..

0'
. .-

Wi 1 SUPPOY from
 TOlVards Strengthening Rights
of Minors and Adolescents in
Tourislll

2004

~
United Nations
Development Fund for Women �

Equations
With support from
UNIFEM�� �
 Towards Strellgthenillg Rights of Millors alld Adolescellts in Tourism

Towards Strengthening Rights of Minors and Adolescents III Tourism

C 2004 United Nations Development Fund for Women

Publication team:

Editor - in - Chief:
Dr. Shekhar Seshadri
Mr. K T Suresh

Assistant Editor:
Mr. Vinay Chandran
Ms. Joyatri Ray (Principle Investigator and Writer)

Illustration & Design by:

Altered Black, Bangalore
www.alteredblack.com

Printed by:
Parishree Printers
+91-80-23368286

UNIFEM is the women's fund at the United Nations. It provides financial and technical
assistance to innovative programmes and strategies that promote women's human rights,
political participation and economic security. UNIFEM works in partnership with UN
organizations, governments and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and networks to
promote gender equality. It links women's issues and concerns to national, regional and
global agendas, by fostering collaboration and providing technical expertise on gender
mainstreaming and women's empowerment strategies.

The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors, and do not necessarily represent
the vi ews of UNIFEM, the United Nation s or any of its affiliated organizations .
No p a r t of this printed work may be r e produced wit hout due acknowledgeme nt .
Towards S/reugt"enil1g Rig"ts of Millors Ulld Adolescellts ill TOllrism

"The commercial sexual exploitation of children is a fundamental violation of children's rights.

It comprises sexual abuse by the adult and remuneration in cash or kind to the child or a third person
or persons. The child is treated as a sexual object and as a commercial object. The commercial
sexual exploitation of children constitutes a form of coercion and violence against children, and
amounts to forced labour and a contemporary form of slavery"
- A statement from The Declaration and the Agenda for Action from the First World Congress
Against the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children, held in Stockholm, 1996

Acknowledgement:
We wish to acknowledge all the children and adolescents
who have fonned part of this initiative by providing us
opportunity to generate first hand knowledge about
their issues and concerns. Without their cooperation
and openness to share, the publication would not have
been possible.
Our sincere thanks to the Secretaries of the DepaIiment
of Women and Child Development; r epresentatives of
the Women's Commission; Police officials; JudiciaIY
in the states of Kama taka, Keralq, Tamilnadu, Andhra
Pradesh, Goa, West Bengal and Orissa for participating
in this initiative by sharing infonnation and their opinion
on the incidence of explo itation of minors and
adolescents on tourism in the respective states in the
interests of developing responsible tourism practices
that would uphold human rights.
Thanks to Ms. Indrani Sinha, Executive Director, Sanlaap
Towards Strengthellillg Rights of Millors allli Adolescellts ill Tourism
- Kolkata for her insightful observations and suggestions
and Mr. Eshwar Sunderasan for writing the experience
from a traveller's point of view. We arc also grateful to
number of individuals who helped us in many ways to
reach to the bottom of the issues in all these states and
for their guidance.
We extend our gratitude to all the child rights
organizations those have actively participated to make
this effort a joint intervention owing to the best interest
of childr. e n. We have been overwhelmed by the
sensitivity, the commitment, the common sense and
above all, the sheer courage with which they have taken
up this responsibility. Faced with every day crisis, and
innumerable doubts, they continue to soldier on. If this
work helps them and the children who are yet to receive
their dues (basic rights), ours will have been a wOIihwhile
exerCIse.
Last, but not the least, we thank UNIFEM- SARO for
proving flllancial support for bringing out the publication.
Towards Strengthellillg Rights 0/ Millors and Adolescellts ill Tourism

Table of Content

I: Child and Tourism ------ -- -- ------

9

II: Literature in India ------

18

Chapter III: of minors and adolescents in tourism From a traveller's diary _ _ _ _ 21

IV: Methodology _ _ _ _ _
32

V: ------
35

Framework: 60

75
Towards Slrt!llglllening Rights a/Minors alld Adoiesct!llts in Tourism
Towards Sirengillening Rigilis ofMinors and Adolescents in Tourism 7

of tourism may use to

EXECUTIVE document would also help to
and track the changes in the H,a,,, ..�,,

SUMMARY child exploitation in tourism.

Several studies have undertaken to understand the audience of this publication is the policy
extent and severity phlenclml;mCll1 of commercial rn�l<f'r,1 concemed government delpartm!ents,
sexual exploitation emphasising aspects leaders,
like travel,
economic
There is outcome is to draw attention to
extensive has rather
repeatedly. adolescents. An attempt has
of the situation and
Volumes of published on the issue of interventions by various stakeholders and civil society
commercial sexual of children in tourism is not to imply that the growth
are available in the countries of Thailand, muffled altogether. This growth
Srilanka and help in gaining a with responsible tourism to ensure
comprehensive ma.ersmnloulg of the problem. The sustainability in terms of social,
understanding is towards building Though the
organisational and which can tourism development are multitude,
be disseminated to a wider issue
for policy
you directly into the to
in a vast I'nl1n,,,",,
which has become a conducive
organisations are '"''''IJJ.V' ......,VU of minors and ad()le:;cents.
exploitation, one on to give an overview about the
undertaken by both at the national and state
the diverse aspects. But
minors and adolescents This would provide some idea of why
the strong link between sector as much exploitation
and trafficking h a s there
documenting issues
circumstances. of a sensitive tourist on a
is an eye to the
This publication an of the decay in the system: how
interventions that would protect and the mnoc�:m,
from exploitation in It the process and confusion in the
identifying minors and t h e l a rger soci
adolescents for .....r'."'f'" danger
of exploitation, intake, The deals with the data collection
assessment, treatment rehabilitation activities and is an analysis of the realities that we
and reintegration; and context (tourism) have come across during our fieldwork. It details the
specific guidelines for uv.,V.,,, interventions. This profile of exploited, the exploiters and
is the first p ublication of its kind i n India. where, when it happens. Demand and supply
sides of the p h e n omen o n a r e t h e n explored.
Finally, a manual for intervention in the area of
commercial sexual children been The book end s with explaining the intervention
developed which the and to From the of
 Towards Strellgthellillg Rights of Minors and Adolescents in Tourism

