[Nasional-e] Bali child-sex hotspot fears grow

[Holy Uncle]

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/National/story_44838.asp

Bali child-sex hotspot fears grow


Bali is shaping up as a child-sex hotspot as conventional tourists flee the 
island after last year's bomb blasts, child advocates warned.

An international report by End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and 
Trafficking in Children (ECPAT), due to be officially launched in Bangkok 
next week, also warns of growing child prostitution in Sri Lanka and India.

Bernadette McMenamin, national director of Child Wise, ECPAT's sister 
organisation in Australia, told AAP that western nations needed to do more 
to combat the problem of child sexual exploitation.

Particular problem areas in the region included Bali and East Timor.

Ms McMenamin said child sex prostitution had been a problem in Bali for a 
greater part of the last century but the tourism fallout from the terrorist 
blasts in Kuta could exacerbate it.

"There's been an incredible denial around Bali ... but it is an issue," she 
said.

"We're dealing with cases that involve paedophile rings and a whole range of 
different types of child sexual exploitation in Bali by foreigners.

"Now with the vulnerability of Bali, there's a lot of poverty, there's a lot 
of children on the streets."

In the wake of the October 12 bombings, Australians cancelled their holidays 
to Bali in droves, with the island now looking at attractions to lure 
tourists back.

"I would say that sex tourism to Bali is a growing concern," Ms McMenamin 
said.

East Timor was another vulnerable destination due to the poverty.

Ms McMenamin applauded the Australian government's pro-active approach to 
the issue, which included the setting up a trans-national sexual crimes 
squad.

"We are making a difference, in 10 years I've seen an enormous difference," 
she said.

"But I can't say we're reducing the problem per se, it's taken on so many 
different manifestations with the child pornography industry growing, 
fuelled by the internet.

"What we're doing is not enough anywhere but what Australia is doing is a 
lot more that America or the UK or most European countries."



İAAP 2003

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