C S E C The Commercial Sexual
Exploitation of Children In the early years of the 21st Century, 2000 to
2025 gvnet.com/childprostitution/Mauritius.htm
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CAUTION: The following links
and accompanying text have been culled from the web to illuminate the
situation in 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 *** Protection Project
Country Report [DOC] The Paul H. www.protectionproject.org/human_rights_reports/report_documents/mauritius.doc [accessed 2009] FORMS
OF TRAFFICKING
- Prostitution is rampant in ***
ARCHIVES *** ECPAT - Report on
the scale, scope and context of the sexual exploitation of children [PDF] Kevin Ryu and Maria Ibañez Beltran,
ECPAT International, June 2019 www.ecpat.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Mauritius-ECPAT-Country-Overview-Mauritius-July-2019.pdf [accessed 25 August
2020] Desk review of
existing information on the sexual exploitation of children (SEC) in
Mauritius, Africa. The overview gathers existing publicly available
information on sexual exploitation of children in travel and tourism (SECTT),
online child sexual exploitation (OCSE), trafficking of children for sexual
purposes, sexual exploitation of children through prostitution, child early
and forced marriage (CEFM) and identifies gaps, research needs, and
recommendations. 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/mauritius/ [accessed 3
September 2020] SEXUAL
EXPLOITATION OF CHILDREN - The law prohibits child pornography and provides for
a maximum penalty of 20 years’ imprisonment and a fine not exceeding 100,000
rupees ($2,747) for each offense. The law prohibits all forms of child sex
trafficking and provides for a maximum penalty of 30 years’ imprisonment. The
minimum age for consensual sex is 16. The penalty for rape is imprisonment
for up to 20 years and a fine not exceeding 200,000 rupees ($5,494). In
addition, the Judicial Provisions Act of 2008 prescribes punishment for child
trafficking offenses of up to 30 years’ imprisonment. The government
assisted victims of child abuse by offering counseling at a drop-in center in
Port Louis and referring victims to government-supported NGO shelters. Both medical
treatment and psychological support were available at public clinics and NGO
centers. 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 3
September 2020] Note:: Also check out this country’s report in the more recent edition DOL
Worst Forms of Child Labor [page 789] Some children in Mauritius
are brought into commercial sexual exploitation by their peers or family
members, or through fraudulent offers of other employment. (1,3,8) In 2018, the Child
Development Unit trained 17 newly recruited officers on investigating reports
of commercial sexual exploitation of children. (37) In addition, the police’s
Family Protection Unit and Minors’ Brigade conducted more than 110 outreach
campaigns on the dangers and consequences of engaging in child sex
trafficking, which reached more than 31,000 people. (3) Concluding
Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) UN Convention on the
Rights of the Child, 11 October 1996 www1.umn.edu/humanrts/crc/mauritius1996.html [accessed 1 March
2011] [18] The Committee
is concerned by the reported increase in child abuse, including infanticide,
domestic violence and child prostitution and the lack of adequate measures
for the psycho-social recovery of child victims of such abuse. Concluding
Observations of the Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights International
Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, 1996 www1.umn.edu/humanrts/esc/mauritius1996.html [accessed 19
September 2011] [245] The Committee
recommends an in-depth study and analysis of the situation of child abuse,
child prostitution, domestic violence against women, teenage pregnancy,
abortion, suicide, and alcohol and drug abuse, and of how the State party can
best protect and ensure the economic, social and cultural rights of the
population of Mauritius affected by those problems. In this regard, the State
party should, inter alia, initiate efforts to gather statistics and
other information relevant to the situation. Young boys sold for
sex www.defimedia.info/articles/6019/1/Young-boys-sold-for-sex/Page1.html [Last access date
unavailable] The problem of
child prostitution in Five Years After ECPAT: Fifth Report
on implementation of the Agenda for Action ECPAT International,
November 2001 www.no-trafficking.org/content/web/05reading_rooms/five_years_after_stockholm.pdf [accessed 13
September 2011] [B]
COUNTRY UPDATES – ECPAT: What Makes
Children Vulnerable to Sexual Exploitation? ECPAT International www.info-avec.org/en/content/view/35/5/ [accessed 15
September 2011] DISCRIMINATION
/ ETHNICITY
- In a study conducted in 2000 by the Ministry of Women, Family Welfare and
Child Development in Worst
Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 Report of the
Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations webfusion.ilo.org/public/db/standards/normes/appl/appl-displaycomment.cfm?hdroff=1&ctry=1370&year=2003&type=R&conv=C182&lang=EN [accessed 19 June
2011] ARTICLE 3 CLAUSE (b) - A second study in 2001, commissioned by UNICEF and the Ministry of Women’s Rights, Child Development and Family Welfare, which revealed that there are more than 2,600 children and 3,900 adults involved in prostitution. Based on the findings and recommendations of the report of the second study, a two-year National Plan of Action has been prepared by the Government focusing on the four recommendations made at the first world conference on CSEC held in Stockholm in 1996, namely: (i) coordination and cooperation; (ii) prevention; (iii) protection; and (iv) reintegration. List of issues to
be taken up in connection with the consideration of the second periodic
report of the CRC/C/65/Add.35 At one time this
article had been archived and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 15
September 2011] SEXUAL EXPLOITATION AND
SEXUAL ABUSE
- Sexual exploitation of Children is covered mostly by the provisions of the
Child Protection Act and the Criminal Act. A study on Commercial Sexual
Exploitation of Children (CSEC) in Contemporary Forms
Of Slavery Report of the
Secretary-General on the implementation of the Program of Action for the
Prevention of the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography,
submitted pursuant to Sub-Commission resolution 1998/19- 2003 At one time this
article had been archived and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 19 June
2011] - It is estimated
that there are more than 2,600 children and 3,900 adults involved in
prostitution. (They come from both rural and urban areas and form
the main ethnic groups in - The underlying
causes of CSEC are broken families, sexual abuse within and outside the
family, early school dropouts, substance abuse and the negative influence of
the family environment and peers; - Monthly income of
the majority of the families of young victims of CSEC is less than Rs 5,000; - 13.5 per cent of
the children covered in the study had become child mothers, over one third of
them had had an abortion and 62.5 per cent of the children had a family
member or close relation working as a sex worker, in particular, their own
mother; - 96 per cent of
young prostitutes engage in sexual relations at a very early age of their
life and many of them have had sex for the first time with their boyfriends.
