Banjul — A joint study by The Gambia Government and UNICEF released last week catalogues the sexual exploitation and abuse of children in the country as a growing phenomenon being blamed on a combination of local and external factors that encourage child prostitution.

The three-chaptered report graphically recounts incidents, which expose the vulnerability of Gambian children to the repercussions of being impressionable and poor. It starts with a general overview of child abuse of children by local Gambians (sugar daddies) and strangers (toubabs) and outlines the government and Unicef's findings and current interventions by them to stem the tide of sexual abuse.

"The smiling Coast" syndrome, main concerns - sexual abuse, prostitution and unreported crimes, pornography and trafficking are themes featuring saliently in the report, which was compiled last year.

The report says although comprehensive research evidence is scanty, anecdotal evidence indicates that sexual abuse and exploitation of children is an observable fact in The Gambia.

The local-based Child Protection Alliance, and the Netherlands organisation, Terre des Hommes are quoted in the study as indicating that the phenomenon of sexual exploitation of children is particularly pronounced in the tourism industry where local bumsters lure teenage girls into sexual liaison with tourists for monetary reward. A girl called Fatou gives a graphic account of how she met a tourist with the help of her school friends. "One of them encouraged me to go out with her and her toubab boyfriend. I went with her to meet him at his hotel and he was there with another white man - that was for me. It was my first time to even talk to a white man. They took us to a Chinese restaurant and I was given 50 pounds when Mike my boyfriend left sometime afterwards he sent me over 300 pounds since that time we have been coming here (the hotel) every weekend" she says.

The study also observes that sexual harassment by teachers and other male students are taking place in schools more frequently that are ever reported. Over the years, there have been occasional reports in the local media of cases of sexual exploitation of children by tourists or adults in positions of trust and authority. A handful of such cases are heard in the courts but fewer still end up in successful prosecution.

The influx of refugees to The Gambia due to political instability in neighbouring countries, the rising levels of poverty, unchecked rural-urban drift, growing tourism and increasing consumerism, all combined to create a conducive atmosphere for the culture of sexual abuse and exploitation to thrive, according to the report, which also gives some indication of the nature and scope of the situation it says.

It outlines the so-called push and pull factors, the perceptions of the stakeholders on issues related to sexual abuse and exploitation of children and the state of laws, policies and programmes. It also offers recommendations for action by the different stakeholders.

"Another factors is the changing face of youth culture with a powerful influence of Western life on young people. In The Gambia, as in many African countries, the individual is conceived of as an integral part of the entire community; identity depends on his or her role, status and relations within society. People live in large households as part of an extended family. The major result of sexual abuse exploitation is dropping out of school, low-level of participation and vulnerability to the lure of money for sex," it explains.

The study also focuses copiously on what it calls "cross-generational sex" perpetrated by "sugar-daddies", with special reference to how it is evolving in the emergence of child pornography and child trafficking.

The findings indicate that for the most part, children engaged in prostitution do not consider themselves "children" and do not understand that they require special protection because of their age.

"As a poor country that is also a tourist attraction, The Gambia is a vulnerable target for not a few unscrupulous visitors such as suspected or convicted pedophiles who enter the country in search of a low profile location to commit their crimes against children silently and with impunity" it says.

It says police and intelligence officials interviewed were uncertain about the role of the police in responding to child abuse and exploitation cases. "Most adult male and female community leaders were wary about sex education in schools and children's rights to know about and to take responsibility for their sexual and reproductive health.

Many believed that this was a Western notion that simply encouraged children to engage in immoral behaviour," it outlines.

It concludes that society's perceptions of issues and activities that constitute sexual harassment remain controversial, pointing out the difficulty in arriving at definitive interpretations of sexual harassment in The Gambia.

The study also makes a list of recommendations for action in The Gambia, one of several African countries where the campaign against sexual exploitation and the abuse of children constitutes a paramount policy priority.

In line with this campaign a new Children Bill was drafted in 2003 and harmonised with the Convention of the Right of the Child. The next step for the government will be to implement these new laws.

However, a stubborn problem to deal with the issue stems from the absence of agreed definition of abuser, what constitutes sexual exploitation and child trafficking, which could mean different things to different people.