Submitted by crinadmin on
Summary: The South Asia regional consultation evaluated progress made in this region since the First World Congress against the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (held SUMMARY REPORT SOUTH ASIA REGIONAL CONSULTATION FOCAL POINT ON SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF CHILDREN INTRODUCTION The South Asia Regional consultation on Sexual Exploitation of The upcoming Second World Congress against the Commercial 1. Enhance political commitment to the implementation of the The regional consultation evaluated the progress made since the REPORT Anna Pinto, Coordinator South Asia Focal Point on Sexual Situation analyses were presented by: Indrani Sinha: SANLAAP, Calcutta The presentations made by the participants will shortly be made Bangladesh India SANLAAP discussed in detail the need to look more closely at the The core issues identified by PRERANA were the inadequacy and Gracy Fernandes of the College of Social Work, Nirmala Niketan, Sri Lanka South Asia Overview However, the demand aspect of the sex trade is not as easily It is also evident that discrimination plays a significant role in child Regional Networking 1. It was agreed that the issue of child sexual exploitation Priority issues for South Asia Priority issues for South Asia were identified as: Preparation for Second World Congress, Yokohama 2001 It was agreed that over the next few months all NGO partners The consultation closed with thanks to the Focal Point for LIST OF PARTICIPANTS India Indrani Sinha Gracie Fernandez Parvin Patkar Anna Pinto Nandini Thockchom Geeta Reetika Bangladesh Salma Ali Sri Lanka Charika Marasinghe OBSERVERS Ravi Narayan Mizanur Rehman Chitraporn Vanaspong Johanna Eriksson Neelam Kewalramani Roma Debabrata Benedict Valerie Pascal- Billebaud Aiofe Nolan CORE VOLUNTEERS Ramananda Wangkheirakpam Lakshmi Rao Arya Oinam Due to various circumstances, both Pakistan and Nepal were un-
in Stockholm in 1996). Country situations were reassessed and a regional strategy for in policy and programming was outlined. The strategy will contribute to the congress at Yokohama and its expected outputs.
ON SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF CHILDREN
13 March 2001, New Delhi, India
SOUTH ASIA REGION
Children was held in the context the burgeoning world wide
problem of commercial exploitation of children, child trafficking and
child pornography and its attendant complex issues that societies
in every nation, region and sub-region have to engage to deal
effectively and appropriately with them.
Sexual Exploitation of Children is being held at the end of this
year in Yokohama aims to:
Agenda for Action (AfA) adopted at the First World Congress.
2. Review progress in the implementation of the AfA.
3. Share expertise and good practices.
4. Identify main problem areas and/or gaps in the fight against
commercial and other forms of sexual exploitation of children.
5. Strengthen the follow-up process of the World Congress
First World Congress within our region, re-assessed country
situations and brought those working on the issues to identify a
region specific strategy for further work in policy and
programming. This strategy will be a crucial thematic contribution
to the working congress at Yokohama and its expected outputs.
Exploitation of Children, chaired the consultation. Nandini
Thockchom co-chaired the consultation. Latashori Keithellakpam,
Lakshmi Rao and Ramananda Wankheirakpam were the
rapporteurs.
The provisional agenda circulated earlier was approved with the
addition of the following items:
Discussion regarding National and Youth processes for
Yokohama at Country level
The compilation of a list of invitees to the Regional
Consultation being organized by UNICEF in Dhaka in October
2001 in preparation for Yokohama
Gracie Fernandes: College of Social Work, Nirmala Niketan,
Mumbai
Pravin Patkar: PRERANA, Mumbai
Salma Ali: BWNA, Bangladesh
Charika: SARVODAYA, Sri Lanka
Geeta: SAKSHI, New Delhi
available on the Focal Point website. Briefly summarised the
presentations addressed the following issues:
The situation in Bangladesh was characterised by neglect and
some degree of indifference by many of those who should have
been deeply concerned including the government and its
concerned agencies. However, partly due to the impetus
provided by the preparations for Yokohama congress, UNICEF,
key NGOs and the government were now attempting to
cooperate in order to develop appropriate strategies and action
priorities. Among the important concerns that needed to be
addressed, increasing poverty, the low status of the girl child and
the deficiency in international and bilateral instruments for
appropriately controlling the movement of persons across
international borders were identified as needing urgently to be
addressed. Attitudes of the enforcement agencies and the
judiciary were also cited as problem areas to be addressed.
Four presentations were made from the Indian situation.
SAKSHI’s presentation identified the need for change in attitudes
towards sexuality, children and rights as the starting point of
strategies to combat the problem. The need to advance
legislation to incorporate these in laws such as the rape laws,
the need to develop appropriate legal and social terminology for
effective address of the situation such as the replacement of the
term “rape” with “sexual assault” is integral to reform of the
system that permits such atrocities to go largely unchecked.
mechanisms for protection, rescue and rehabilitation of sexually
exploited children. Describing them as grossly inadequate, the
presentation also stated that contextual issues facilitating the
availability and vulnerability of girls to trafficking, sale and
enslavement into prostitution were not addressed by concerned
agencies. The lack of implementation of the Plan of Action was
regretted.
therefore the need for radical change in enforcement issues.
