POWER, IMPUNITY AND ANONYMITY Understanding the Forces Driving the Demand for Sexual Exploitation of Children POWER, IMPUNITY AND ANONYMITY 1 Understanding the Forces Driving the Demand for Sexual Exploitation of Children POWER, IMPUNITY AND ANONYMITY Understanding the Forces Driving the Demand for Sexual Exploitation of Children Researchers and Writers: Eliana Riggio Mark Erik Hecht The Introduction, Chapters 1, 2, 3 and 7 and Sections relating to SEC prevention in Chapter 6 were written by Eliana Riggio. Chapters 4 and 5 and Sections relating to the legal and private sectors in Chapters 6 and 7 were written by Mark Erik Hecht. Additional Input and Support: Alessia Altamura Mark Capaldi Initial Research and Editorial Assistance: Melody Burke Mairi Calder Linda Fouad Rebecca Rittenhouse Vincent Wong March, 2016 Copyright 2016, ECPAT International This publication was produced with the financial assistance of Defence for Children-ECPAT Netherlands and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of The Netherlands. The views expressed herein are solely those of the authors. The support received from the above-mentioned donor does not constitute endorsement of the opinions expressed. TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS i LIST OF ACRONYMS ii INTRODUCTION 1 1. DEFINING DEMAND FOR SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF CHILDREN 5 1.1 Defining sexual exploitation of children 5 1.2 Defining demand for sexual exploitation of children 8 1.3 The Demand Tree 10 1.4 Promoting a human-rights terminology 12 2. MAPPING THE DEMAND 13 2.1 Understanding the demand for sexual exploitation of children: The three levels of the Demand Tree 14 2.1.1. The immediate level of the demand for child sexual exploitation 14 2.1.2 The intermediate level of the demand for child sexual exploitation 31 2.1.3. The underlying level of the demand for child sexual exploitation 36 2.1.3.1 Sexual attitudes underpinning sexual exploitation of children 36 2.1.3.2 Gender and social norms 39 2.1.3.3 Globalisation, poverty and inequality 43 2.1.3.4 Impunity 46 3. A VIRTUAL MARKETPLACE: THE NEW SUPPLY AND DEMAND 47 3.1 The Internet and websites 47 3.2 Linking predators to victims 48 POWER, IMPUNITY AND ANONYMITY Understanding the Forces Driving the Demand for Sexual Exploitation of Children 4. THE LEGAL FRAMEWORKS 51 4.1 International legal instruments and mechanisms 51 4.2 Regional legal instruments and mechanisms 53 4.3 Identifying possible gaps with international and regional law 56 4.4 Domestic legal frameworks 57 4.4.1 Criminalisation of sexual exploitation of children 57 4.4.2 Aproaches to addressing the demand for adult prostitution 59 4.4.3 Further legal remedies 63 4.4.4 The offenders 65 4.4.5 Lesons learned from domestic law 67 5. THE ROLE OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR 68 5.1 Travel and tourism 68 5.2 Media 70 5.3 New technologies 71 5.4 Financial institutions 72 6. STEPPING UP MEASURES TO ADDRESS THE DEMAND FOR SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF CHILDREN: A COMPREHENSIVE FRAMEWORK FOR ACTION 74 6.1 Toward building a prevention framework for sexual exploitation of children 74 6.2 Developing more comprehensive preventive action 77 6.3 Enforcing legal measures to curb demand 77 6.3.1 Applying the law 77 6.3.2 Corporate Social Responsibility 81 6.4 Ensuring child sex offenders supervision, management and rehabilitation through a package of justice system strategies 83 POWER, IMPUNITY AND ANONYMITY Understanding the Forces Driving the Demand for Sexual Exploitation of Children 7. RECOMMENDATIONS: DEVELOPING A STRATEGY TO ERADICATE THE DEMAND TREE 89 A Theory of Change to Eliminate the Demand for Sexual Exploitation of Children 90 Strategy 1: Develop local, national and global situation analyses of demand for SEC 90 Strategy 2: Raise awareness, educate and develop capacities 92 Strategy 3: Promote the transition from harmful to rights-sensitive social norms and practices 96 Strategy 4: Frame and enforce laws and policies 97 Strategy 5: Develop and implement local, national and global strategies 99 Strategy 6: Leverage the Internet to prevent demand 100 Strategy 7: Measure progress toward ending demand for SEC 103 Strategy 8: Empower children and adolescents 104 ANNEXES 108 Annex A: LIST OF PARTICIPANTS 109 Annex B: A Theory of Change to Eliminate the Demand for Sexual Exploitation of Children 110 BIBLIOGRAPHY 113 POWER, IMPUNITY AND ANONYMITY Understanding the Forces Driving the Demand for Sexual Exploitation of Children ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS In Geneva in October 2015, a Global High Level Expert Meeting was held to help validate and refine this report. The meeting brought together the United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography (Ms. Maud de Boer - Buquicchio) and staff from her