Child Sexual Abuse and Introduction Prostitution

SCOURGE OF CHILD PROSTITUTION IN THE PHILIPPINES A Research Paper Presented To Dr. Antonio R. Yango College of Arts and Sciences University of Perpetual Help System Laguna In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Course Communication Arts 2 By MARIA MAYBELLE F. GALANG March 2012 Introduction Prostitution is a performance of sexual acts solely for the purpose of material gain. Persons prostitute themselves when they grant sexual favors to others in exchange for money, gifts, or other payment and in so doing use their bodies as commodities.In legal terms, the word prostitute refers only to those who engage overtly in such sexual-economic transactions, usually for a specified sum of money. Prostitutes may be of either sex, but throughout history the majority have been women, who have usually entered prostitution through coercion or under economic stress. (http://www. free-researchpapers. com/dbs/b3/peh277. shtml) â€Å"Prostitution† to pay for school fees is just one of the many guises of children in the Philippine flesh trade.Nobody really knows how many Filipino children are in the sex trade, but they could number up to 100,000, according to the International Labor Organization (ILO). Many are recruited from the provinces, their appeal is the â€Å"freshness† factor. These children are exposed to the AIDS virus and sexually transmitted diseases, while many risk physical violence and failing health from long and unholy work hours.They suffer from harmful psychological stresses, development of distorted values, economic exploitation, lack of love and affection, breakdown of family ties, loss of self-worth and endangered lives if they decide to quit. Shocking it may be but there is more to child prostitution than meets the eye. It is just one facet of the horrors daily served to children working in what the ILO calls the worst form of labor, be it on the street or in the sea. (http://unionssaynotochildlabor. om/inthenews/the-world-of-rp%E2%8 0%99s-4-million-child-workers/) The Optional protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography in the Convention on the Rights of the child states that the prostitution of children or child prostitution is the practice whereby a child is used by others for sexual activities in return for remuneration or any other form of consideration (Article 2(b)). The remuneration or other consideration could be provided to the child or to another person.Most generally, the prostitution of children means that a party other than the child benefits from a commercial transaction in which the child is made available for sexual purposes – either an exploiter intermediary who controls or oversees the child's activities for profit, or any other person who negotiates an exchange directly with a child in order to receive sexual gratification. (http://allafrica. com/stories/200711051563. html) According to Dela Pena, et al. 2004) these are the causes why prostitution is happ ening, there are the reasons, desire to earn big sum of money, there is a demand, Connivance of police and other law enforcement agencies/authorities, poor education, runaways/homeless, and the victims of rape and other violence. If there are reasons there is also a consequence, First their families are not respected in their neighborhood, they are the center of gossip, they are treated with no morals or respect, suffering violence from the hands of the police and their clients and considered trash, suffering physical and psychological consequences and last they are considered as sinful.Every day we watch more and more news concerning child prostitution, one of the worst forms of child labour. It has unfortunately become a common phenomenon in today’s society but people are not yet fully aware of what it really means, how many people are indirectly affected, and what the main consequences are. Millions of children from poor families are the main victims of this phenomenon, be cause there is a proportional relationship between economical problems and the spread of child prostitution: The poorer the country is, the more prevalent the problem is.A worldwide net of criminals, seeking economic benefits, works to entrap children and young people (mainly girls), to make a profit by selling them like goods and using their bodies for sexual purposes. Their targets are young people under 18, who live in rural areas, where the educational conditions are insufficient. Although the prevention against child prostitution has increased, it is very difficult to eliminate this â€Å"black hole†. (http://www. albstudent. albstudent. net/punime/K_Topi2. df) The Paper talks about how these innocent and clueless children engaged in such immoral business. Violence is the direct impact to the children suffering from this kind of situation. These children has different reasons why they chose this kind of profession. Poverty is the majority reason why they get into it, now adays it is in demand, they are an orphan and homeless, in immoral nature, and the other one is jobless. Time after time, child exploitation getting worse to worst.To be left homeless and abandoned at 13 years old with a younger brother to provide for was too much for Angelina. Hungry and hopeless, begging food in a public park and nowhere to go, she found hope and happiness in the offer of two women job recruiters in Angeles City, Pampanga. Angelina arrived with the pimps in Angeles two years ago. It was teeming with fat foreigners walking the gaudy neon lit streets with beer bellies as big as a barrel dragging a young girl by the hand and heading to a cheap motel. Angelina was now being trained to provide ‘anything they wanted. Having been told that she would be serving drinks, she was put on the bar top with a dozen other young girls to dance in a bikini for the gawking lusting customers. The ‘Mamasan', her handler, saw that she got paid a small percentage for the dri nks sold when a customer called her down to sit on his lap and press