the previous chapter, we have derived a set of services

that survivors of exploitation and the minors and
adolescents at risk need for a dignified living. The
proposed interventions are based on how these services
could be reached to them and the collaboration needed
from various actors, that ensures strengthening the rights
of minors and adolescents.
Towards Strengthening Rights ofMillors alld Adolescents in TourislII
Chapter I: Child and
Tourism
Tourism: T h e new emissa r y of Development
Dcvelopm<::nt is a concept that defies definition. In the
third quarter of the 20th century, it was seen as being
achieved through government run poverty alleviation
schemes that bring the hope of a better life,
simultaneously forcing the financially undcrprivileged
to succumb to the swirling changes that sUITound them.
In the last decade or two, industry and investment were
seen as the emissaries of development. The idea of
betterment of lives is iITetrievably linked to the notion
of industrialisation. Even this notion, in itself, has
undergone many changes along with the newer concepts
of development, which increasingly hold out to be more
than mere mone tary consideration. The old
industrialisation was more labour-centric - when
technology was not where it is today. With advances in
technology, the process of industrialisation today
connotes greater use of capital than labour. This is
evident in the greater 'hiring and firing' of labour and
the weakening of labour unions. There is a marked shift
in the focus from labour to capita\. On the marketing
side, the industry sees itself as having to provide not
just the product, the product along with a whole range
of services. It is a package deal, but the base is
unquestionably the tangible product. Tourism industry
is also a whole package of services, which will cease
to exist if it isn't for the natural resources that form the
base. This fits in very well with the existence of resource
9
rich, culturally diverse countries, which can be
showcased at a price, for the experience and comfort.
The service industry now thrives, and tourism becomes
an industry in itself.
The essence of tourism is the existence of distinct
cultural flavour and abundant natural resources. This
is the basis of life and livelihoods of the local
communities. These are the very same resources that
the tourists come to enjoy and experience. Thus it
becmes important to respect the boundaries of wwill
constitute enjoyment and what will transcend thto becme
exploitation. More often than not, these boundaries are
thin or non-existent.
Understanding Tourism
Tourism deals with attitudes and psyches, much like
media and advertising. It is an industry that is involved
in selling experiences, and not just tangible products.
The tourist is willing to pay not just for a place that is
seen, or services that are rendered, but an entire package
of experiences. Thus tourism has the Columbus attitude
as a cornerstone, whereby the experience of being an
explorer, or of being the first in an undiscovered
destination, is exciting. This is true of even time-tested
destinations, which are carefully retained in their 'original
state', mostly in pockets, in order to cater to the ever
changing demand for new and different experiences.
Tourism also involves influencing people to visit
destinations, dealing therefore with the entire ambit of
human motivations, likes and desires. This is done by
promising feelings of power, such as in the Columbus
attitude, and also feelings of adventure and release. This
leads to an expectation that the experience would be
10
far removed from the norms and mores of their everyday
lives. Thus tourism sometimes promises what is known
as 'illicit space' where one may indulge in activities
which are normally unacceptable. This is particulary
relevant while discussing the effects of tourism on
minors and adolescents, since their exploitation,
impennissible in home societies and social contexts, is
often a prevalent activity when an 'illicit space' is
created or provided.
Tourism seduces not only the tourists but also the local
peoples affected by tourism in a given area; and others
a round, most notably the middle c l as s urban
intelligentsia. Tourism is projected as a harbinger of
investment, and consequently development while being
an environment and indigenous people friendly activity.
This makes it very complex and dynamic, because the
cause and effect of the tourism industry lie in the lives
of people in a very fundamental way. Tourism is about
choices of people, but in India it is mostly by the visitors,
and not by the visited. This is why the need to look at
tourism in the context of rights arises.
The need to identify trends
While much is promised through tourism, the realities
are different and need to be identified and understood.
The potential changes/effects are not limited to
individuals alone, but encompasses the larger society
and the political ecomony of the nation. These changes
are not discrete events, but continuous processes which
makes it difficult to recognise and makes preventive/
remedial measures complex. Trends are visible as
changes, and responses to changes, exhibited not only
by groups, but by the industry and also the State.
The changes felt by the local communities, are essentially
the result of the dialectics of a political economy,
whereas the industry trends are more responses to market
demands and market fluctuations. The attitude of the
state is an indicator of the rights that it will afford to
its people.
In these situations, the response of the State, and the
priorities it accords to the various parties involved, are
indicative of its compulsions, attitiudes and
understanding vis-a-vis its people and the development
debate. The process of according or recognising the
Towards Strengthenillg Rights of Millors and Adolescents in Tourism
rights of the people begin with t h e primary
acknowledgment of the threats to the people through
the i l l effects of the development process.
In this larger conflict of development and its hazardous
effects, the effects of tourism on minors and adolescents
must bear special mention. It involves a twofold analysis.
Firstly, they must be understood as effects on minors
and adolescents as a group of people deserving
preferential treatment because of extreme vulnerability.
However, the rationale for looking at minors as a
class of their own is a debate that is not of the
immediate concern of the issue at hand. It is enough
to presume that the effects of tourism on minors and
adolescents may be distinct from those that it has
on other adult groups. Therefore, the need for a look
into this issue, in particular, is felt.
Secondly, the issues relating to minors and adolescents
are always indicative, of the larger issues felt by the
socio-economic structure of a given people, community
or nation. These larger issues may not be obvious in
other spheres at all.
What is an 'effect' of tourism?
Simply speaking, any change in a lifestyle, or in means
or ways of life, is an effect. However, rather than define
effect in a tt:chnical sense, the endeavour here is to
determine the extent of what can be termed as 'effect',
that is, to give an inclusive concept of 'effect'. Firstly,
the effects of tourism, as an industry, are a subset of
the effects of tourism as a whole. Within this, there is
a further distinction of direct and indirect effects,
depending on whether it is a direct incidence of tourism,
or a result of changes and events, which can be linked
backed to the advent or existence of tourism.
The Effects of Tourism on minors and adolescents
The effects of tourism on minors and adolescents are
less easily perceptible than others. This may be due to
the fact that minors and adolescents are not heard as
much as adults are. Therefore the incidence of threats,
or effects of tourism on minors and adolescents are not
recorded. In addition, the macro effects of tourism are
often not considered as having been felt by minors and
adolescents. For example, the larger issue of tourism
Towards Strengthening Rights ofMinors and Adolescents in Tourism
and employment may not take into account the issue
of minors and adolescents, because the work of minors
and adolescents does not fall into the conventional
understanding of employment. Due to this the effects
of tourism on minors and adolescents is less visible.
Child Labour
Tourism is projected as the harbinger of prosperity, as
it provides employment opportunities both directly and
indirectly. However, this claim must be subjected to
severe scrutiny as the jobs generated by tourism are for
the literate. The kind of employment tourism offers to
the local communities (like fishing community,
agriculturalists) is that of guards, sweepers, and cleaners.
In addition to the formal hotel industry, people are also
employed in smaller tourism ventures such as boating,
vending, selling trinkets. Not withstanding the dignity
of labour, this a step down for the local community.
Prior to the advent of tourism these very same people
were often engaged in traditional occupations, with
adequate subsistence income, or more, and were own
masters.
The trend however, is existent, that people shift from
their traditional occupation to those provided by the
advent of tourism into the area . This has serious
ramifications for minors and adolescents because there
is a direct change in their work and occupation patterns,
from participation in the family activities, to other, more
demanding and exploitative forms of earning a living.
For example, let us take the case of a fishing community
in Mammallapuram, Tamil Nadu, where the father goes
ii II is in no way suggesled or argued here Ihat a child musl always be under the proleclion of his or her famity. It is only suggested Ihal Ihe
family based lifestyle of lhe child does nol allow for many undue oUIside influences to permeate inlo the child's life during Ihe formalive years.
II
fishing along with the other males of the community.
The share of fish brought .back by him undergoes a
process of value addition, wherein the minors and
adolescents and other members may participate in the
process of cleaning and drying. Finally, the mother will
take this fish to the market. When tourism makes its
entry, the head of the family gets a small job. In the
given instance, let us say that the father leaves his
fishing occupation for a job as a guard in a hotel. The
cash remuneration available to him, is now the income
of the family as a whole, and would, in economic terms
substitute only the part of the income earned by him,
in the traditional occupation of fishing. The monetary
value of the value addition done by the other members
of the family is lost. When the father changes his job,
the value of his part of the occupation is replaced, but
the loss of occupation of his family is not compensated.
The minors may then be forced to take up jobs outside
the home. These jobs may not be of the same nature as
their assistance at home, and are definitely not in the
same atmosphere as within the house or community.
Thus minors may be placed in situations where the
nature of their work becomes much tougher, and raises
serious issues of health and safety and increased risk
of exploitation.
Usually the minors and adolescents also find work
related to the tourism economy, ranging from hotels
and restaurants to selling curios or other items to the
tourists. Such occupations place them in direct contact
with many strangers, who seek to exploit these minors
and adolescents, often, sexually. The filter that was
provided by the family, in a natural wayii, is now lost
leaving the minors and adolescents open and explosed
12
to various influences, some of which, such as the usc
of drugs, are clearly detrimental.
The breakdown o f the traditional occupation modes
causes the overall socio-economic descent of the family.
It also has a direct impact on the type and form of work
done by the child, and where and how the child works.
Tourism can transform a child, helping at home, i n an
atmosphere of goodw i l l and community, into a paid
(hopefu lly) worker, or perhaps even an unpaid worker,
working off the debts of the fami ly. Simply put, tourism
increases the incidence of child labour.
The Breakdown and Loss of Family and Community
Structures.
The second e ffe c t o f t h i s change i n patterns o f
employment, for the child and community, is the loss
o f traditional form s o f know l edge. The t raditional
occupat i o n s are necessarily based on an i n t i mate
knowledge of the natural resources, thei r cycles and
features, and the overall functioning of the bio-system
as a who l e . Continued alie natio n , especi a l l y over
g e n e r a t i o n s, c an l e a d t o a l o s s of t h i s u n i q u e
understanding.
A very fri ghte n i n g effe ct of this alie nati o n from
tradi tional occupations, p erhaps , is the consequent
breakdown of the community structures that it causes.
As stated earlier, the notion of community itself is
centred around a homogenous use of a resource. When
the traditional occupation is abandoned for other means,
thi s b o n d , b a s e d on the c o m m o n u s e , b r e a k s .
In fact, the 'community' itself, by defini tion, ceases to
exist. In time, this breakdown is felt in practice, as the
bonds shared are lost. There are also radical shifts in
the socio-economic statuses of the different fami lies,
depending on the new occupations, which erodes the
co mmon a l i ti e s w i thin the c o m m u n i ty. O nce the
community breaks down, the most i mportant socio­
economic support structure available to the people is
lost. This same phenomenon also happens at a m icro
level with the family itself, as the family breaks up, in
order to find occupations to sustain the fam i ly. In such
a case, one or more members of the family may even
mi grate, usually to an urban area.
In such a situation, the mi nors and adolescents are put
Towards Strellgthening Rights of Millors alld Adolescents in Tourism
at great lisk, because they lost their basic social moorings.
The loss of the family can cause various problems for
the child, in emotional, social and economic terms. In
addition the age-old support structure that was present
for m inors and adolescents in di stress, namely the
community, is also now absent. In this situation, the
child is left to fend for his or her own self. In particular,
this goes against the basic rights of the child, as laid
down in the Convention on the Rights of the Child. In
the preamble and in articles 5, 10 and 18, the CRC
specifically refers to the family as the fundamental
group o f society and the natural environment for the
growth and well-being o f its members, particularly
minors and adolescents.
The community has always been the point of decision­
malUng, and resource sharing for members. The loss of
community also erodes the governance capacities, and
political power of the people, and also allows for the
entry of profit oriented individual uti li sation patterns.
This could affect the child's perception and view of the
role of community and family, and the place of the child
in the entire social pattern and framework of l ife. This
leaves minors and adolescents vulnerable to exploitation,
and is also responsible for the phenomenon ofrrilgration
to urban areas, to add to the multitude on the streets .
Loss of residential and social spaces
These issues of loss of space are relevant in terms of
the community's residential space, and also the space
needed for their socio-cultural activities like recreational
space or use of space for socio-religious purposes, such
as burial grounds etc. The i ssue of recreational space
is an important one for minors and adolescents, especially
in rural contexts, where natural spaces for physical
activity is their only asset. The children, in their formative
years seek tremendous amounts of cultural inputs, which
go towards framing his or her identity and values. This
cultural input is greatly compromised, as the community
l a c k s s p a c e for s o c i a l a n d c u l t u r a l a c t i v i t i e s .
The loss o f such space may b e a physical loss, o r a loss
of utility . Physical loss is the actual loss of the land due
to occupation by touri sm related activities . Loss of
utility is when the comml,lnity loses its privacy, mental
and physical, in an area due to the infraction of tourists
into the area. In some cases, this may even be a loss of
sanctity.
Towards Strengthellillg Rights ofMinors and Adolescents in Tourism
This loss may be caused in both a direct and indirect
manner, as in the case of occupational space. In fact,
in most traditional communities, such spaces are both
one and the same, and the loss of one necessarily means
the loss of the other.
Issues of Self-image and Identity
Issues of representation are not restricted only to the
commercialisation of traditional values and the
commodification of cultural integrity, but also includes
the projection of a destination as a particular kind of
market. This often involves the branding of destinations,
and projecting a particular image of a destination, or of
its peoples. A prime example of this is the image of
Goa as the land of drugs, alcohol and sex, packaged in
the capsules of nirvana and alternative lifestyles. This
need for branding and packaging of places often leads
to the misrepresentation about the local people and
may also require them to participate in this marketing
drama, by presenting themselves to the tourist in ways
demonstrating the image attached to the destination. A
case in point is Rajasthan where a traditionally attired
person, employed by the hotel (originally a palace) is
made to sit outside the entrance and smoke an empty
hookah all day. These instances raise issues about the
preservation of the integrity of cultures of the visited
people. It also raises the larger debate of a people's
right to self-representation and identity. This infiingement
is not by states or individuals directly, but part of a
larger, powerful market, that demands such affront be
made in order to earn profits. The ironical fact is that
the governments of nations become involved in this
iii Kannur: Changing Perceptions of Development'A report on the Kannur Survey, ILLUSTRATIONS: Case Studies on Development and the
Coast. EQUATIONS, Bangalore, 2000, p 21 .. iv Commonly referred to as "Child Sex Tourism
13
perverse process of 't o u r i s m promotion' .
For minors and adolescents, these issues present a multi­
faceted problem, degeneration of morals and values, a
fear expressed by many peoples in areas of tourism
developmentiii, and the question of the identity and self
image of the individual and that of the community that
the child grows up in. Minors and adolescents feel the
commodification of their identity and culture, which
brings about feelings of resentment and displacement,
vis-a-vis their own community and their family. This
also contributes to their alienation from their own
realities. This again increases their vulnerability . This
has been observed in every tourist's destination under
discussion in this publication. Peer Pressure and the
'snow ball' effect of tourism forms two large factors
that make minors and adolescents vulnerable to
exploitation.
The Sexual Exploitation of Minors and adolescents
The link between the socio-economic pressures faced
by the community and tourism comes full circle in the
context of exploitation of persons.
The sexual exploitation of minors and adolescents in
tourismiv is a global phenomenon that affects both tourist
sending and tourist receiving nations. It has an impact
on millions of minors and adolescents each year and
constitutes a violation of the rights of the child. It occurs
in many ways, including child labour, child pornography,
trafficking and sexual exploitation. This involves child
exploiters and organized criminal networks, which may
be part of a wider network for the trafficking in humans
14 Towards Strengthening Rights o fMinors and Adolescents in Tourism

