Sri Lanka has become notorious as a destination for pedophiles (people who are sexually attracted to children) along with Thailand, the Philippines, Taiwan and
Vietnam.
The estimated number of young Sri Lankan boys (aged between 6-14) who have been victimized by foreign pedophiles is in the region of 10,000-15,000 (United Nations Children`s Fund - UNICEF) with some reports claiming up to 30,000 (End Child Prostitution in Asian Tourism - ECPAT). This situation however is not confined to boys alone.
In a study conducted by Department of Sociology - University of Colombo confirms the increase in demand for young girls by both female and male pedophiles into this highly organized lucrative trade. It is a form of organized crime, advertised in pedophile magazines and promoted by some travel agents.
Moreover our paradise isle has also been established as a safe haven for the production of child pornography.
There is no distinct profile of a pedophile. They may be married or single from all walks of life - from prominent doctors and
lawyers, to teachers and policemen.
It is widely acknowledged that most children involved come from marginalized communities in Sri Lanka, where they live in very low-income households. They are easy prey not only for the pedophile but for the agent, often an older boy no longer wanted for sexual gratification because of his maturing years, who with the promise of money or material goods, goes in search of younger boys to put an offer or to fulfill a request.
What is also disturbing is that a growing number of boys engaged in these trades are not from poor families. For them it is more of a part time activity, whilst attending school, without the knowledge of their parents.
In the Sri Lankan context to use the term `prostitute` to describe the occupation of these children is misleading, for they are `consenting partners` to a homosexual relationship and willing to lend themselves to sexual abuse for money and goods, promises of jobs and a life abroad with their lovers. Only 3% (PEACE, a well known child rights organization in Sri Lanka) of such victims achieve their dreams.
The implication of such an occupation is not realized either by the victims or their approving parents (in the case of low income households). For a country that has a literacy rate of 88% (
World Bank Development Report 1994) this is indeed amazing.
The efforts of premature sex is damaging for children despite the widely held belief by pedophiles that children are at lower risk from the HIV/Aids virus. Children are in fact more susceptible to contracting HIV/Aids because their bodies are less developed.
Children are the future of any country and the improvement of their lives is the key to all development. In poor countries like ours, children are economically and socially exposed and thus easily manipulated. Child prostitution has been largely eradicated by classifying it a criminal offence in the West for it to flourish unchecked in the rest of the world is an indictment of the value placed on the lives of children in the East.
Clearly, it is an issue with both moral and social implications - moral in that the rights of millions of children are deliberately abused social in that no nation can truly hope to develop if it squanders its most valuable resource - its youth.
