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Child prostitution alarming in Brazil: UN envoy
Rio De Janeiro, Nov 15: The problem of child prostitution and sexual exploitation in Brazil is worse than in most other countries because of poverty, crime and tourism, a special UN envoy has said.
Rio De Janeiro, Nov 15: The problem of child
prostitution and sexual exploitation in Brazil is worse than in most
other countries because of poverty, crime and tourism, a special UN
envoy has said.
Although there no firm figures, Juan Miguel Petit said yesterday
that representatives of non-governmental organizations he met during
a two-week stay in Brazil had reported a growing number of
cases.
He said there were an estimated 240 routes, both national and international, used by sex industry traffickers in Brazil to transport prostitutes from their homes to the big cities.
Petit said non-governmental organizations estimated the number of child prostitutes at between 100,000 and 500,000.
The country has a population of 175 million.
Petit, who is the United Nations' special rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, visited Brazil at the government's invitation and will report to the UN in April.
''Brazil is easily accessible by tourists, it has an enormous population of young people, the authorities are not present in the slums and the country's sheer size makes it hard to control,'' Petit said. ''and there is growing drug trafficking.''
''All this makes the situation in Brazil more worrying and more explosive,'' he said. ''We know it's bad, we know it's high risk, and there is a lot to be done.''
He urged social groups to do more to combat the problem, not least because younger and younger children are becoming involved in Brazil's spiral of crime.
However, Petit said some progress was being made, as society was becoming increasingly aware of the problem and the government was taking more notice, while Congress had opened a probe into the issue.
Nanko Buuren, Executive Director for the Brazilian Institute of Social Health Innovation, said three million children are living on Brazil's streets, where they are targets for crime and sexual exploitation.
''From the point of view of foreigners the situation is really alarming in Brazil, but if you see it from the point of view of Brazilian sexual culture it's a slightly different story,'' said Buuren.
Bureau Report
He said there were an estimated 240 routes, both national and international, used by sex industry traffickers in Brazil to transport prostitutes from their homes to the big cities.
Petit said non-governmental organizations estimated the number of child prostitutes at between 100,000 and 500,000.
The country has a population of 175 million.
Petit, who is the United Nations' special rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, visited Brazil at the government's invitation and will report to the UN in April.
''Brazil is easily accessible by tourists, it has an enormous population of young people, the authorities are not present in the slums and the country's sheer size makes it hard to control,'' Petit said. ''and there is growing drug trafficking.''
''All this makes the situation in Brazil more worrying and more explosive,'' he said. ''We know it's bad, we know it's high risk, and there is a lot to be done.''
He urged social groups to do more to combat the problem, not least because younger and younger children are becoming involved in Brazil's spiral of crime.
However, Petit said some progress was being made, as society was becoming increasingly aware of the problem and the government was taking more notice, while Congress had opened a probe into the issue.
Nanko Buuren, Executive Director for the Brazilian Institute of Social Health Innovation, said three million children are living on Brazil's streets, where they are targets for crime and sexual exploitation.
''From the point of view of foreigners the situation is really alarming in Brazil, but if you see it from the point of view of Brazilian sexual culture it's a slightly different story,'' said Buuren.
Bureau Report