Child Prostitution A Million Dollar Business In Ukraine

Juan Miguel Petit, the Commission's Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography reported that the flourishing of child prostitution and trafficking of children are the great problems in Ukraine.

According to UNO press-service, 10% of victims of human trafficking are children at the age of 13- 18. The half of these children is sent in neighboring countries, especially in Russia.

¡§The children in ¡§across-the-border¡¨ sale are exploited in street trade, in house service, in farming, as dancers, waiters or waitresses, or even in sexual service. More particularly they become dancers, beggars or they give sexual service,¡¨ the report gives.

The report says that in many cases children become objects of trafficking inside the country. Dealers on children trafficking decoy their victims in debt bondage. They make children to work off the costs of traveling, meals and dwelling. The possibility to tear away from this debt bondage is happened very seldom.

The Commission's Special Rapporteur said that nobody helps these victims either abroad, or after their returning.

Juan Miguel Petit said that Ukrainian child prostitution has increased for recent years. According to the research of Ukrainian Institute of Social Investigation, there are 11% of children at the age of 12-15 and 20% of children at the age of 16-17 among women who are engaged in sexual service. Petit pointed out that there are even 10 years old girls who are involved in prostitution.

The UNO chairman worries about the way the procurers, trafficking dealers and producers of pornography use children. He learned from mass media and different booklets for tourists that there are many announcements about weddings and meetings which are not controlled. He emphasized that with visa free entrance for majority of west countries Ukraine is turning into an open country for sex-tourism. The Commission's Special Rapporteur apprehends that there are many juveniles, exploited in this spreading activity.

Petit said that Ukraine needs to form a new model of children protection; otherwise this problem will pass into the next generation. He formulated a line of recommendations on this point.

During the October visit in our country Petit said that Ukraine need to create a new model of children rights protection. The UNO chairman calls law enforcement agencies of Ukraine to control marriage agencies and closed night clubs, where child prostitution and trafficking of children flourish. He also doubts about frontier rules, which regulate the departure of nonaged minors abroad.

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