By RAHUL BEDI,
New
Delhi
Foreign sex tourists, who for years have preyed on youngsters in south-east Asia, are believed to be switching to India because of its lax laws, cheap and abundant child prostitutes and a reportedly lower incidence of AIDS.
Of an estimated one million child prostitutes in Asia, India - with guesstimates ranging from 300,000 to 500,000 - is said to have the most. Government tourism officials admit that the small western state of Goa, famous for its beaches, is in danger of replacing Bangkok as Asia's prime sex resort.
Hundreds of foreign men from Europe, North America and Australasia have been arrested, but most offenders escape prosecution. Bail is easy to obtain in such cases, and bribe-taking among police officers is common. The problem was first highlighted in 1990 when an Anglo-Indian who ran an orphanage in Goa was arrested for allegedly supplying children to British, French, German, Swiss and Scandinavian tourists. He was freed on bail and the case has still not gone to court.
Since then, tougher laws have been passed in countries renowned for their sex bazaars, such as Thailand and the Philippines. In the latter, there has even been talk of imposing the death sentence for child sex abuse. Sri Lanka has also moved to crack down on the problem. This has all contributed to an expansion of the child-sex industry in India. Lawyer Sona Khan, who is campaigning against the menace, says child trafficking is an organised racket, about which there is little concern.
She wants the authorities to pass stricter laws to counter the growing problem before it reaches epidemic proportions.
"The state should also launch public-awareness programmes and empower local bodies to take action against those exploiting children for sex," says Khan. Poverty and illiteracy fuel the problem. Many children are lured away from their villages by vice rings, often with the connivance of poor parents. They end up in the beach resorts of Goa and Kerala, to the south, where drugs such as hashish and heroin are also available cheaply - providing an added attraction to foreigners.
The story is much the same on the east coast. Furious clerics in Purl blamed the widespread evil of child prostitution for provoking holy wrath when the roof of Lord Jagannatha's temple caved in. The priests, who said the Hindu god had shown his anger over the "despicable levels" to which local morals had sunk, forced police to arrest ringleaders in the vice racket. But the handful of people picked up were freed on bail, and disappeared before court proceedings could begin. An Orissa state official doubted whether the overburdened police force would pursue the case with diligence.
Social workers in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, found a number of local girls could speak some French, Spanish, German and English, although they could not sign their names in Tamil. They had picked up the languages from tourist clients. Most child prostitutes serve local men, says the Coalition on Child Prostitution and Tourism. Many Indian men believe that having sex with a pre-pubescent girl will cure sexually-transmitted disease.
The Coalition, which is the British branch of the international organisation ECPAT (End Child Prostitution in Asian Tourism), is urging the London government to follow the lead of 12 other countries in legislating to enable the prosecution of nationals at home for sexual offences committed against children overseas.
Anne Badger, the Coalition's campaign coordinator, says the problem often arises in poor countries seeking to take advantage of a hot climate to develop tourism.
"India's economic policy of liberalisation has been encouraging the promotion of tourism," she says. "At the same time, this policy, together with International Monetary Fund-imposed structural adjustment policies have not, it has been argued, been seen to benefit those in need. Prostituted children are usually, but not exclusively, from the more vulnerable sectors of society."Authorities are often reluctant to take action to deter tourists, says Badger. But they can be pressed to toughen legislation and law-enforcement, as in the case of south-east Asian states. In recent months, ECPAT has set up three branches in India with the help of local campaigners seeking to fight the menace.
India and other United Nations governments will be represented in August at the World Congress Against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children, hosted by Sweden and organised by ECPAT and various UN bodies. The Congress aims to adopt a declaration and approve a plan of action to counter the problem, protect children's rights and help rehabilitate those who have been abused.
Copyright: News-Scan lntemational Ltd (1996) 19/3