her again his fat stomach and kiss her with an unshaved face smelling of beer and whiskey. It repelled Angelina but for this she would earn more than what she got for just gyrating around a pole to the throbbing rock music and flickering purple strobe lights.It was more money than she ever had in her entire life. Then she was offered an increase if she would go ‘bar-hopping' with a customer. She was promised that, that was the entire customer wanted, be seen with his trophy girl. (http://web. archive. org/web/20070927192510/http:/www. preda. org/archives/2005/ r05030201. html) In research conducted in  Cebu  in 2004, all the taxi drivers surveyed responded that they had had an encounter with a foreign tourist accompanied by a Filipino minor.Interviews conducted in a drop-in centre for victims of commercial sexual exploitation (CSE) showed that 70 per cent of the girls assisted were aged between 11 and 17 years. Cebu  is a prime tourist destination in the Philippines, and is advertised on websites providing information on where sex services are available. Two years ago, an American national was arrested as he tried to leave the US for the Philippines for making arrangements to have sex with two Filipino girls aged 9 and 12. There are indications that this kind of pre-arranged child sex tourism takes place in the country, and is highly facilitated by the Internet.Nationals from Austria, Australia, Belgium, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Malaysia, the Netherlands and the United States have been arrested in the Philippines for sexual offences against children. (http://gvnet. com/childprostitution/Philippines. htm) In Batangas City, a Fifteen year old girl names Ana talks and dresses the way girls her age do. She wears trendy clothes imitated from models she sees in magazines and television shows. She also loves to have fun, and to sing. Beneath her smiles and bubbly personal ity, however, is a child in pain.A female recruiter, who promised Ana a job as a storekeeper in Cavite, flew her from her home province of Bukidnon to Manila in January 2006. From there, she was brought to Cavite and forced to work as a guest relations officer (GRO) in a bar and, eventually, as a prostitute. With three other girls? All minors? Ana was made to work from 4 p. m. till past midnight. If the girls refused to cooperate? Steve? A nephew of the bar owner, would beat them or douse them with water. Ana’s first customers were Coast Guard members who forced her to have sex with them for a fee.She took the experience with a grain of salt. It’s OK. I was raped by my father when I was 7 years old? Ana said, further revealing a darker part of her life. For 10 months, Ana’s life was controlled by the bar owners, who offered her like a merchandise to patrons. (Querubin, 2007) A Filipino Girl at the tender age of three  was forced to perform oral sex on  stran gers. What's worse is that her pimp is her own mother, a drug addict. The girl's plight is shocking but not unique, said Dr Jean D'Cunha from the United  Nations Development Fund for Women (Unifem).Children of increasingly young ages are being forced into prostitution to fuel the  billion-dollar tourism trade in child sex, said international experts on prostitution and human  trafficking at a conference here. Add the growing number of similarly victimised young women, and the experts  believe that ‘millions' are being trafficked worldwide for the sex trade. They are convinced the pool is  swelling, but could not offer definitive figures due to the clandestine nature of the trade. (http://web. archive. org/web/20080614060120/http:/www. childexploitation. org/prostitution6. tml) The researcher conducted this research and covered this research topic is they wanted to prioritize by the law-makers this kind of illegal business, to let the government officials realized tha t the country we belong is included at the ranking of this child flesh trade activity. To do an action to prevent this kind of illegal as well as socially proscribed. Make an organization in the community which includes rules and regulations that can avoid prostitution and especially the Laws will be tightened specially the penalties for those responsible, promoters and beneficiaries of child prostitution were increase drastically.Body Causes of Child Prostitution As mentioned by Jarapa, et al. (2000), poverty in a land laid waste by recurring typhoon which sends families running to their cities; Poverty of education and the lack of relevant training which brings humiliating unemployment to the poorest of the poor; Poverty of esteem and opportunity which prevents parents from being able to defend their youngster; Poverty of the Spirit which destroys the will of the family to stay together; Poverty of the mind which in the name of tourism and the mighty dollar forces children into pr ostitution. Ages range engage in Child ProstitutionStreet children are children who either live or work on the streets, spending a significant amount of time engaged in different occupations, with or without the care and protection of responsible adults. With ages ranging from 5 to 18 years old, these children ply the sidewalks in a desperate attempt to eke out whatever meager amount they can earn for their survival. An estimated 25% live on the streets. (http//www. childhope. com. ages of child prostitution. 