office, academics, sociologists, psychologists, independent consultants, practitioners, and representatives of civil society organisations, and UN agencies. ECPAT International wishes to thank the Special Rapporteur for holding the expert consultation in Geneva and for her thematic study and recommendations to tackle the demand for the sexual exploitation of children. Special thanks for their input are also extended to Margaret Akullo, Alessia Altamura, Mark Capaldi, Donald Findlater, Hans Guyt, Susanna Greijer, Dorian Hall, Mark E. Hecht, Lori Heise, Nekane Lavín, Julia O’Connell Davidson, Lorraine Radford, Eliana Riggio, Dorothy Rozga, Maia Rusakova, Lucie Shuker, Joe Sullivan, and Jane Warburton. i POWER, IMPUNITY AND ANONYMITY i Understanding the Forces Driving the Demand for Sexual Exploitation of Children LIST OF ACRONYMS ACHPR African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights ACRWC African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child AHRC Asian Human Rights Commission CAASE Chicago Alliance against Sexual Exploitation CAM Child Abuse Materials CATW Coalition against Trafficking in Women CCLP Centre on Communications, Leadership, and Policy CEFM Child, Early, and Forced Marriage CEOP Child Exploitation and Online Protection CIS Commonwealth of Independent States CPA Child Protection Alliance (The Gambia) CSA Circles of Support and Accountability (Canada) CSEC Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children ECPAT End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes EFC European Financial Community EU European Union FCACP Financial Coalition against Child Pornography FBI Federal Bureau of Investigation (US) GBV Gender-Based Violence GEMS Girls Education and Mentoring Services HRC Human Rights Commission (UN) IAWG Inter-Agency Working Group ICPC International Child Protection Certificate ICT Information and Communication Technologies IEC Information, Education, Communication ILO International Labour Organization IOM International Organization for Migration ISP Internet Service Provider ISO International Organisation for Standardisation ITU International Telecommunication Union IWF Internet Watch Foundation (UK) ii POWER, IMPUNITY AND ANONYMITY ii Understanding the Forces Driving the Demand for Sexual Exploitation of Children MDG Millennium Development Goal MENA Middle East and North Africa NGO Non-Governmental Organisation NPA National Plan of Action OECD Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development OPSC Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography OSCE Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe P2P Peer to Peer SAARC South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation SDG Sustainable Development Goal SECTT Sexual Exploitation of Children in Tourism and Travel UK United Kingdom UN United Nations UNCRC UN Convention on the Rights of the Child UNDOC UN Documentation Centre UNICEF UN International Children Emergency Fund UNWTO UN World Tourism Organization US United States USD US Dollar iii POWER, IMPUNITY AND ANONYMITY Understanding the Forces Driving the Demand for Sexual Exploitation of Children INTRODUCTION Nearly twenty years ago, when the First World Congress against the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children was held in Stockholm, Sweden (August 1996),1 the problem of sexual exploitation of children (SEC) facing the international community was imputed to a discrete and well characterised group of offenders: profiled as being mainly men; travelling from Western to developing countries; perceived as affected by forms of psychosexual disorders, such as paedophilia; or displaying other pathologically transgressive behaviours. In the short span of only two decades, SEC has exploded to acquire planetary dimensions, with virtually no region, country or social group, age or sexual inclination being spared by a scourge now recognised as one of the most severe and widespread forms of violence against children. As noted with reference to SEC-related analysis in a report of the UN Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, “the research results exemplify problems that exist in all parts of the world.”2 Today, approaching children for illicit purposes is a highly profitable domestic and international operation, organised on the global market, progressively brokered on the Internet, and supported by powerful criminal networks and businesses. Power imbalance between vulnerable children and abusive adults, impunity and anonymity emerge as the key forces driving the demand for sexual exploitation of children in the rising globalised sex market. While the organisation of the market is global, the demand for SEC is not only international, but also local. In addition to being created by unrelenting flows of travelling perpetrators, demand continues to be generated