allAfrica.com: Ghana: Rescuing the Child Prostitute, Whose Responsibility? (Page 1 of 2)

The Optional protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography in the Convention on the Rights of the child states that the prostitution of children or child prostitution is the practice whereby a child is used by others for sexual activities in return for remuneration or any other form of consideration (Article 2(b)). The remuneration or other consideration could be provided to the child or to another person.

Most generally, the prostitution of children means that a party other than the child benefits from a commercial transaction in which the child is made available for sexual purposes - either an exploiter intermediary who controls or oversees the child's activities for profit, or any other person who negotiates an exchange directly with a child in order to receive sexual gratification.

The provision of children for sexual purposes may also be a medium of exchange between adults. (Convention No 182) of the International Labour Organiztion (ILO) provides that the use, procuring or offering of a child for prostitution is one of the worst forms of child labor.

This convention, adopted in 1999, provides that countries (including Ghana) that had ratified it must eliminate the practice urgently. It enjoys the fastest pace of ratifications in the ILO's history since 1919.

Research Findings

In 2001, Dr. Richard Estes and Dr. Neil Alan Weiner estimated that in the U.S., 162,000 U.S. homeless youth are victims of commercial sexual exploitation (CVE) and that 57,800 children in homes (including public housing) are estimated to be victims of CVE. They also estimated that 30% of shelter youth and 70% of homeless youth are victims of CVE in the United States.

In the Ukraine, a survey conducted by the group "La Strada-Ukraine" in 2001-2003, based on a sample of 106 women being 'trafficked' out of Ukraine found that 3% were under 18, and the US State Department reported in 2004 that incidents of minors being trafficked was increasing.

Also in Thailand, NGOs have estimated that up to a third of prostitutes are children under 18. A study by the International Labour Organization on child prostitution in Vietnam again reported that incidence of children in prostitution is steadily increasing and children under 18 make up between 5 percent and 20 percent of prostitution depending on the geographical area.

In the Philippines, UNICEF estimated that there are 60,000 child prostitutes and many of the 200 brothels in the notorious Angeles City offer children for sex.

ECPAT New Zealand and Stop Demand Foundation have also cited in a report "The Nature and Extent of the Sex Industry in New Zealand," a police survey of the New Zealand sex industry that 210 children under the age of 18 years were identified as selling sex, with three-quarters being concentrated in one Police District.

The 1996 report of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography estimates that about one million children in Asia alone are victims of the sex trade. According to the International Labour Organization, the problem is especially alarming in Korea, Thailand, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Cambodia and Nepal.

A 2006 report by World Vision Middle East/Eastern Europe funded by the Canadian government and supported by six United Nations agencies and the International Organization For Child Migration reported that the sexual exploitation of children, child trafficking and sexual violence towards minors is increasing and that Russia is becoming a new destination for child sex tourism. The report adds that some studies claim approximately 20 per cent to 25 per cent of Moscow's sex workers are minors.

It is believed that one third of street-level prostitutes in the U.S. are less 18 years old while fifty percent of off-street prostitutes are less than 18 years old.Off-street prostitution includes massage parlors, strip clubs, and escort services. According to Estes and Weiner, 12 to 14 is the average age of entry into prostitution for girls under 17 years old in the United States while the average age of entry into prostitution is between 11 and 13.

Ghana Situation

Eventhough Iam not aware of any current figure of the above in Ghana, the Ghanaian situation seems to be of no difference to the US and other countries as it is no secret at all to find hundreds of children ranging between the ages of 12 and 18 converging at places like Kwame Nkrumah Circle (Kotobabi trotro station, near Freddies Corner), Soldier bar, Abeka Lapaz (Double man spot) Kasoa (Behind the public toilet off the Obom road), Newtown, Cantonments several other places by 7.30pm invloved in Child prostitution. Current media reports also indicates that the practice if not given the needed attention will outweight those in the Western Countries.

Most of these venues also serve as the camps for, armed robbers, drug peddlers, and other criminals exposing these young ones to all kinds of dangers and other forms of social vices.

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