various purposes (labour, sex, entertainment so impoverishment due to tourism IHU"',",';U """''''A''''',
on). operate as the push factors,
demandvi• The subtler and more
Although tourism is not the only cause in whic � tourism is facilitating
children, the nature of the tourism IS a serious concern.
provides f ertile atmosphere f or
of exploited minors and adolescents

, Poor tourism planning leads to been a subject of concern - an

when we that
and loss o f
most powerful economic sectors
, N o integration o f human rights
energetically promoted as a
rights is "V'''�'''''''"�

many regions of the world,

or industry training,
countries are turning to tourism as a way to
, Development of tourism in locations
their economies, stimulate investments, and
providing even basic infrastructure and service to
- creates a gap between tourist and local foreign-exchange earningsvii.

nots'.
is no regulatory mechanism to lay down
Facts from the ground:
norms in tourist destinations related to culture
India i s also unfortunately the of
beaviour norms, nudity, relationships ha"""�o�

and minors and adolescents/men and women. promotion of tourism. In its Tourism Policy, 2001, it
, Perceptions that foreign tourists have envisaged tourism as the
generation, environmental re-generation, development
status. High level consumerism in tourist
remote areas and development

, The inadequacy of the mandate of tourist police disadvantaged groups in the country,

in tourism destinations, social integration. Tourism is,

, Lack of inhibition and responsibility of tourists - vital to the economy, In the mad

'it's not my home' mentality it is conveniehtly forgotten that

demand sex traditional jobs in

fr.,'au"... touristsv. tightening of the local labour supply
dependence on external suppliers is often overlooked
or ignored,
fed and nurtured by supply and
receiving and generating countries, the cause
child sexual abuse by tourists is a complex evidence has been gathered

of social, cultural and economic factors, Research working with minors and adolescents, and from
government to demonstrate that is
�"'''''"'''''''' that poverty, though most
as the major cause of exploitation of minors and exploitation of minors and adolescents in tourism in

and child sex tourism, is only one the India. The evidence suggests an existence

causes, and organised patterns in child exploitation in

In many cases exploitation happens, due to a A case of paedophilia was first exposed

of understanding and ignorance. This is true a 76 year old man of unknown

adults of impoverished families, w h o on 3 April 1991 in Goa. Before the mCldent

inadvertantly allow the sexual exploitation little or no awareness about

and adolescents, often facilitated by exploitation of minors and

the exploitation of minors and trafficking involving young

a to The
actlCllesce:nts is a less obvious occurrence, as _�".. ., ...,

to the blatant prostitution of adults. in prostitution was a well known, It came as a

