FORUM: ​United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund

QUESTION OF: ​Combating Child Sex Tourism

MAIN SUBMITTER: ​United States of America
CO-SUBMITTERS: ​People’s Republic of China, Kingdom of Cambodia, United Mexican
States, Republic of Macedonia, Republic of Philippines
SIGNATORIES:​ Republic of Yemen, Republic of Mozambique, Republic of Colombia, Arab
Republic of Egypt, Republic of Costa Rica, Federal Republic of Somalia, Ukraine, Republic of
South Africa, Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Lithuania, Republic of Iraq, Republic of Kenya,
Canada, Republic of South Korea, Republic of Chile, Sweden, Norway, Brazil, The Republic of
South Sudan, Poland, Republic of Turkey, Republic Of Ghana, Central African Republic, The
Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Republic of Philippines, Republic of Ecuador, Federal
Republic of Nigeria

THE UNITED NATIONS INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN’S EMERGENCY FUND,

Noting with concern​ the rising problem of Child Sex Tourism (CST) and the sexual slavery of
children, which has shown to lead to physical abuse, mental and emotional trauma or even death
at the hands of providers of child prostitution services and child sex offenders,

Alarmed​ by the fact that approximately 2 million children are victimised by child sex tourism
and that up to 10 million children have been forced into child prostitution,

Further noting with concern​ the lack of awareness on the issue and the diluted public’s
perception towards the issue of child sex tourism,

Observing ​the possible lack of strict regulations and laws against sex offenders and the
corruption of authorities leading to ignorance towards the issue,

Understanding ​the situation of suppressed children offering sexual services to tourists, who find
the issue taboo and are driven to keep this affair as secretive as possible, hence disallowing the
government’s efforts to recognise perpetrators,

Recalling ​the ​Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and
Child Pornography, noting specifically Article 3 which criminalises the sexual exploitation of
any child,

Reaffirming ​the Council Decision Framework 2004/68/JHA by the European Union and the
Code of Conduct for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation in Travel and Tourism,
Recalling​ the Global Study on the Sexual Exploitation of Children in Travel and Tourism in
noting that no country is immune to CST,

Noting​ that boys are not immune to child prostitution and can be recognised as victims of CST,

Aware​ of the possibility of corruption in law enforcement forces and governments alike;

Hereby,

Article I: Definitions

1. Defines​ a child as a person below the age of 18, unless the laws of a particular country set
the legal age for adulthood as younger;

2. Defines​ Child Sex Tourism (CST) as the exploitation of children for sexual purposes by
people who travel locally or internationally to engage in sexual activities with children;

3. Defines​ Sex Tourist as an individual who travels locally or internationally to engage in

sexual activities with children;

4. Defines​ Sexual Abuse as actual or threatened physical intrusion of a sexual nature,

whether by force or under unequal or coercive conditions;

5. Defines​ Sexual Exploitation as any actual or attempted abuse of an individual in a

position of vulnerability, differential power or thrust, for sexual purposes, including, but
not limited to, profiting monetarily, socially or politically from the sexual exploitation of
another;

6. Defines​ Human Rights as rights inherent to all human beings, regardless of race, sex,
nationality, ethnicity, language, religion, or any other status;

7. Defines​ Rehabilitation as a set of measures that assist individuals, who experience or are
likely to experience disability, to achieve and maintain optimum functioning in
interaction with their environments;

8. Defines​ Hazardous Work as work likely to jeopardise the health, safety and morals of
young persons – work that interferes with schooling, is excessively difficult or performed
over long hours, dangerous and unhealthy conditions that can lead to a child being killed,
 injured or made ill as a result of poor safety and health standards or employment
conditions;

Article II: Preventive Measures

9. Strongly encourages​ all countries who have yet to ratify the Optional Protocol to the
Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and
Child Pornography treaty to do so with immediate effect;

