Subject: NEWS: '100 kids abused daily' in Sri Lanka
From: Jyothi Kanics (jkanics@igc.apc.org)
Date: Fri Feb 12 1999 - 09:22:26 EST
BBC World: South Asia
'100 kids abused daily' in Sri Lanka
Boys are lured away from rural areas
By Colombo Correspondent Susannah Price
The first scientific study on the scale of child sexual abuse in
Sri Lanka has concluded that 100 young people are sexually
exploited or abused every day on the island.
The draft report prepared by a local organisation called
Protecting Children and Environment Everywhere found that
while foreign paedophiles came to Sri Lanka to have sex with
young boys, it was girls who suffered most from abuse within
the community.
The scale of the abuse has never been widely investigated.
The researchers into this first draft study on sexually
exploited and abused children concluded there were between
10,000-15,000 boys involved in the sex trade, not only in
beach areas but also in the hill country and near other tourst
sites.
They found the boys were mostly aged between eight and 15
and while most of them came from fishing hamlets and coastal
villages, about a third were lured from the inland rural areas
by promises of work.
The study said most foreigh paedophiles came from western
Europe but pointed out the involvement of local agents and
pimps.
The authors also highlighted the plight of what they termed
the bonded children, aged from five upwards who are kept
virtual prisoner in houses run by international rings and who
are used to prostitution and pornography.
In addition, the report looked at sexual abuse within the
family or community and interviewed 100 victims, nearly all of
them girls.
They found that many of them had one parent, usually the
mother who was working abroad, and the victims were easy
prey because they were unsupervised.
The report found there was almost no rehabilitation or
counselling available for victims who are often stigmatised by
society.
Currently, sexually abused children are sent to remand or
detention homes where offenders and victims live
side-by-side.
One activist warned that without help, the victims often
ended up as criminals, drug addicts or abusers themselves.
The government and concerned agencies need to act
urgently to help he said, otherwise the cycle will simply
continue.
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