is a clear nation, He was arrested in on

s h o w in g t h e n e x u s of boys into homosexual activities

v, Executive Summary, A Situational Analysis a/Child Sex Tourism in Nepal, Srilanka and India: by ECPAT Interna/ional, December 2003
VI EQUATIONS report on Women and Tourism issues in Mahabalipuram; vii Ibid
Towards Sirengihening Righls ofMinors and Adolescents in Tourism
possessing drugs and pornographic materials. In March
1996, Freddy Peats was convicted for sex crimes against
young boys in Goa. This was the first conviction for
running an organised paedophilia racket in India and
happened due to the persistent intervention by the Child
Activist, Sheela barse.
Though his lawyers were confident of success in a
higher-court appeal, Peat was held "guilty... beyond all
reasonable d o u b t s": He was s e n te n c e d
· SIX MONTHS rigorous imprisonment on each of
the five counts (sentence concurrently) for offences
under Section 342 of the Indian Penal Code (wrongful
confinement).
· TEN YEARS' r.i. and Rs. 200 fine (or one month
simple imprisonment) for each one of the five counts
under sections 355, 328, 337 and 323 of WC (causing
hurt, administering drugs etc) and Sec 43 of the Juvenile
Justice Act (for using the b o ys sexually).
· TWO YEARS' r.i. under secs 292 and 293 o f the
IPC (for possession and circulation of obscene material).
· SIX MONTHS wider the Indian Post Office Act,
1888 for using the Post Office for sending/receiving
obscene material.
· LIFE IMPRISONMENT under 5 .377 of the IPC
(for unnatural sex), and SEVEN YEARS r.i. under the
Immoral Traffic Act and 5 years r.i. under the Drugs
and Cosmetics Act, 1940 for using and administering
drugs.
Soon after the Freddy Peats case, the case of HB, a 57-
year German paedophile was brought to the notice of
Calangute Police station in 1999.He was found guilty
viii EQUATIONS paperfor Campaign Against Child Labour· Kamataka
15
by the Assistant Sessions Judge Panaji under Sections
373 and 377, hiring of a minor for illicit or immoral
purposes and for committing unnatural sexual offences.
He was awarded six years imprisonment. However, on
29th September 2000 he was acquitted of the charges
by the Additional Sessions Judge Mapusa, in spite of
evidence such as the presence of sperm in the anus of
the accused and of the young boy and the child's
testimony stating that the accused had sexual relations
to: with him.' The case got dismissed because HB's
whereabouts were unknown.
Not even two months had passed since the case of a
"wanted" paedophile fleeing the country came to light,
that yet another paedophile appears to have fled the
country, jumping bail in Goa (Sandesh Prabhudesai,
"Another paedophile goes scot-free", The Pioneer,
Goa, 14 April 2000). DS, a French national arrested
by the Delhi CBI in an infamous child abuse racket run
in Goa by Freddy Peats in the early '90s and did not
report to the Calangute police station since 27th February
200 l . DS had managed to get it modified on February
16 and arranged that he would henceforth report to the
Calangute police station every alternate day, instead of
the local CBI office at Panaji. Interestingly, both the
criminals - the German national HB, and the French
Nation al DS - have disappeared from India.
Paedophilia related tourism is not a phenomenon limited
to the children of Goa. Migration from Kamataka to
Goa feeds this trade. Most of the minors and adolescents
who are victims of commyrcial sexual exploitation come
from Bijapur, Sitapur, Karwar and Belgaumviii. There
are reports of tourists moving from Goa to areas of
16
North Karnataka such as Gokarna and Karwar, which
are presently being developed for tourism. Foreign
tourists have settled permanently in the Om and Kudle
beaches, which have become hideout points and fertile
grounds for exploitation.
In Karwar, which is about 6 kms from the Goan border,
the local communities have reported that minors and
adolescents from the neighbouring villages have been
exposed to commercial sexual exploitation. Two popular
destinations that are emerging as centres for paedophile
activity are Kovalam in Kerala and Mamallapuram in
Tamil Nadu.
The Swiss couple, Loshiar and Wilhelm Marty, were
convicted three years ago by a sessions court in Mumbai
for using street minors and adolescents for child
pornography. The Bombay High Court had commuted
the seven-year sentence of the couple to three years and
three months - the time they had already spent in jail
- increased the compensation amount for the six victims
from Rs. 5,000 to Rs. 1 lakh and ordered the release of
the couple. The High Court ruling said that commuting
the sentence sent out the wrong message internationally
- that in India such abuse could go uncheckedix•
A suspected paedophile, booked by Mumbai police for
alleged chi ld sex abuse in 200 I, was extradited from
USA. The US federal authorities held Allan lohan Water,
facing an international arrest warrant by the Interpol,
some months ago when he was on the way to the Pacific
island of Bermuda. An extradition process was initiated
by India thereafter. Water along with fellow Briton
Duncan Grant has been accused by Mumbai police of
sexually abusing street minors and adolescents who
had taken refuge in the minors and adolescents' home,
Anchorage Shelter, which the duo had set up in Colaba,
South Mumbai, in 1999x•
Although the growth of international tourism has
contributed to an increase in the demand for sex with
minors and adolescents, it is not the only culprit. It is
essentially a local problem, engaged in mostly by
nationals and residents, in which a small percentage of
tourists happen to participate in sexual acts with minors
and adolescents.
ix Stay on release a/Swiss couple hailed, THD, 03.04.04; x British paedophile extradited, TSD,07.09.04
Towards Stre/lgthening Rights ofMinors alld Adolescellts ill Tourism
An interesting observation is that the persons who
participate in child sex tourism are not always
paedophiles, also normal people, who take advantage
of opportunities such as the availability of minors and
adolescents while on vacation. Factors, which lead a
tourist to engage in commercial sexual exploitation of
minors and adolescents, include feelings of anonymity
away from home, cultural ignorance, deceitful
rationalisation of one's behaviour as helping a family
or a child economically; a sense of superiority over the
local culture, mistaken belief that sex with minor will
protect them from cotracting HIV/AIDS and the
availability of minors and adolescents as sex partners.
W hile there are enough reports to show the increase in
commercial sexual exploitation of minors and
adolescents in tourism in India, there is no
acknowledgment of the issue by the Government or
industry - they continue to consider the phenomenon
as an aberration.
The move towards Solutions
After a decade long history of activism by child rights
activists, tourism activists and other concerned
individuals and groups, the National Commission for
Women and The National Human Rights Commission
are acknowledging the problem. In response to
campaigns by various groups, the Goa Government has
enacted the Goa Minors and adolescents's Act 2003,
which has gefined sexual offences against minors and
adolescents and laid down stringent penalties.
The protection for minors and adolescents in general
and at tourism destinations in particular is of critical
relevance while promoting tourism. The issues are
diverse, but the thread that runs through the issues
discussed relate back to the socio-economic background
of the community and the family the child belongs to.
It is imperative to establish a keen understanding of
these interlirlked issues in the broader context of tourism
development, thereby establishing the causes, and then
seeking solutions, in that order. Without this all remedial
measures can at best be a stop gap solution, as is the
case today. Towards this end, the much larger question
Towards Strengthening Rights ofMinors and Adolescents in Tourism
of the position of minors and adolescents in the debate
on tourism development, not as victims, but as informed
participants needs to be recognised and accepted. While
the issue of setting a position on this is beyond this
publication, it nevertheless establishes the necessity for
such a debate to evolve.
In this context, the State's understanding of minors and
adolescents also, needs to be revised. While the earlier
State position of minors and adolescents as offenders
is clearly undergoing change, the trends in the new
direction do not seem to be very prom ising.
The pressures brought into the lives of people by the
various developmental issues, can have far reaching
consequences. The question that arises is how these
issues can be linked: the gradual erosion of one's life,
17
culture, society and economic stability into the existing
paradigms of minors and adolescents's rights? What
can be termed as a violation? The need of the hour is
to look at policies, business practices, and trends as
violations rather than individual acts. The focus must
also shift from rehabilitation, to the eradication of the
root causes that place minors and adolescents in distress.
This change in outlook is a precondition to if the issues
of tourism development that continue to silently affect
the lives of so many minors and adolescents, can be
brought to question within the ambit of law, rights,
responsibilities and accountabilities of various
stakeholders in tourism.
18
.. 1 J ll. L,
• of tourism. It stated, "Further tourism brings more or
ill In ),R
T h o u g h t h e re are e n o u g h s t u d i e s avai l a b l e o n
exploitation o f minors a n d adolescents i n general and
paedophilia, i n particular at an international level, there
is a dearth of literature availab le in I ndia on the issue.
This chapter provides an overview of materials available
i n India. The l iterature in India on the issue of CST
could be divided into two periods :
a) The period between 1 99 1 and 1 9 9 6 a n d b ) t h e period
between 1997 and 2002
The period between 1991 and 1996:
T h e l i terature a v a i l a b l e d u r i n g t h e f i rs t p e r i o d
concentrated on:
. B r i n g t o l i gh t t h e l i nk between tourism and
paedophilia and
. To wake people to the real i ty that commercial
sexual exploitation of minors and adolescents is not a
purely western phenomenon but i s also happening i n
India.
The first paper on the issue was written by K.T. Suresh
titled as "Child Prostitution: An Asian Perspective ",
1989 which brought out the vagaries of commercial
sexual exploitation of m inors and adolescents i n the
Asian perspective by situating the issue in the context
of tourism.
Towards Strengthening Righ,s ofMillors and Adolescellts in Tourism
The paper di scussed the factors that make communities
vulnerable to high levels of exploitation in the context
at least expands the evils of alcoholism, drugs and
prostitution to the people. In some cases, women and
young minors and adolescents . . . people have been lured
or stolen, and then sold into prostitution and other forms
of exploitation. As such . . . and sexism are clearly
interiinkeC: with tourism".
The next paper by K. T. Suresh, A contextual view of
Tourism and Child Prostitution in india, 1990, brought
out the link between child labour, child trafficking and
c o m m e r c i a l s e x u a l e x p l o i ta t i o n of m i n o rs and
adolescents and touris m . It describes the increasing
vulnerability of m inors and adolescents i n tourism and
calls for action to address the rights of m inors and
adolescents in tourism.
Both of these papers led ·to creation of forums to raise
public awareness. EQUATIONS through its network
have attempted to place tourism squarely in the context
of emerging . "real p o l i t i k" as well as other socio­
economic developmental issues.
The third paper in this period was by K T Suresh and
Frederick Noronha titled "Situating the Role of Tourism
i n Chi ld Prostitution", 1991 . This paper was based on
the n ewspaper c l i p p i n g published i n the Engli sh­
Language Gomantak Times on the case of "Dr. Freddy
Peats" on 4th April 199 1 .
This paper led t o a campaign that involved civil society,
activists, local people and concerned i ndividuals. The
campaign spoke for the seriousness with which the case
Towards Strengtllening Rigilts of Minors and Adolescents in Tourism 19

was Finally campaign muiti­ Mumbai, M angalore, Cochin,

stakeholder i nvolvement in conviction Dr. can be seen with children. Yet it has not yet
Peats. whether c l i e n ts a r e
o r occasional abusers ."
A study brought out INSAF in February 1995,
Needs of Minors and adolescents in Goa: Towards The book mentioned that the tourist cities
building an adequate An Interim Report", levels of scx tourism of
LlV:llltt;U out that M inors and workers and local tourists.
were at risk inducted o f a pacdoph i le i s of a potbel lied
age. The they are not the only culprits. Local
into the issue of child prostitution i n in the context other PaIts country are very much
of the of tourism to the state's of the game . Goa, Kerala and Kolkata are reported
economy. to b e fa v o u r i t e of

A case study fro m a coastal area in S ex u a l Abuse a n d the G rowth of Paedop h i l i a : A

was conducted L o u renca M arqu e s s . f.n a n d Regional Profile of Goa", 1 998: This was done
Charles A paper on the was prepared by The was through
"World agai n s t Commerc i a l interviews and reports that appeared in Nationa l ,
Children" i n Stockholm, 27-3 1 r\ U "' U � >l . I nternat i on a l , a n d l o c a l A
The study of the and research team of INSAF observed that th e nature on
This a description o f the i n teraction between male and
and adolescents M inors adolescents on the beach ;; U 't;(14'O�

possibi lity abuse.

i m p l i c at io n s o f t h a t e n v i ro n m e n t on the c h i l dren .
" Though the m i grant M inors and
The period between 1997 and 2002 au'v,v;;\""-, , ,,,, are worst victims exploitation,
our team confirms that a
this period literature shifted of local M i nors and adolescents too are l ured by
to a more and "'V'(Un.\.1 the who procure these M i n ors and
adolescents the guise of providing foster care and
opportuni t i e s ' . The says that the
Dr. Julia O ' Connell Davidson and Jacque l ine of the paedophiles is unclear. It regretted the
1 997, did a of Child Prostitution and u nw i l l i n g n e s s to the
Tou rism in Goa. The report "Chi ld Prostitution and o f paedoph i li a , therefore
Sex Tourism i n Goa " was based on fieldwork of eight take any to prevent it. "
days and Sex tourists and sexpatriates (expatriates
involved in the sexual exp l oi tation of c h i l d ren) were A paper presented
i n t er v iewed, threw s o m e l ig h t o n h e l d by
of and modus case studies of two a boy and
a girl, formerly an open school run by
book by Gathia " Child Umed (an organi zation concerned with ri ghts of
i n I n d i a" , 1 type of chi l dren) a t but g o t i n vo l ved
paedophiles v isiting India. w ith some I t outline s the
and
book mentioned "sex tourism involving foreigners, it i s for them to talk about the problems
domestic and local girls is a o r to seek help. "
n ever been broach ed o r
investigated i n the broader concept of In port Another study was conducted by D r. Ni shta
towns l i ke Keral a , K o l ka t a , a period of 4 fro m 1 st March 1 999 to 30th
20 Towards Strengthellillg RighlS o/Millors alld Ado/estellLv ill Tourism