2003) The  Philippines  is highly affected by all forms of commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC), which seem to be closely linked and greatly impact on one another.While tourism has been used to promote economic growth, it has also resulted in child sex tourism in the Philippines. In research conducted in  Cebu  in 2004, all the taxi drivers surveyed responded that they had had an encounter with a foreign tourist accompanied by a Filipino minor. Interviews c onducted in a drop-in centre for victims of commercial sexual exploitation (CSE) showed that 70 per cent of the girls assisted were aged between 11 and 17 years. Cebu  is a prime tourist destination in the Philippines, and is advertised on websites providing information on where sex services are available.Two years ago, an American national was arrested as he tried to leave the US for the Philippines for making arrangements to have sex with two Filipino girls aged 9 and 12. There are indications that this kind of pre-arranged child sex tourism takes place in the country, and is highly facilitated by the Internet. Nationals from Austria, Australia, Belgium, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Malaysia, the Netherlands and the United States have been arrested in the Philippines for sexual offences against children. (http//www. ecpat. net. ages of child prostitution. ECPAT International. 006) No. of Child in Prostitution Filipinos mostly used women for Prostitution. The Philippi nes was ranked no. 4 in child Prostitution. Estimatedly 3,366 children still forced in this activity every year. Prostitution is not a business in the Philippines but an industry. (http//www. scribd. com. Prostitution. 2011) The  Virlanie  Foundation, a local child protection NGO, estimated that there were at least 20 thousand child prostitutes in the country, most in the Metro Manila area. Other NGOs estimated that as many as 100 thousand children were involved in the commercial sex industry.Most of these children were girls, and nearly all had dropped out of school. These children come from very poor families with unemployed or irregularly employed parents. The  Virlanie  Foundation offered housing, training, and counseling services to child prostitutes. An ILO program resulted in more than six thousand children being removed or prevented from engaging in the worst forms of child labor, including the commercial sex industry. (http//www. state. gov. com. no. of child in pro stitution. 2006) Prostitution in the Three Sociological PerspectivesAs discussed by Garcia, et al. (1986) Prostitution has Three Sociological Perspectives. Prostitution According to the Functionalists. Prostitution has certain functions in society. It meets the need of husbands who are not fully satisfied by their wives as well as the needs of single and widowed persons who have no available sex partners. The customers are sexually gratified without any responsibility or commitment; the prostitutes earn something for their everyday subsistence. It virtually becomes a matter of give-and-take relationship.Prostitution According to the Conflict Theorists. Prostitution is the offshoot of an unjust society in which the dominant group would always impress on the subordinate groups of their superiority not only in material possession but also in morality. They deliberately want the poor to remain poor or to become poorer so they will not be a threat to the top position they hold on in the social ladder. Prostitution According to the Interactionists. In the first place, the interactionists see a ganut of relationships that exist between prostitutes and their respective clients.If there are 1,001 encounters between them, expect different kinds of interactions and impressions. These are the different interpretations from four parties, namely: The married man himself: â€Å"I prefer staying with her than with my wife. She knows my needs and she is an expert in satisfying them. † The Prostitute: â€Å"Well, this is what we call luck. I might as well learn to love the old man. † The wife: â€Å"I cannot figure out why my husband goes for this whore. She is nothing compared to me. † A friend of the old man: â€Å"There’s nothing wrong with it. Anyway we live in a double-standard society. Usual places where Prostitution occurs As explained by Perez, et al. (2000) Child prostitution exists not only in Metro Manila (M. H. del Pilar, Mabini, Sta. Mo nica, and Flores streets in the tourists belt), but also in the provinces with the youngsters servicing both local and foreign clients of both sexes. The provincial areas are: Puerto Galera, Mindoro; Poro Point in San Fernando, La Union; Bacolod City, Buhi, Camarines Sur; Bulacan; Mactan International Airport, Cebu; Pagsanjan, Laguna; Boracay Island, Aklan; Angeles City; Bulusan Sorsogon; Cavite; Olongapo City; Legaspi City.Pedophiles and their sickness called â€Å"Pedophilia† Dr. Anthony Siracusa, a psychologist specializing in treating sexually abused children from Williamstown, Massachusetts, states that adults who have a thing for children are often stressed and anxious about relationships with other adults. According to Siracusa these people are called regressed offenders, because they are not dealing on the level of an adult but are going back to a former period in their life. Sometimes these people bounce back and forth form a relationship with another adult to crimin al relationships with children. Dr.Hord also agrees that insecurity is at the heart of the pedophile’s inability to relate to an adult intimate relationship. Pedophiles are not capable of having a normal healthy relationship sexually and often socially with other adults. The adult relationship is difficult or even daunting for them and therefore it easier to be attracted to a child. Insecurity translates to the need to control the sexual experience and of course it is very easy to do with a child. It is not so easy to do in a healthy adult relationship. (http://mental-personality-disorders. factoidz. com. pedophilia. roach. 2009) Diseases that can be acquired by ProstitutesVeneral disease has been recognize as a health hazard for centuries. Despite the supposedly new sexual awareness, a great number of people continue to catch and transmit it. It is an infection transmitted from person to person by intimate body contact, or other forms of skin-to-skin contact with an infected person. Syphilis and gonorrhoea are two venereal disease which have reached alarming proportions. Syphilis is caused by a corkscrew-shaped micro-organism called spirochete which enters the body mucous membranes or breaks in the skin. Gonorrhoea is caused by the bacterium gonococcus. Upon