S.A., one of the world's richest countries, a high proportion of children working in agriculture come from immigrant or ethnic minority families.
The numbers are estimates but even if they were to be accurate, the truth is horrifying. Almost, no corner of the world, from the poorest back street of Latin America to the ritziest European can claim to be immune. There are 70,000 child prostitutes in Zambia, 200,000 in Thailand and 50,000 in India.
As delegates from 122 countries gathered in Stockholm for the first world congress on the commercial sexual exploitation of children, the research they brought with them revealed the staggering scale of child sex abuse.
The commercial sexual exploitation of children has become a global multi-million dollar industry. The effects of sexual exploitation on children are profound and often permanent. Normal development is compromised; self-esteem and confidence...
The vast majority of sexually exploited children are denied their right to education. Many are ostracized by their families and communities.
Experts say many factors lie behind the recent global rise of child sex abuse. In some societies, the drive towards western-style consumerism has combined disastrously with traditional beliefs that young children particularly girls are property to be traded; families simply sell their children for something they want more.
Fear of Aids increasingly leads men to seek over younger prostitutes, in the mistaken belief they are safer. However, because of the physical disproportion between the partners, a child who is not fully-grown is easily torn or damaged by penetrative sex, and this makes it easier for the virus to pass into the child today. The sad part is that the child cannot fight back.
The causes of child labor are multiple