1 999. Her book "See the Evil of Tourism", 2000, focused
on the prob l em of the growing number of foreign
paedophiles visiting Goa. This study attempted to show
that Goa is in danger of becoming a destination for sex
tourism. It showed that without concerted action on the
part of the state of Goa, and the will to stop the activities
of paedophi les on the part of its citizens, paedophilia
might take on the form of organized sexual abuse of
children. Her study provided insights into the types of
paedophiles and their self-perception, the ir modus
operandi, as well as problems faced by organizations
and citizens' initiatives that wish to campaign to eradicate
this.
The paper written by Shirley Susan titled "Tourism and
commercial sexual expl oitation of children", 2000,
h i ghlights the impacts o f tourism on M i nors and
adol escents in Kerala. T h e paper dealt with the
magnitude of commercial sexual exploitation of Minors
and adolescents i n the tourism si tes of Kera l a .
T he paper by E Q U AT I ONS, t i t l e d "Tourism and
Comm erc i a l Sexual Explo itation of Min ors and
a d o l escents- towards d e v e l oping a better l e gal
perspective", 2000, focused on the promotional aspects
of present day tourism and its linkage with commercial
sexual exploitation of Minors and adolescents in India
and the problems in addressing the issue especially with
regard to the lacunae's in the Indian Legal Framework.
and tbe necd for change in existing legal system.
The papers mentioncd above have facilitated a process
by which EQUATIONS was able to influence other
networks, such as CACT, CACL, ATSEC and NATSEC
to critically look into the impacts of tourism development
in India.
During this period, other important study was initiated
by National Commis!Jion for Women, New Delhi and
execu ted by E Q U AT I ONS along with networks
organizations in Eastcm Coast of India. This is the first
study on issues related to sexual exploitation in tourism
by the Apex Body of lndia that deals with Women and
Child issues to investigate the existence and magnitude
of the phenomenon for future action.
The body of l iterature between the period 1 99 1 and
2004 has established the link between tourism and
comme rc i al sexu a l explo it ation of M in ors and
adolescents i n India. It is evident from the l iterature
reviewed that unmon i tored; unplanned touri sm
development has resulted in negative impacts on the
community i n general and Minors and adolescents in
particular.

The paper by Joyatri Ray on "Tourism - the contributory

factor towards increasing trafficking and commercial
sexual exploitation of chi ldren," 200 1 , highlighted the
link between child tra fficking, child labour and child
sexual exploitation in the context of tourism and
addressing the issue by fra ming social intervention in
prevention, rescue, post rescue operations, victim care
& social reintegration.

The paper by Joyatri Ray on "Child Trafficking in the

context of Tourism and existing legal systems", 2002,
highlighted the i nadequacy of existing legal system in
India to address tourism-related chi ld trafficking and
c o m m e rc i a l s e x u a l ex plo i t a t i o n of c h i ldren.

T he paper by Joyatri Ray on "Procurement of minor

girls' for immoral purposes -the emerging context and
the legal system," 2002, highl ighted the change in
modus operandi in procuring Mi nors and adolescents
Towards Strellgthenillg Rights of Millors alld Adolescents in Tourism
t r I,
I l o r'
In to u · "
t t�avellel· . diar !
Note: Names and some settings a/the characters depicted in this
chapter have been changed.
Baggage: check.
Tickets: check.
Guide books : check.
Now that you know the thought behind tourism
development, you're all set to traverse peninsular India.
You've p l anned and prepared for an exhilarating trip .
You begin in West Bengal, travel south, keeping to the
east, and turn your attentions to the west when you've
bottomed out, and then move north till Goa. But make
sure you carry with you the most important artefact of
all: a stout heart. You ' l l need it where you're headed.
Actu a l l y, it d o e s n ' t rea l l y m atter much where.
Fact is, the more you see, the more things will remain
the same.
Guaranteed.
Fasten your seat belts. Good luck.
West Bengal
Beside silent mangroves, the canoe maintains a pact of
silence with the river. Only the fickle oar provides a
soothing murmur. Carried away by the moment, Shib,
the oarsman, breaks into a folk song. One he has sung
21
since childhood. It speaks of h i s pristine world called
the Sunderbans, and the spirit of the goddess that resides
in it. Unkn owingly, S�i� is paying obei sance to his
l ivelihood w i th h i s' o d e . He's the stoutest
environmentalist because he doesn't know h e i s one.
As the Sunderbans archipelago passes you by, you
wonder: how much longer can he claim his land as his
own? If conglomerate plans succeed, will this riverine
heaven shriek w i t h the n o i s e of speedboats and
. helicopters? Will floating hotels nudge his canoe away?
Wi l l t h e j u n g l e be p ar ty i n g to a n e w ord er?
Where will Shib and his family move? What will happen
to the simplicity of their currency and dreams? Shib
doesn't even know that he is closer to the crocodile and
. the tiger than the modernisers who are on their way.
It shocks you to think of the possibility that his daughter
might end up in Ghutiari Sharif, the small town 32 km
from Kolkata. At one time, the p lace was famous for
its namesake mazaar (shrine). Today, the major attraction
is its red-l i ght area, supp lying temporary n i rvana to
men of all ages . Age relaxation is acceptable only for
the client, though. A twenty-one year old prostitute, on
the other hand, is old enough to retire. Girls of twelve
are c o n s i d ered to be in the prime of thei r l i ves.
Caj oled, duped and forced girls of moffu s i l Kolkata
and other places find them selves in Ghuti ari Sharif
before they know what hit them. Sometimes, it is a
lover who has impregnated her and gets her here for a
"cure". Sometimes, the family makes the sale. Once
they are inside, the brothel gates clang ominously. There
can be n o escape. Not even a momentary respite to buy
a bar o f soap or a sachet o f shampoo.
22 Towards Strengthening Rigilis ofMinors and Adolescents in Tourism

hails from a sleepy Again, and again, you will come across
where her and her mother runs a migrating children their flesh and toil to
tea-shop on the Her only leisure used to tourism industry. "u�.u"'''. Harsh facts don't.
scouring the shore in mornings, looking for When people are "'''',1''''' 1''1 out of their
During one such boys confronted and environment, trouble That 's why you fear
raped her. S he was one blamed, and S h i b, h i s c an o e , s daughter a n d h i s song.
somewhere into nf\1n'Il"' "-U As matters reached a
was Orissa
perpetrators even
to know that is a populous triangle in
Sharif? the eastern state with Lake Chilka,
the largest fresh-water body in the country, this triangle
Disillusioned by men and the world they run, Farida forms the primary tourist circuit of the state. In fact, it
periodically slashes in frustration. S he is one of the most temple tourism
company among her peers, who also feel a release in in the country.
physical pain; a psychological ,"u<" u e... state capital, bcen fleshed into
that doesn 't go away. ancient skeleton of a
Tourist demand
and Ghutiari chief symbol
manifestation o n Jagannath temple_
monopolised of the Lord has
Recently, scores hailing from the impoverished His helplessness
Hooghly district were from the heart of far- inertia has, in rise to the term
away Bangalore. were found in Bangalore because "juggernaut", the unstoppable. But there 's no stopping
of demand for labour a sweatshop operation, in you either. Resolute tourist you are, you go on. An
this case, the jewellery industry. Not only do hour 's drive from Puri you to the Sun Temple
children come unformed n..,,'U{.I"\', a carved into stone.
mind-numbing j ob
But amidst and v w " " ,",,,, rich
exists a sorry demography. You 're instinctively aware
work-and-live tenements that this land a million echoes of
as god-sent. Their a roof. Unlike the one desperation.
they left behind in The pittance they earn O rissa is the poor Indian states.
is nothing short of a treasure trove. Many among them
dream of one day a jewellery enterprise of their Not least because Mother. N ature reserves her multi­
own. The people who them here have fed faceted fury for Orissa:
them stories of how have made it The Western part is to severe droughts the
big. frugal face of fury.
eastern coastline cyclones to
The tricksters know the ",Vi"",-,U at meagre the generous
o w n m il serve purpose
know h o w easily a malady places G rassroots livelihood s
inside a n urban .. � " �".� success story. accumulated by denying for years, is lost
overnight. S i n ce the state is behind others in
You'll see the pattern recur in every Indian state root­ industrialisation and offerings, there are few
cause issues, mainly poverty related, push kids into alternatives available. low levels of
even more vulnerable than they were born development, deforestation
into. That means even
arc being forced out of their ua" 1<"".
Towards Strengthening Rights ofMillors and Adolescents in Tourism
As would be expected, women and children top the
misery charts. In a place of such hardship, dowry is an
intrinsic part of the social fabric. A marriage is celebrated
mainly for the few months or years of comfort it brings
the groom family. So when dowry is denied, the marriage
tends to end. Sometimes by separation. Other times, by
immolation.
In an environment of low self-esteem, women run out
of choices. Not surprisingly, the pink flamingos of Lake
Chilika aren't the only species migrating en masse with
seasonal changes. In almost every district - Balasore,
Jagatsin ghpur, Nuapada, B hadrak, G anjam, Balangir,
Deogarh, Keonj har, Mayurbhanj . . . the l ist is too long
- young Oriya girls have dec lared w inter, and are
h e a d i n g s o u th to H y d e r ab a d , G o a , B a n g a l o r e ,
Vishakapatnam, Chennai and Vijayawada. Sometimes,
they head north. To Varanasi, Mathura and Kolkata.
Where migration isn't voluntalY, dysfunctional support
structures step in. Husbands sell wives, fathers their
daughters and lovers their prey. There is even an instance
of a nephew selling his aunt after she denied him her
property.
A pattern emerges i n front of your eyes. The women
are heading for large tourist spots. Or large cities, which
inevitably attract all kinds of touri sts.
What happens to them? They're exploited in one form
or another. Bonded slavery, prostitution . . . different
faces of the same ghastly image.
Helping them rediscover their "utility" is a vast network
of pimps, who in tum are aided by callous policemen
and a non-existent political will.
When supply meets demand, seamlessly, i t is trul y
Business Online.
So runs the ad campaign for cutting-edge technology.
Possibly coined with Orissa in mind. Yes, there's nothing
23
new under the corporate sun.
In this case, push factors spearheaded by poverty
motivate resources - a Euphemi sm for women - to
move. The tourist demand ensures a pu l l from the other
end.
Push-pull.
Allied forces.
Lives tom into shreds.
Orissa shows with exceptional c l arity that without
exception, sex touri sm is fed by trafficking. And
trafficking results in increased instances of sex tourism.
Probably the pimps have the easiest j ob in the world.
What they seek is available in large quantities. Where
they need to fi n d it is easily known; yes,
V U L N E RA B I LI T Y c a n be s p o t t e d from afar.
As of now, they seem to be ri d i n g a j u g gernaut.
Andhra Pradesh
The Char M i nar, the epitome of the o l d c i ty of
Hyderabad, has an alluring, decadent charm. It talks of
simpler times, a statelier pace of life. But a look around
shows that it's not just the monument that's decadent.
People are too.
The first revelation of decadency came i n 1 99 1 with an
eleven-year old girl named Ameena and a man named . . .
never mind·the name . . . he was more than six times her
age, a rich Arab sheikh and crude as the crude oil that
gave him his vanity. A marriage happened and a one­
way ticket to the Gulf booked. Where she would adorn
the sheikh's harem and be a dutiful "comfort" object.
Very comforting. Merci ful ly, Ameena was rescued.
Others have not been so lucky.
24 Towards Strellgthenillg Rights ofMinors (lIId Adolescellts ill Tourism