While accepting that there is a pressing need for legal reform the
presentation stressed that some legal tools were already
available which could be effectively used to address the
problems. However, both indifference and collusion of
enforcement agencies and the judicial actors were indicted as
fundamental problems encountered. At the international level
the absence of both effective legal protocols and their
enforcement were cited as problems needing to be urgently
addressed.
presented an action research project: which is being
implemented and is related to the need to work with high-risk
children from a strengths perspective. There is a crucial need for
resilience that these children must demonstrate in their difficult
life situations if they are to be able to face up to the challenges of
life. This action research is an intervention to build resilience in
these children by providing them with interactional inputs aimed
at building resilience. This is an effort to produce a replicable
strategy for prevention and protection of these children: an effort
to step in before the problems are generated or before problems
become so big that management is a crisis issue. The other
aspect of this study is the desire to view the child holistically in
his/ her familial and school environments as well. Thus the
program also focuses upon the parents and the teachers of
these children and provides inputs to them, which again revolve
the prevention and protection framework through resilience.
SARVODAYA presented a holistic model for addressing the
vulnerability factors that facilitate the induction of children into
sexually exploitative situations and attitudinal problems that
gave rise to market demand. Stating that the spiritual
dimensions of human society and interactions were invisible and
often ignored in devising approaches, the presentation shared
the SARVODAYA experience in empowerment of socially and
economically vulnerable communities as well as of rehabilitating
criminal mentalities by a multidimensional approach. The need for
holistic, concerted and coordinated action from all stakeholders in
society was stressed as the only effective approach towards this
or indeed any social evil.
All presentations indicated that sexual exploitation of children
was a direct manifestation of discrimination of various kinds:
gender, racial, class or caste. The majority of sexually exploited
children belonged to already marginalized sections of society.
While poverty was often blamed for the easy availability of
children for the sex trade, in fact it is usually a large combination
of factors that creates vulnerability. In the case of girl children in
this region, gender discrimination is also commonly identified as a
cause factor contributing largely to vulnerability. The large profits
in the trade and the well-known nexus between prostitution
mafias, the political powers that be and the enforcement
agencies in silent collusion with larger society's general
unwillingness to even acknowledge let alone protest this atrocity,
are clearly enabling factors.
explained. It was suggested during the discussions that the
social definition of the child not only in South Asia, but also
around the world, has only superficially changed. Pubescent
children (under 18 years) are understood in most cultures to be
sexually adult rather than socially asexual or immature, which is
the general understanding of pre-pubescent children. Until the
middle of the present century in all countries of the world, girls of
even 13 or 14 years were considered marriageable. This
underlying cultural attitude cannot be so easily changed. It
would require intensive and widespread education. In this
context mass media: the news, advertising and entertainment
sectors of this industry are key. At present, media's role is
ambiguous. Being an industry, it naturally tends to prioritize
determinants of profitability over ethical issues.
sexual exploitation from the exploiters, including the client's point
of view. Frequently children from poorer or racially or socially
discriminated backgrounds are demanded not only by traders,
but also by the clients themselves. To what extent this is a
consequence of insecurity or fear of reprisal and to what extent it
is a preference due to cultural stereotype and predilection is
difficult to assess.
required focused and concerted action from all stakeholders in
the region. In order to achieve this it was suggested and agreed
that a few key points of action should be focused on by all NGOs
in the region.
2. The network on this, in preparation for Yokohama, should also
be expanded to include both activists from related issues, such
as human rights, child rights and women's rights organizations,
development NGOs in order to broadbase the issue.
3. Involvement of grass roots organizations working on this
specific issue would also be actively sought and their inputs
intensified.
4. Children's and youth groups should be specially identified and
encouraged to participate in these preparations.
5. While it was universally acknowledged that the Yokohama
congress in itself would create no change or improvement in the
problem, yet governments could be encouraged to take action
that has so far been delayed and this in itself might, if NGOs were
sensitive and continuously active, especially in a coordinated
network, considerable impact could be made with governments
during this period.
A. Enforcement
B. Minimization of vulnerability factors
C. Data collection and information management
D. Child and youth participation
While it is difficult and perhaps inappropriate, to prioritize issues
on the basis of importance, it was consensually agreed that on
the basis of urgency these were the primary felt needs in order of
their statement. Child and youth participation, more than an
objective was commonly perceived as the means of effectively
achieving these goals.
at this consultation would search out information whether from
secondary or original sources and sift them to add to the Focal
Point site, which is the official site for the Yokohama Congress.