More than 57 per cent of the children had their first sexual experience in
return for a gift or money; -CSEC takes place at nightclubs, hotels,
brothels, apartments/bungalows, residence of pimps or pensions. Taxi
drivers and hotel employees are involved in the prostitution network and act
as procurers for tourists. Mobile phones are the means of
communication for making arrangements from where vulnerable children are
spotted and recruited. It also appears that the tentacles of the
network extend to schools; - The money paid to
victims varies from Rs 400 per hour or Rs 3,000 per day and Rs 700 to Rs 4,000 per night; - The majority of
clients are local people, although young prostitutes do have foreign tourists
as clients (19.8 per cent) and 20.5 per cent of the children work under
leaders, 51 per cent of whom are men; - The majority of
children involved in prostitution have been to school, but more than 57 per
cent of them dropped out of school at grade 6. This deprived them
of opportunities of employment and restricted their options in life; -There is a correlation between drug abuse
and prostitution. Over 25 per cent of the children had taken drugs
at some time or other and 12.5 per cent were in the habit of taking drugs; - Symptoms of
reproductive tract infection are quite common among child
victims. Certain vital facts about AIDS are unknown to children
and a sizeable section of them do not even know that AIDS is incurable. Consideration
of Reports submitted by States Parties under article 18 of the Convention on
the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
[DOC] UN Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women CEDAW, 19 January
2005 www.bayefsky.com/reports/mauritius_cedaw_c_mar_3_5_2004.doc [accessed 19 June
2011] Article 6: Exploitation of Women [2] Following the findings
of the CSEC report a High Level Steering Committee has been set up. It is
monitoring the implementation of a National Plan of Action (NPA) on the
Protection of Children against Sexual Abuse including Sexual exploitation of
Children in Mauritius, in order to eliminate CSEC and to protect CSEC victims
and ensure their recovery and integration in society. The NPA covers a 2-year
period, starting February 2003, and its objective is to ensure the protection
of children from any form of abuse as well as the creation of a conducive environment within the family and the civil
society. Consequently, the NPA is based on the four components of the Agenda
of Action Against CSEC adopted at ***
EARLIER EDITIONS OF SOME OF THE ABOVE *** ECPAT Global
Monitoring Report on the status of action against commercial exploitation of
children - MAURITIUS [PDF] ECPAT International,
2007 www.ecpat.net/A4A_2005/PDF/AF/Global_Monitoring_Report-MAURITIUS.pdf [accessed 19 June
2011] According to a 2003
study conducted by the The Department of Labor’s 2004 Findings on
the Worst Forms of Child Labor www.dol.gov/ilab/media/reports/iclp/tda2004/mauritius.htm [accessed 20
February 2011] Note:: Also check out this country’s report in the more recent edition DOL
Worst Forms of Child Labor INCIDENCE
AND NATURE OF CHILD LABOR - Human Rights
Reports » 2005 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61582.htm [accessed 10
February 2020] CHILDREN
- Child
prostitution was a problem, and the government targeted the practice as a law
enforcement and prevention priority. There were reports that some
schoolgirls, independent of third party involvement, engaged in prostitution
for spending money. TRAFFICKING IN
PERSONS
– There were reports that children were trafficked within the country for
child prostitution. There were reports that some schoolgirls worked in
conjunction with prostitution rings or family members. The government
continued a five-year action plan to combat child prostitution, and the
Ministry of Women, Child Development, and Family Welfare ran a hotline for
reporting cases of child prostitution. Government officials and agencies in
the Ministry of Women's Rights, in the Attorney General's office, and in the
police department sought ways to prevent and prosecute child prostitution.
NGOs and the government drop-in center provided shelters, counseling, and
education for victims of child prostitution. 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 - |
