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Child Prostitution The Commercial Sexual
Exploitation of Children In the early years of the 21st
Century 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. ***
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 *** 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] 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 www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2006/78776.htm [accessed
17 February 2011] 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. 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. 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. 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. 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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