One such Ameena written home from a sandy place: Hyderabad i s too strong for your taste, you decide. You
"Dear mom, you are now the proud mother-in-law head away. is so you head east. A good
five sons-in-law." trai n run takes you to Vij ayawada. a whose
ClCrn "'''' ,> ,n" p is on the Indian Vijayawada
You wonder: H ow d i d the mother react? Did react commercial hub of a l arge part of Andhra Pradesh.
at a l l , own rol e i n drama? satellite towns use it to plod further in life.
Perhaps it didn't seem so bad when she and her fami ly what you ' ve seen i n Hyderabad, you need a city
Ameena a small It with and noth' else.
a s l ittle as five-thousand rupees, a fortn i gh t of Unfortunately, too late for that. Just the other day,
and l iquor to drown vestiges of a were in this
pride. Surely somebody considered it a fai r exchange? very rai l way station and sent back.
There can be no other explanation. i s funny that way. Some l i ke Goa
just accept victims. Most other places trade
Even today, Operation Ameena with one another. The golden rule is that children out
Wealthy A rabs make way to of their own milieu serve the purpose Remember?
Hyderabad, where Arab food i n select hotels The has thousands of such lost chil dren on the
help them into the mood. s treets o f ones you see
men - not the usual suspects malodorous gutters for rags belong to this cadre.
and earn cat l i ttle. To assuage hunger, they sniff
the power t o wed couples i nto matrimony. For good glue fro m p lastic boxes; i t recharges them for a
money, have taken up the added burden of zooming pathetic moments.
i n on a potential victim and doctoring her age. Once Some c h il dren find release from by
the n i kah or IS a themselves to be lured the trade. You see very
nikahnama with flourish and approach the Wakf Board, fore i gners here . Abused and abuser are both
which takes the effort to a certificate. indigenous. abuser, i n fact, is a neat fam i l y man,
Beaut i ful, blatant, comprehensive. h aving a neat l ittle i n a neat l i ttle town a
away by train. After his business that brought
You look away. Arabs ! Wai t ! h i m to town, he has time to kill. he looks around . . .
This isn't a boxing bout between the the rupee. aberra tion concomitant t o business IS
It's to do w ith which will ingly nothing t o Vij ayawada. town of any size
w ith any currency. The l ocal wealthy have taken a t t r ac t i n g o v e r n i gh t v i s i t o r s i s a c a n d i d a t e .
cue. More and more now H o w much further east should y o u go before you find
star Indians. B arring the absence o f a turbaned head, the middle o f the Indian Ocean. B ecause
everything remainS same. even as far as the peace
you. Reports of child sex touri sm on its beaches has
When a commod i ty goes on sale down. Vishakapatnam is, l ight
buyers l in e u p . years behind Kovalam and Colva as you ' l l soon see.
I n Ameena's c a s e , was o n i n tota l i ty. But Perhaps you can move to another state . . . and hope
innovators are even w i l l in g to consider girls as spare better luck . . .
parts shops . ago, an orphaned w as
rescued from a private adoption centre i n outskirts Tamil Nadu
of Hyderabad. She was b li n d . When rescued. But she
was w i th A l l it takes to such a the southern state capitals, the
transformation is a s k i l l e d surgeon and some money. of Chennai leaves much to be desired. You reach it soon
In all probability, the was from a remote rural after you enter the state from the north. In
that had forgotten her existence. The only twist i n state Nadu, your aim is to cover the important
was that t h e customer boring lusty eyes templ e destinations. You manage to hold of a bike
into her body, bored her out. and for resort near Mahabal i puram. Just an
hour away from the metropolis bustle.
Towards Strengthening Rights ojMinors and Adolescents in Tourism
Mammalapuram, as it was called at its prime, was itself
a bustling port town of the Pallava empire, establishing
an i mportant link with the South-East Asian states. The
temples here were built in the seventh and eighth century
AD, but the p l ace mysteriously lost its charm and
importance for its ru lers . Today, the monuments of
Mahablipuram exude a ruinous charm. Like i n the age­
old lighthouse, which supposedly had a roaring fire
going to alert and guide ships to shore.
The place is steeped with romance. Your pulse tingles
as you hit the smooth modernity of the East Coast Road.
This gravelled pleasure, when completely built, will
trace the Tamil Nadu coastline till Kanyakumari . As
you whiz down, you soon fi nd the Bay of Bengal to
your left. A beautifu l moon showers radiant light and
invites you to join i n harmonious rapture. You idle the
engine and let the mood get to you. A sweet voice j olts
you out of reverie.
Bon Jour, Monsieur.
I t 's a l a s s o f e i g h t , who h a s m i s taken you for a
Frenchman. You halt the bike and inquire after her. To
your surprise, S ita i s a total i ll i terate and cannot even
write her name in her mother tongue, Tamil. But she
s p e a k s Frenc h , S p a n i s h , G e r m a n a n d E n g l i s h !
You ' v e rea l i s e that t h i s place has been v i s i t ed by
Monsieur Jacque, Senor Santiago, H err Hermann, and
Mr. James before you. The implication hi ts you hard.
Welcome to Mahabalipuram.
No. Such welcome is most unwelcome, you decide.
Suddenly, the s ights and sounds o f M ahabalipuram
become unpalatab le. But where w i l l you go? Around
the precincts of the Madurai Meenakshi temple, you 'll
find S ita's mirror image. Call her G ita. She responds
25
to other names too. But call her G i ta. A trans-national
prostitute at the age of nine, she regularly caters to an
Ind i an clientele that naively beli eves that having sex
with a pre-pubescent girl will cure sexually-transmitted
diseases !
Gita has a sister who has gone to B arouch in Gujarat
to work in pappad making units. As in other places,
choices are c learly demarcated into different shades of
torture. Both s isters have been supporting their family
to ensure that their brother gets graduated . He has. He's
now a jobless l iterate.
But he has es'Caped other fates. For example, he could
very easily have been employed in tanning factories at
twenty-odd rupees (50 cents) a day, applying poisonous,
skin-burning chem icals to animal hides to cure them
for leather-making. The toi l of one sister and the body
of another has bypassed that eventuality. But fam ilial
travails continue.
Without dou b t, Madurai i s becoming an uninhabitable
place for the impoverished. More and more cases of
p o l i c e - d r i v e n t r a ffi ck i n g are c o m i n g t o l i g h t .
You wonder : W h i c h other t e m p l e town i s s a fe?
Thanjavur? Trichy?
After being subjected to harsh realities, your mind takes
you on a speCUlative trip of its own . . .
In these re1 igious places, a new order has replaced the
o l d . P r i or ' to the sweep ing proletariat movement,
powerful, learned bourgeois ran religion i n the land.
When political awakening of the masses sidelined them,
they were i l l-prepared. I nc a p a b l e of s trenuous
employment. Whatever one's origin and identity, when
employment van ishes, the fam i ly suffers. So a new
generation in the lineage of erstwh ile expl oiters have
emerged. They are blameless. They're hungry. Rumours
26 TowDrds Strengtllening Rigllis o/l,fiIlOFS Dlld Adolescents ill Tourism