It was also decided by consensus that, based on these
materials and including as many of them as possible or at least a
representative selection of these, a publication would be brought
out jointly by NGOs of South Asia as an alternative report to
Yokohama from this region. Pravin Patkar would take the first
initiative of drafting an outline for this document. The report
would not be a charge sheet against the governments. However
it would seek to critically examine progress since Stockholm on
the four priority issues identified by this consultation in order to
pressurize for positive action by government and
intergovernmental agencies. The document would also facilitate
NGOs to network better by making information on the priority
action areas available on both Internet and in printed format.
It was also agreed that NGOs would coordinate at national
level in order to encourage the government, inter-government
agencies and more non-government organizations especially
grass roots organizations to participate in developing an on -
going country process towards effective representation of issues
at both the up-coming regional conference in Dhaka as well as
the Yokohama Congress.
In addition to collaborating towards a National Conference a
Youth / Children's process would be organized in parallel. ICYO
would take responsibility for initiating this in India, while the
Children's Congress in Bangladesh would be facilitated to do the
same in Bangladesh.
organizing the meeting and enabling participation.
SANLAAP
6/4, Lake East 4th Road,
Calcutta 700 075
Tel: 91 33 4165919
Fax: 91 33 4167294
E-mail: sanlaap@giascl01.vsnl.net.in
College of Social Work
Nirmala Niketan
38, Marine Lines
Mumbai
Tel: 91 22 2075458/2017370
Fax: 91 22 2014880
Email: resunit@bom5.vsnl.net.in
PRERANA
C 603, Eden III
Hiranandani Gardens
Mumbai 400076
Tel: 91 22 3053166
Fax: 91 22 5700684
Email pppatkar@giasbm01.vsnl.net.in
Centre for Organisation Research and Education
Yaiskul, Police Lane
Manipur
Tel: 91 385 228169
Tel/Fax 91 385 441339
Email: coremanipur@vsnl.com
Centre for Organisation Research and Education
Yaiskul, Police Lane
Manipur
Tel: 91 385 228169
Tel/Fax: 91 385 441339
Email: coremanipur@vsnl.com
SAKSHI
B 6, South Extension
New Delhi 1100049
Tel: 91 11 378 2115, 338 3703
Fax: 91 11 464 3946
Email: Sakshi_ngo@epatra.com, Gits_71@email.com
SAKSHI
B 6, South Extension
New Delhi 1100049
Tel: 91 11 378 2115, 338 3703
Fax: 91 11 464 3946
Email: Sakshi_ngo@epatra.com
Bangladesh National Women Lawyers Association (BNWLA)
House- 60/A, Road-27 (old) Dhanmondi R/A
Dhaka 1209
Bangladesh
Tel: 880 21 8123060, 8125866
Fax: 880 2 8125866.
Email: bnwla@bdonline.com
No.74 Rawatawatta Road
Moratuwa
Sri Lanka
Tel: 94 1 656843
Fax: 94 1 655084
Email: charika@mail.ewisl.net
Secretary General
Indian Committee of Youth Organizations
1797-C, Kotla Mubarakpur
(Opp.D-42, NDSE-I)
New Delhi 110003
Tel: 91 11 462 4776
Fax: 91 11 464 1807
E-mail icyo@iname.com
Coordinator
ATSEC Bangladesh Chapter
House No. 30 Road 9A
Dhaka 1209
Bangladesh
Fax: 88 2 811 6251
E-mail: mitrec@bangla.net
atsecbd@dmail.net
ECPAT International
328 Phyathai Road
Bangkok 10400
Thailand
Tel: 66 2 215 3388/ 611 0962
Fax: 66 2 215 8272
E-mail ecpat@ksc15.th.com
Assistant Programme Officer
UNICEF Regional Office for South Asia
Lekhnath Marg
Kathmandu
Nepal
Tel: 977 1 417082
Fax: 977 1 419479
Email: jeriksson@unicef.org
Website: www.unicef.org
Save the Children India
4-C, JM Mehta Marg
Napean Sea Road
Mumbai 400036
Tel: 91 22 363 0523, 363 3949
Fax: 91 22 368 0037
Email: vkadri@bol.net.in
Stop Trafficking Oppression and Prostitution of Children (STOP)
A-25, Chittaranjan Park
New Delhi 110019
Tel: 91 11 642 6293, 331 9431
Fax: 91 11 646 5051
Email: romadeba@vsnl.com
South Asian Partnership (SAP), India
B-5/174 Safdarjang Enclave
New Delhi 110019
Tel: 91 11 619 5689
Fax: 91 11 610 0412
Email: sapindia@bol.net.in
Assistant Communications Officer
India Country Office
UNICEF House
73 Lodi Estate
New Delhi, India
Tel: 4690401 Extn 1210
Fax: 91-11-4627521
Email: vpascal@unicef.org
Intern, NRS
India Country Office
UNICEF House
73 Lodi Estate
New Delhi, India
Email: aoifenolan@hotmail.com
Dr. Latashori Keithellakpam
represented in the meeting. Every effort would be made to
identify NGOs in both countries and get them on board during the
next few weeks.