10. Proposes​ the creation of an international database collating information on child sex
offenders regulated and maintained by the United Nations,
a. The information collated by this database will include the following:
i. Names of child sex offenders,
ii. Citizenship of child sex offenders,
iii. Details of sex crime committed,
iv. Countries offenders have travelled to,
v. Frequent hotspots of child sex tourism,
b. The information collated by this database will be provided through measures such
as but not limited to:
i. The integration of existing information from national databases into an
international database on child sex tourism,
ii. Investigations into child sex tourism by both origin countries and
destination countries,
c. Foreign agencies should be authorised to check the criminal history before hiring
people from other countries, preventing children from being exploited, through
measures such as but not limited to:
i. Access to the previously mentioned database through legislation by
different countries from where child sex tourists are known to come from,
d. The information collated by this international database will be used for the
following purposes:
i. To restrict international and cross-border travel by child sex offenders,
through measures such as but not limited to:
1. Blacklisting sex offenders from entering areas where CST is
prevalent, such as Thailand, Cambodia and Mexico,
2. Seizing and withholding the passports of new sex offenders for a
period of at least 1 year after the crime,
 3. Tracking the travel plans of these offenders the next time they go
overseas, which could be conducted by their companies or by
authorities,
ii. To aid in the prevention of child sex tourists from entering the country,
and thus reducing the demand for the CST market;

11. Urges​ countries to update and strengthen legal institutions and the judiciary in order to
prosecute child brothel owners, child traffickers, families who sell their children to these
figures, and tourism agencies involved in CST effectively as a means of deterrence
against such crimes, through the following measures:
a. The criminalisation of any and all forms of involvement in CST excluding victims
of child sex exploitation, such as but not limited to:
i. Planning and organisation of trafficking children for CST,
ii. Assistance to organisations involved in child trafficking for prostitution,
iii. Selling, purchasing or trading children into the illegal sex trade,
iv. Being a consumer of CST,
v. Aiding the concealment of CST activity from the authorities via direct or
indirect means,
b. The heightening of judicial penalties and deterrents for human trafficking and
child prostitution to further deter such crimes, through measures such as but not
limited to:
i. Registering offenders into the aforementioned international database,
marking them as an international sex offender,
ii. Increasing the number of years in imprisonment, with a recommendation
of between 10 to 15 years, depending on the severity of the offence,
iii. Increasing or adding corporal punishment as a form of penalty for child
prostitution, including:
1. Caning,
2. Flagellation,
iv. Increasing the severity of fines for child sex offenders, with a minimum
fine to be decided by nations,
c. Criminalising or raising the penalties for associated conduct with CST to ensure a
comprehensive and strong judicial deterrent, which includes the following but are
not limited to:
i. Child labour,
ii. Sexual assault,
iii. Debt bondage;
12. Calls for​ the establishment of a subsidiary body known as the Agency for countering
Child Exploitation (ACE) under UNICEF with purposes such as but not limited to:
a. Actively searching for alleged cases of civil servants exploiting children,
b. Acting upon alleged cases of exploitation of children for sex,
c. Cases of corruption related to trafficking;

13. Recommends​ formulation of anti-trafficking training for selected personnel by respective

member states by a panel of specialists known as the Anti-Trafficking Advisory
Specialists (ATAS) from member states with fields of expertise including but not limited
to:
a. Economics,
b. Construction,
c. Communication
d. Education,
e. Medical Support,
f. Military Operations,
g. Crime and Investigation,
h. Environment;

​ alls for​ selection of undercover operatives by the ATAS and ACE to act as watchdogs
14. C
within respective member states, where their roles shall comprise of but not limited to:
a. Reporting cases of child sex exploitation and corruption to UNICEF and federal
enforcement agencies,
b. Compiling statistics and information on cases of sexual exploitation of children to
be published through national and international media while ensuring the
anonymity of victims;

15. Encourages​ joint operations between countries to conduct random checks on brothels and
red light districts,
a. These joint operations will include:
i. Training of judicial and law systems in both countries by specialists in the
issue of child sex tourism, which will be provided by countries with a
strong judicial system, including:
1. Singapore,
2. Sweden,
ii. The provision of resources for the carrying out of these operations, with
these resources including:
1. Technology such as:
a. Spy cameras,
 2. Information regarding brothels and red light districts,
b. These joint operations will be organised and supervised by a board of directors
comprising of international experts from the United Nations, government officials
and officials from tourism and travel boards, which will be responsible for the
following:
i. The supervision of all operatives under the joint operations to prevent
corruption,
ii. The management of all resources provided by countries to ensure that
these resources are not misused or manipulated,
c. These joint operations will be conducted for the following purposes:
i. To ensure that children are not used as child prostitutes,
ii. To allow one-on-one conversations between children and officials capable
of taking legal action against the perpetrators,
iii. To collect information regarding illegal sources of child prostitutes;