abound that some of princely fami l ies make d o massages. Somebody forgot to
w i th o n e m e a l a or Outward are that sometimes, seven-year act as masseurs. Koehu,
So the young lads are still taught sacred texts,
c." a,uI."U, the one that peddles you h i s i s that young.
still walk the streets in their dhotis if your stomach can handle it. Applying
and half-shaven Their faces shine with knowledge sce:ntf�(1 o i l s o n c l ad bodies may n o t b e the
and protection. There's an i nnocent to One only act is up to.
'HAn,",p,,.,, • • what if a is enamoured mchin rotates gaze. With that
them . . . w h a t i f h e wants t o take a snap? A n d A man, a domestic by looks of it, approaches
afterwards, want to their cheeks and G ives him a few sweet words, a toothy smile. The
looks? lad seen i t a l l before. the asks his
i f. . . company for a "walk", he won' t refu se .
Mere speculation. For now. You ' re happy that the is performed away
But doubt, paedop h i l i a k n o w s n o caste. A s from your shocked eyes.
usual, the focus i s o n vulnerab i l i ty. S o are we a t a What drives t o this point? Poverty? of
threshold when history i s an abrupt U-turn? Are opportunities? Dysfunctional fami ly? All o f the above
we w itnessing revenge of Gods on those who is generally a good answer. Kochu is in a rut
monopolised Him? as LIFE. If you catch up w i th him later and coax him,
might just you story. Especially if you carry
Once w e begin tough questions, t h e answers a candy.
begin trickling in. But one needs to do That's the reason he "' r" t p r"

more than questions. basic problem they give h i m chocolates, toys

today is there i s no roaring rl r�'c" ,'" they also a far Of course,
guiding wayward kids ashore. ought to be p leased. they might even have your
house renovated and spend a pleasant couple o f months
Kerala in company very many children. they are
dissatisfied, they aren't averse to giving a sound beating.
What is India's answer to Mauritius? Somehow, it all evens out. The and the toy.
Kovalam. One can become the other too.
The answer is clear a s the brine the beach that i s Where there is demand, there would supp l y. Old
Kovalam. The humblest website describes the KovaJam Saying.
terms. The once sleepy fishing Demand comes from various quarters.
just sixteen krn from the state capital i s now a thriving are a, five-star hotels sprinkled around.
tourist A nestle in its Associated with adult prostitutes, p imps, taxi-drivers
tall palm trees sway i n divine stupor a tropical sun a many more who are only too
bakes c lean sand i nt o a Nature to act a s the conduit between the esteemed tourist and
has been doped into unblemi shed beauty; no wonder Kochu.
the long-haired hippie rushed t o claim i t i n the S tu dents fro m Karnataka t h i n k little of making an
Since then, supply-chain management techniques have overnight journey t o Kovalam for a weekend fiesta.
taken over. tourist is He prefers just Kochu i s n ' t t h e i r meal of fare . But h i s is . . .
so. Just so i t would become then. Water skiing, kayaking, Koch u 's l i fe promi s e s t o b e s h o rt , but
windsurfing your take? O r would you rather
prefer paras ailing? There's a l i feguard at hand, should i s the pinnacle of Kerala Tourism. But God's
anything go amiss. Country rafts await you, to take you Own Country has similar demons other places.
o ffshore for a s u n s e t , o r t o l e t y o u gaze a t out travel north i n the
in shallows. Ernakulam-Alappuzha b ackwaters p ro v i d e a
is demand, there would be supply. O l d different Undulating waves and sunshi ne are
Kovalarn replaced by waters and a contiguous umbre l l a of
Explore t h e options a t leisure. There are a few shocking coconut trees. Kochu's story is a muffled cry; so
ones l urking in the You've heard of the famous i s replaced by Rev i . Still waters run deep. Amidst
Towards Strellgthening Rights ofMillors and Adolescellts in Tourism
meandering rivulets, it is business as usual. Demand
has fol lowed you . So have macho men with sorry
perceptions of masculinity and power.
O t h e r men h a v e m i s c o n c ep t i o n s of devoutn e s s .
Come t o Sabarimala - Sabari's H i l l . Devout m e n take
an annual p i lgrimage here to seek Lord Ayyappa's
blessings. The trip culminates a very pious month when
they have dressed in full black attire and abstained from
alcoho l , smoke, meat and women. For some, p i ety
proves to be short-lived. Divine appointment kept, their
s i n counters reset, the devout men come down to the
footh i l l s where carnal pleasures await them. With a
vengeance, they fall upon the women who have made
an express journey from Tamil Nadu to embrace them.
Devout men. They are equal opportunity employers.
Age no bar.
By now your picture-perfect holiday has been shattered.
I s this the Kerala you read about? But the Kerala you
read about is a well-read state. Hundred percent literacy.
Where have the learned people disappeared? You answer
your own query. They're right here. You 've just confused
literacy with conscientiousness.
Put your ear on the ground - feel the vibrations of the
land mix with the u n i que s me l l s of the soi l . You get
another story. It's about a people gone silent. Two words
to describe them - hush-hush. Burying secrets is part
of the modem culture.
Why else would the police be apathetic? Take your case
to them. Tel l them about Kochu. About Revi. About the
countless nameless, faceless youngsters living in peril .
W h a t i s their response?
Case cannot be registered . Why? Observation i s n ' t
27
synonymous with evidence.
Hotels cannot be raided. Why? Prior raids h ave unearthed
nothing.
Koehu isn ' t their prob lem ! ! Why? As touris t police,
their bounden duty is the welfare of the tourists, not the
vagabond children !
Never mind .
You pack your bags and leave. But do stop over at the
Tourism Information Centre at the airport. They have
exciting news for you. Heard of Kasargod? I t falls on
the northemmost part of Kerala, a scoot away from
Karnataka. H ome of the h istoric Bekal Fort. Lovely
beaches. New resorts will be setup soon. Tennis courts,
golf courses, s w i m m i n g poo l s . . . a new scheme
highlighting the megalomania of Kerala Tourism. Just
watch out for i t, you are told. One day, it will become
the new Kovalam. Maybe even better.
What Kerala needs is another Kovalam.
A s u s u a l , the government d i a g n o s i s IS perfe c t .
Karnataka
Aditya is a cocooned B angalorean . He studies i n the
fifth-grade of a century-old Catholic school. His teachers
are kind to him and after classes, he returns in a school
bus to his posh condominium. His father is a high-flying
executive in an IT finn. They both appear to have all
that they need, a l l that they want and some more.
Aditya loves ridi ng i n the family ' s brand new luxury
car and has skirted a few yards past Deo, the sweatshop
j ewellery worker from Hooghly, scores of times. But
he's too young to notice the differential world outside
28 Toward.v Sirengthening Rights ofMillors and Adolescents ill Tourism

car. B lame i t o n traffic. city i s Aditya.

teeming with young blood raring t o take o n the world . Thankfully, a foreigner approaches the boy the two
The i s that so many land up leave him alone. to his VV a HlL'l<

