[1][3][4][5] The children who perform as prostitutes in the child sex tourism trade often have been lured or abducted into sexual slavery.
[5] Multiple governments have enacted laws to allow prosecution of its citizens for child sexual abuse committed outside of their home country.
[5] Child sex tourism has been closely linked to poverty, armed conflicts, rapid industrialization, and exploding population growth.
[10] South Africa,[11] United States,[12] Thailand, Cambodia, India, Nepal, Dominican Republic, Kenya and Morocco have been identified as leading hotspots of child sexual exploitation.
Australians, for instance, have been identified as the largest group of sex tourists prosecuted in Thailand (31 percent of the total).
Of the 146 cases investigated by Action Pour Les Enfants (APLE) in Cambodia between 2003 and April 2012, 32 were American, 24 French and 20 Vietnamese.
DLN reports that "Brazil at the moment is on a high trend of child sex tourism and is all geared to take up the first spot beating out Thailand.
[23][24] The United Nations Office of Drugs and Crimes (UNODC) recently stated that 79% of all global trafficking is for sexual exploitation, which is one of the fastest growing criminal activities in the world.
[24] In cases involving children, the U.S. has relatively strict domestic laws that hold accountable any American citizen or permanent resident of the U.S. who travels abroad for the purpose of engaging in illicit conduct with a minor.
Offers from 20,000 internet users to pay for webcam sex performances were found in a 10-week investigation conducted from a warehouse in Amsterdam, in the Terre des hommes Dutch action against WCST, using "Sweetie", a 3D computer model.
[26] Together with Avaaz.org, Terre des Hommes Netherlands has created an online petition to pressure governments to adopt proactive investigation policies in order to protect children against webcam child sex tourism.
It also obliges parties to pass laws within their own territories against these practices "punishable by appropriate penalties that take into account their grave nature".
[27] In response to CST, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), the tourism industry, and governments have begun to address the issue.
In 2003 ICE launched "Operation Predator", leading to the arrest of over 11,000 child sexual abusers, including more than 1,100 outside the United States.
ICE agents in Bangkok did say however that they often receive information from local NGOs about foreigners in Thailand whom they suspect of engaging in child sexual abuse.
Sometimes U.S. based law enforcement, such as local sheriffs' departments and parole officers, inform them of known sex offenders who are traveling to the region.
In both cases, local ICE agents work with their Royal Thai Police counterparts to monitor the suspects’ movements while in Thailand.
It is a crime for Australian citizens, permanent residents or bodies corporate to engage in, facilitate or benefit from sexual activity with children (under 16 years of age) while overseas.
Section 203C under the same article is a penal law specific to the client: "A person served by an act of prostitution of a minor, shall be liable to three years imprisonment.
[56] Under The Crimes Amendment Act 2005 "...it is an offence: For New Zealand citizens and residents to engage in sexual conduct or activities with a child in another country".
A special fedpol unit dealing with child pornography and pedocriminality offences co-operates closely with numerous partner services both at home and abroad.
Since June 2008, an online form has been available to the general public to report cases of child sex tourism to the appropriate judicial authorities".
[62] According to a 2012 ECPAT report "progress is needed with regard to the enforcement of extraterritorial jurisdiction concerning nationals who have sex with children abroad... depending on which South Korean law is being applied, the definition of "child" varies...These varying definitions create uncertainty as to how the various laws will be applied and invite a lack of cooperation or lack of uniformity in enforcement by multiple agencies" [63] The Sexual Offences Act 2003 enables British citizens and residents who commit sexual offences against children overseas to be prosecuted in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
[66] Under the PROTECT Act of April 2003, it is a federal crime, prosecutable in the United States, for a U.S. citizen or permanent resident alien, to engage in illicit sexual conduct in a foreign country with a person under the age of 18, whether or not the U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident alien intended to engage in such illicit sexual conduct prior to going abroad.
[67] Before congressional passage of the Protect Act of 2003, prosecutors had to prove that sex tourists went abroad with the intent of molesting children—something almost impossible to demonstrate.