16. Recommends​ the increase of border regulations through measures such as:
a. Increasing patrols by local law enforcement forces, supported by regional and
international forces in order to minimise the likelihood of corruption and bribery,
b. Conducting more stringent checks, such as but not limited to:
i. Criminal records,
ii. Belongings being brought into country of destination,
c. Increased port security conducted by the military in order to reduce the number of
children trafficked via sea routes;

17. Strongly encourages​ all countries to implement and exercise extraterritorial laws,
a. With effect to individuals including but not limited to:
i. Child Sex Offenders,
ii. Child Traffickers,
iii. Child Sex Tourists;
b. To ensure these persons can be held legally responsible for their criminal acts
outside of their country,
c. To further deter persons from engaging in CST;

18. Proposes ​the setup of education schemes such as but not limited to:
a. Scholarships,
b. Skills sharing,
c. Such education schemes will allow for the following:
i. Teaching of labour skills to child prostitutes or former victims of child
prostitution in order for these individuals to achieve stable jobs,
 ii. Allow for child prostitutes to receive formal education in order to
reintegrate into society;

19. Urges​ countries to provide aid to reduce poverty in less economically developed
countries, through measures such as but not limited to:
a. Providing job opportunities for children through measures such as but not limited
to:
i. Providing job training for children, in areas of employment such as:
1. Mild labour work,
2. Service work,
ii. Providing jobs in the aforementioned areas for children,
1. Through the implementation of organizations (by the UN) focused
solely on the provision of mild labour/service work, such as but not
limited to:
a. Work in the agricultural sector that is not labour intensive
for children below the age of 14 for limited hours,
b. Non-hazardous work for children aged 14 to 17 for limited
and unlimited hours respectively;

20. Supports​ increased cooperation between countries to shut down human trafficking rings
through measures such as but not limited to:
i. Military cooperation between different countries to shut down human
trafficking rings through measures such as but not limited to:
1. The signing of joint military agreements, joint defence plans and
similar deals that can provide larger scale assistance in combating
non-state armed groups,
2. The deployment of joint patrols by countries in order to scout the
locations of militant groups,
3. The sharing of data and information regarding militant groups,
4. The sharing of military expertise,
5. Covert operations within trafficking syndicates to observe internal
workings and apprehending of crime lords,
ii. The provision of military equipment for the carrying out of such
operations in order to combat trafficking rings, with such military
equipment including:
1. Firearms,
2. Protective gear,
3. Military transport;
21. Strongly encourages​ the security of borders to prevent the human trafficking of child
prostitutes through measures such as:
a. Increasing the number and frequency of patrols,
b. Conducting more stringent checks, the requirements of which will be determined
by the international community or by nations in the region,
c. Increasing number of guards along borders;

22. Proposes​ the use of media as a platform to provide public education, through measures
such as but not limited to:
a. Social media campaigns,
b. Youtube advertisements,
c. Television or radio channel commercials,
d. Documentaries and films about the plight of child prostitutes,
e. Such public education will encourage the following:
i. Donations to charities providing support to reintegrate former child sex
workers back into society,
ii. Reduction of social stigma in countries societies,
iii. Heightened awareness of exploitation of children for sex as an issue;

23. Proposes​ the establishment of state hotlines in respective nations for specialised
counselling of those directly or indirectly affected by CST, where:
a. Volunteers to be trained by professionals to provide acute counselling,
b. Victims are redirected to relevant agencies for help if needed;

24. Calls for​ the use of UNICEF’s Humanitarian Action for Children to raise public
awareness and generate support for all initiatives taken to solve the issue of child soldiers
in the forms of but not limited to:
a. Sending educators to rural communities for sexuality education and information
on means for children to protect themselves from becoming victims of CST,
b. Volunteers within countries with conflict zones,
c. Providing monetary subsidies to NGOs who provides assistance to child sex
victims or raises awareness regarding the issue;

25. Encourages ​the heightened involvement of NGOs in the form of:

a. Campaigns,
b. Donation drives,
c. Education schemes;
26. Encourages​ formal partnerships between governments of member states and NGOs to be
activated, which includes but are not limited to:
i. Grants provided to enable them to expand their campaigns,
ii. Exchange of information regarding CST, including but not limited to:
1. Profiles and statuses of known sex offenders,
2. Locations of brothels and red-light districts suspected to host child
sex workers;

27. Strongly encourages​ tying the income of officials and authorities to the progress of the
country, to ensure issues such as poverty or unemployment are highlighted to and tackled
by the government, with the progress of the government evaluated by an international or
regional body;

