social Welfare Division suspects that Korean fishing vessels
may be involved in CSEC. Commercial Sexual
Exploitation of Children (CSEC) and Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) in the Pacific:
A Regional Report [PDF] UNICEF, UNESCAP and
ECPAT, 2006 www.unicef.org/eapro/Pacific_CSEC_report.pdf [accessed 10 June
2011] 3.2 TYPES AND
PATTERNS OF CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE - The Kiribati study reported that there were
more than 15 cases of “defilement” (sexual intercourse with a girl under 13)
between 1999 and 2004, with four cases of child rape and one attempted child
rape between May and September 2000. Gender and HIV/AIDS
in the Asia and Pacific Region [PDF] Emerging Social
Issues Division of UNESCAP, ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMISSION FOR ASIA AND THE
PACIFIC, Gender and Development, Discussion paper Series No. 18, December
2005 www.wunrn.com/news/2006/02_05_06/020906_gender_hiv.pdf [accessed 6 October
2012] [p.7] B. PACIFIC
ISLANDS
- Korea’s National Youth Commission has interviewed residents in Kiribati,
Korean fishermen, and others in collaboration with End Child Prostitution,
Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes'
(ECPAT)-Korea, and found several underage sex workers in the bars solicited
by the fishermen. ***
EARLIER EDITIONS OF SOME OF THE ABOVE *** The Department of Labor’s 2005 Findings on
the Worst Forms of Child Labor [PDF] U.S. Dept of Labor
Bureau of International Labor Affairs, 2006 www.dol.gov/ilab/media/reports/iclp/tda2005/tda2005.pdf [accessed 28
November 2010] Note:: Also check out this country’s report in the more recent edition DOL
Worst Forms of Child Labor CHILD LABOR LAWS
AND ENFORCEMENT -
The Penal Code criminalizes the procurement of minors under
15 years of age for the purpose of sexual relations and establishes a penalty
of 2 years of imprisonment for such offenses. The Penal Code also bans
parents or guardians from prostituting children under 15 years old. Child
labor laws are enforced by the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Employment. Human Rights
Reports » 2006 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices U.S. Dept of
State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, March 6, 2007 2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2006/78776.htm [accessed 9 February 2020] CHILDREN
-
UNICEF and other international NGOs identified child prostitution as a
problem. Specifically, workers on foreign fishing vessels often exploited
underage girls. A study conducted in June 2005 by the National Youth
Commission of the Republic of Korea and a Korea-based children's rights
group, and a regional report on commercial sexual exploitation of children in
the Pacific published during the year by UNICEF, both highlighted commercial
sexual exploitation of underage girls by crew members of foreign fishing
vessels that stopped in Kiribati. The reports estimated that approximately 20
to 80 girls were involved in such prostitution. Some of the girls worked as
prostitutes in bars frequented by crewmembers, and local I-Kiribati often acted
as facilitators, delivering girls to the boats. According to the reports the
girls generally received cash, food, or goods in exchange for sexual
services. The lack of a legal ban on prostitution hindered police efforts to
stem the practice, which continued. During the year the government, with
assistance from UNICEF and other NGOs, was working on a national plan to
combat child prostitution and child sexual abuse. All
material used herein reproduced under the fair use exception of 17 USC § 107 for
noncommercial, nonprofit, and educational use. PLEASE RESPECT COPYRIGHTS OF COMPONENT
ARTICLES. Cite this webpage as: Patt,
Prof. Martin, "Child Prostitution - Kiribati",
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