28. Encourages​ the banning of any materials which lead to erosion of public norms that seek
to protect children from sexual assault such as but not limited to:
a. Songs,
b. Posters,
c. Poems and prose,
d. Videos,
e. Speeches,
f. Games (Digital or otherwise);

29. Recommends​ the collation of more data on the situation of child sex tourism and child
trafficking to understand the severity, complexity and depth of issues to aid in
formulating effective countermeasures, and such data includes but is not limited to:
a. Location of brothels with child sex workers,
b. Tracking of registered or suspected sex offenders,
c. Estimated number of child prostitutes and brothels within each state,
d. Confirmed or suspected sex offenders;

30. Recommends​ the government to encourage children to be sent to school via incentives,
such as but not limited to:
a. Prioritized food aid,
b. Prioritized employment,
c. Prioritized housing aid,
d. On the condition that the children are sent to school with a good attendance
record;

31. Strongly urges​ for the registration of all children in CST-prevalent areas, by
 a. Sending government officials to local schools, childcare centres and hospitals to
identify and register undocumented children,
b. Provide incentives to give birth in government hospitals,
c. To ensure that all children are documented and easier to track;

32. Recommends​ the training and empowerment of the police and criminal justice officials to
effectively identify and prosecute CST criminals, as well as ensuring the human rights of
the victims are safeguarded;

33. Recommends​ former child sex workers to be trained and employed as educators and
mentors for recently rescued child sex workers, which would promote:
a. Employment opportunities for former child sex workers who have been displaced
from their communities,
b. Role models for recently rescued child sex workers to follow, having connected
on personal levels,
c. Increased manpower and participation within the local community on this issue;

34. Strongly recommends ​countries to have all individuals who have exploited children for
sex directly or indirectly be punished under law without immunity;

35. Strongly urges​ countries to increase severity of penalties for those found related to
trafficking through measures including but not limited to:
a. Increasing number of years in imprisonment,
b. Increasing or adding corporal punishment, including:
i. Caning,
ii. Flagellation,
c. Increasing the severity of fines;

36. Strongly recommends​ punishment of all individuals who have prior knowledge of child
trafficking or child sex cases as accomplices;

37. Strongly recommends​ member states to properly define child exploitation in all
government agencies to accelerate sentencing of child exploiters;

38. Strongly urges​ that the age of consent for all children, regardless of gender, to be
increased to the age of 18 in order to prevent sex offenders from exploiting loopholes in
local legislation;
39. Strongly encourages​ all nations to implement or amend existing legislation in order to
provide nations extraterritorial jurisdiction;

40. Suggests​ that nations who have extraterritorial jurisdiction fully exercise their rights in
the trial and punishment of sex tourists;

Article III: Rescue of children from child prostitution

41. Recognises ​that the problem of CST causes physical harm to the victims, including the
following but not limited to:
a. The transfer of communicable STIs,
b. Pregnancy and loss of ability to procreate,
c. Internal and external injuries caused by violent CST consumers,
d. Permanent disabilities or fatality;

42. And thus recommends​ the delivery of a physical health package to help recently rescued
child sex workers if deemed necessary after frontline evaluation, where:
a. The package will be funded partially by the UNICEF 258 million USD budget for
2019, and donations from NGOs and willing MEDCs,
b. the package contains the following items:
i. Pregnancy kits,
ii. Preventive medication for Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STI),
iii. Emergency contraception,
iv. Painkillers,
v. Clean clothing;

43. Recommends​ member states to make sexuality education compulsory from primary to
tertiary institutions including topics on but not limited to:
a. Safe Sex,
b. Child Sex Exploitation,
c. Sexually Transmitted Diseases;

44. Recommends​ increased collaborations between intelligence agencies, customs authorities

and relevant crime agencies of member states regarding human trafficking;

45. Urges​ local enforcement agencies of member states to conduct raids on potential
locations of child prostitutes such as but not limited to:
a. Topless bars,
b. Nightclubs,
 c. Massage parlours,
d. Sex studios/centres
e. Photographic studios;

46. Strongly encourages​ the creation of special investigation units for human trafficking in
respective states of nations to tackle such trafficking issues where training of such units
shall be done by instructors who have undergone a rigorous training programme drawn
up by ATAS;

47. Strongly urges​ member states to have relevant local government agencies to compulsorily
identify and reunite trafficked children and former child sex workers with their families,
given that these families have not:
a. Given up ownership or sold their child/ward in exchange for money or other items
of monetary value,
b. Abandoned their child;

48. Strongly encourages​ all countries to implement provisions for amnesty within the
requirements of their own constitutions and judicial systems for current CST victims and
anyone who provide the authorities with valuable information regarding CST rings, to
ensure that they feel secure in approaching government organisations, on the condition
that:
a. They fully cooperate with local law enforcement officials,
b. Ex-child sex workers agree to be under probation of the government until they
turn 18, or for a suitable amount of time deemed suitable by the government, to
ensure their full reintegration into society as adults;

49. Strongly encourages​ all countries to implement provisions for amnesty within the
requirements of their own constitutions and judicial systems for current CST victims and
anyone who provide the authorities with valuable information regarding CST rings, to
ensure that they feel secure in approaching government organisations, on the condition
that:
a. They fully cooperate with local law enforcement officials,
b. Ex-child sex workers agree to be under probation of the government until they
turn 18, or for a suitable amount of time deemed suitable by the government, to
ensure their full reintegration into society as adults,
c. They are open to opportunities of volunteerism to aid current and recently
extracted child sex workers to reintegrate back into society;
 Article IV: Reintegration of former victims

50. Recommends​ member states to increase support for child sex victims with children in the
forms of but not limited to:
a. Healthcare Subsidies,
b. Education subsidies,
c. Housing arrangements,
d. Counselling sessions;

51. Proposes​ the formation of a professional taskforce to conduct capacity building training
of mentally stable and capable locals to become the first line of aid, under the purview of
the UNICEF, which shall be:
a. Headed by a panel of mental health experts, in particular, inviting Dr Dixon
Chibanda, who has pioneered a particularly cost-effective treatment in Zimbabwe
in a similar manner, also known as the Friendship Bench,
b. Travel to CST rampant areas and villages to construct a self-sufficient refugee-led
system to provide aid on a short and long term basis by training locals and
volunteer ex-child sex workers,
c. Prioritise low-cost psychological aid such as talk therapy, where there is no need
for a regular supply of material resources and is more comprehensible than
complex therapy methods,
d. Train recruits to synergise local languages and folktales to better enhance the
delivery of mental healthcare away from a more medicinal approach and towards
a more localised and culturally sensitive approach for patients to be more open to
the ideas,
e. To be funded by the UNICEF annual budget and humanitarian aid fund;

52. E​ ncourages ​for the construction of infrastructure to provide a child-friendly environment

to victims of CST,
a. These infrastructures will include the following:
i. Childcare centres,
ii. Rehabilitation centres,
iii. Orphanages,
iv. Temporary shelters,
b. Such infrastructures will allow for the victims of child sex tourism to experience a
more child-friendly environment, and focus on the rehabilitation and reintegration
of victims of CST through measures such as but not limited to:
i. Healthcare,
 ii. Job education and skills sharing,
iii. Academic education,
iv. Childcare;

53. Urges​ nations to provide free mental health care to victims of child sex tourism through
measure such as but not limited to:
a. Traditional therapy sessions,
b. Group therapy sessions in which victims may interact with other victims who
have shared similar experiences,
c. Other conventional and/or religious means of therapy;

Article V: Funding

54. Suggests​ that nations tap on UNICEF Pooled Funding and Multi-Donor Trust Funds in
order to facilitate the following, including but not limited to:
a. The establishment of joint military operations,
b. The creation of special task forces and/or any other bodies that serve the purpose
of rescue and rehabilitation of child sex workers,
c. The institution of shelters, orphanages and/or any other required infrastructure,
d. The introduction of the issue in greater detail to the general public via the media
and other means of awareness;

55. Encourages​ more economically developed countries to provide aid to countries where
child sex tourism is rampant in, noting that:
a. MEDCs should be providing aid with the knowledge that this might not be
directly or indirectly compensated by countries seeking aid,
b. MEDCs should directly communicate with specific countries they are sending aid
to for fair compensation, financial or otherwise if so desired,
c. Countries being funded should note that it is a temporary solution, and should be
actively seeking alternative solutions to solve the problem such as the
establishment of a task force or subsidiary body, as well as building upon required
infrastructure to aid rescued child sex workers;

56. Urges​ for countries with strong cybersecurity measures to aid in the prevention of
websites suspected to promote or encourage CST,
a. This will include measures such as but not limited to:
i. Regular monitoring of suspicious websites,
ii. Government verification on any and all websites,
iii. Immediate banning of websites that advertise or host child pornography
and providing the IP address to law enforcement forces.