here that the political powers h ave c au gh t flat- shake. The b o y a

footed. strives to up and fails. Trees parallel also Aditya. A l l he's
of p lace beside packed roads concerned about is his momentary c lient Knowledge
of this c l ient him t o which is
The recent state given an unclear mandate. precari ously to yet far away from
Was proletariat unhappy with urban-centric policies? its and newfound activism. His c lient and short­
Have the farmers up north deselied by the Vidhan term friend finds Goa unsuitable for drug-induced torpor
Soudha? Quite unclear. The head o f the governm ent and prefers the peace, quite safety of this
changed, but have stayed put. B oth understand the o f their act and both
m Pradesh, where the enact their to
was kicked out the the situation originally hai ls northern
is. . . unclear. The government has, therefore, of Karnataka. H i s farmer father committed suicide last
continued its notions . year after the crops failed were made
As Ad itya p l ay s with the channels the car, he for h i s evacu a t i o n . Some v i s i o n ary acquaintance
o b l ivious to situation . H e 's happy. to the saturated of
is taking a weekend trip to celebrate minor events
that have elevated in They
green. A l though t h ei r condo is n i c e and As you watch brief overlap between Choma's world
it undisturbed greenery. a n d A d i ty a ' s , a t ro u b li n g thought accosts y o u . . .
He has heard his father comment on numerous occasions You know that successive Kamataka governments have
over a pint beer that their club, with a of unsuccessfu l "developing" Hence
careful trees, is a hideout that only a city like Bangalore places like Gokarna and the site of H ampi are
can So i de a o f i s five thatches o f yet to B u t n ow, t h e
casuarina shade. not government desires to in on coastal tourism because
the city sees the countryside, 1S Goa Kerala are It
What he sees is greener than dreams, greener than wants to open 44 coastal locations to private investors
video development.
His father him that en route to Goa, would the question - if Choma made it to Gokarna
halt for a day in a place called Gokarna. What does the without p o l itical "help", what happcn i f thesc
name mean'? it means Cow's ear and is a town places are mass consumed?
forme d the ear-shaped o f two
i s the where Shiva was rf"_n ,,,,.. Goa
Earth from u nderworld
a period of penance. Gokarna is also home o Maria, 0 Maria, 0 Maria 0 0
o n e o f I n d i a' s m o s t p o w er fu l S h i v a l i n g a - t h e When Johnny pruposed to you . . .
hUH' '''',,," i n the Shri
legend c onfuses Aditya. The popular song twists into
But he looks forward to the and his UJ\.·uu" "l"o'" There's a Maria or a Shanta in every beaeh
s t r a w b er r y s h a k e , w h i c h w o u l d every guesthouse in Goa. Completing the secul ar
""'_',"""A"F. Gokarna, h e his Ii""'''n", ..... nu"""" " Someb ody, S uleiman or Raghu . The
h i s father busies h imself with a would l e ad t o a union sans weddi ng
the A cool breeze
there is one aspect that troubles Aditya. R ev i s the Chomas, S itas and the
a coconut tree is a young boy. Might have been born Ameenas y o u ' v e accumulated along the and
same as he. boy with longing at h i s multiply a thousand over. one
swimming trunks and face. Somehow, i t disturbs i n the map and created Goa.
Towards Strengthening Rights of Millors alld Adolescents in Tourism
tropical paradise that first hits the eye is a smoke screen.
The Goa that exists behind the screen i s the promised
o u t c o m e for G ok a r n a , K o v a l a m (ne arly t h e r e ) ,
M a h a b a l i p u r a m , Vi s h a k a p a t n a m , P u r i a n d t h e
Sunderbans. Your peripatetic journey culminates where
i t all began in India.
Generations of victims ago, trouble and dollars alighted
together fro m charter p lanes into the Goa landmass.
Both have stayed put ever since.
Money drives. Trouble navigates.
Approxi mately three-thousand crore rupees is the
estimated annual tourist earnings in fiscal year 2003 * .
Salivating. N o wonder every state government i n India
models its touri sm policy on the Goan "success" story.
And when it comes to following the leader, they do a
tidy j ob of it.
The beach combing boys of Kovalam and Gokarna -
indirectly tutored by those patrolling Calangute, Colva,
B aga et a l .
The inter-state child trafficking - why, a sizable chunk
lands right in Goa.
Nubile girls awaiting Arab sheikhs i n Hyderabad - the
number of Goan children going on overseas holidays
to provid e sexual favours or b e domestic helps i s
unrecorded.
The insensitive "development" of the Sunderbans - an
echo of Goan indiscrimination.
Three-thousand crore s . Keep the figure in mind. It
provokes wonders, as a recent med ia expose proved.
Shocking revelations emerge out ofthe Tehelka (August
1 4t h , S i n i n P aradi s e)"caught-on-camera " report:
Right from the chief minister down to the single-car
29
babu, turning a blind eye is an official obsession. The
Director of Tourism believes stripping and fondling of
children is a harmless indulgence that tourists needn' t
be denied. The Superintendent of Police calmly equates
paedop h i l i a w i t h cons ens'u a l , a d u l t , homosexual
relationships. Big Man, the chief minister himself, has
buried deep a three-year old Scotland Yard report that
screamed the issue from its pages. B ad for tourism, you
see?
Three-thousand crores.
National and international watchdog agencies h ave
known the problem for decades. And after clampdown
on paedophiles in Thailand, Sri Lanka and other pioneer
destinations; Goa has moved up the favourites l i s t in
the Predator Top Ten. Who cares?
When nobody else does, the paedophile cares a lot. He
can hardly a s k for a better s e t t i n g . The c a l l o u s
bureaucracy s i t s beside a toothless legal system. H e
s e n s e s h i s i nv i n c i b i l i ty. You ' ve h a d a n o d d i n g
acquaintance with h i s kind so far. Substantiate i t now,
for Goa provides the opportunity.
If he happens to be a foreigner (and not all of them are,
mind you), he can declare h imself an Indian inhabitant
in a sworn affidavit written in a 20-rupee stamp paper.
A similar document can get him "married" to a girl. A
100-rupee stamp paper will allow him to "adopt" another
minor and voila! He has manufactured a family. Does
any o fficer know that s in g l e male fo reigners are
disallowed from adopting? And that adoption of a minor
needs to be channelled via the Directorate of Women
and Child W e l fa r e ? Is anybody i nterested?
Nobody.
30
So the well-settled, nearly-anonymous gentleman begins
his gruhastashram. He c a n enact his fantasies with
abandon.
The farther one goes from home, the less moral one
becomes.
So he introduces his "family" to pornography. He then
creates it w i th them. Outwardly, he's the epitome of
respectabi l i ty.
Like Freddy Peats. Goa hasn' t yet shaken off his ghost
s ince his unmasking in 1 99 1 . He languishes in a state
j a i l after a lot of hul labaloo. At one time, moms i n
Madgaon used to call him, requesting a few words from
him to soothe her child to sleep. He ran a shelter home,
and was known as a phi lanthropist with a liking for
children. Yes, he liked children. Boys, mainly. So much
so that he found clothes a dispensable barrier. He liked
them enough to give them "medici ne" that increased
their viri l i ty. He introduced them to "upright" people
from across the seas. His love touched thousands of
chi ldren. Nobody kept count.
But he is one o f the most famous Goans ever. Now,
what does that say about Goa?
And why are these grotesque deta i l s a rea l i ty h cre?
Re ason s . Excu ses. S e c k ! There are plenty of them .
Three-thousand crores of them to be precise. It doesn 't
bode well when a state becomes lopsidedly dependent
on one source of revenue. And when that source is
tourism, tragic consequences fo l low. F i s hermen and
farmers have been e v i cted, and have now become
. waiters and drivers. They' ve even allowed their chi ldren
to comb beache s . They are unhappy, but surviving.
Now, the tourists have to keep coming back. Illusions
have to be sustained.
J i n g l e c o i n s , j i n g l e c o i n s , j i n g l e a l l the way.
So when Tamil Nadu talks about charter flights, Andhra
Pradesh about untapped tourism potential, West Bengal
about face-lifting a habitat, Orissa and Karnataka about
improving infrastructure and Kerala about more of the
s a m e , a la rm b e l l s go i n t o p e r s i s t e n t r i n g i n g .
A pocketfu l o f rep l i c a Goas around the cou ntry?
Scary.
Perhaps the real reason for Goa's downfall can be seen
in Thethen B aina, a small sea-facing hamlet close to
Vasco. It is frequented by domestic tourists on small
budgets. Respectable locals would rather lose their best
shirt than be seen around the red-light district populated
by women who e a n star i n a N a t i on a l D i v er s i ty
campaign. Sen s i t i v ities run h i g h h ere . Apparent ly.
When one i s sensitive about sociability, and insensitive
Towards Strengtluning Rights o/,I;/inors and Ado/escl!llts in Tourism
a bo u t s o c i e ty , p h e n o m e h o n l ike G o a o c c ur .
The s ilver lining
Merc i fu l ly, you ob serve the s tirring of the Goan
conscience. Droves of concerned citizens are putting
their weight behind voluntary organisations. It is mainly
through their efforts that the Goa Children 's Act (2003)
was passed in the legislative assembly. The Act , although
not comprehens ive in itself, not only deals with child
abuse in general, but a l s o s p e c i fi c al ly m e n t i o n s
paedophilia. Finally, you see governmental recognition
of the menace.
Just as the State Tourism Ministries all over the country
look to Goa for i nspiration, you hope that pan-Indian
acti v i s m can be mode l l e d upon G oan succ e s s e s .
They who suffer the disease the most have the strongest
motivation to create a vaccine.
Your pen insular journey has made you an expert. You
feel like you know the issues. You want to engineer the
vaccine. So ¥ou begin with the list of rights as described
in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, violated
due to unplanned tourism initiatives:
Article 34: . . . . . to protect the child from all forms
of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse.
Article 27: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . the right of every child to
a standard of living adequate for the child's phys ical,
m e n t a l , s p i r i t u a l , moral and s o c i a l development
Articl e 3 1 : . . . . . . . the right of the child to rest and
leisure, to engage in p l ay and recreational activities
appropriate to the age o f the child and to participate
freely in cultural l i fe and the arts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . the
ri ght of the- child to parti cipate fully in cultural and
arti stic l i fe and sh a l l encourage the pro vi sio n of
appropriate and equal opportunities for cultural, artistic,
recreational and leisure activity.
Article 3 2 : . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . the right of the child to
be protected from economic exploitation and from
performing any work that is likely to be hazardous or
to interfere 'with the child's education, or to be harmful
to the child's hea l th or physical, mental, spiritual, moral
or social development.
Article 3 6 : . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . protection against all
other forms o f exploitation prej udicial to any aspects
of the child's welfare.
Article 2 8 : . . . . the right of the child to education
Article 6: . . . . . . . every child has the inherent right
r
I

Towards Strengthening Rights of Millors and Adolescellts in Tourism 31

to life. ( . . . . ) to the maximum extent possible the survival all-out vaccination i s a good idea. Perhaps - responsible
and development of the child . tourism practices leading to sustainability in all spheres
Article I I : . . . . . . . . . . illicit transfer and non-retum
. . . - social, economic and environmental - together with
of children . . . . . accountable politics leading to legal amendments wi ll
Article 16: . . . . . . . . . arbitrary or unlawful interference do the trick.
with his or her privacy, family, home or correspondence,
nor to u n l awfu l attacks on h i s or her honour and If acknowledging and knowing the problem is half the
reputation . . . . . . . . . . . . . right to the protection of the law s o l u t i o n , we ' r e a l m o s t there. Add a few m i l l ion
against such interference or attacks. committed voices, just l ik� you and one can create an
Article 1 9 : . . . . . . . . . protection from all forms of
. . . equitable world t h a t would u p h o l d t h e rights o f
physical or mental violence, inj ury or abuse, neglect or vulnerables.
negl i gent treatm ent, maltreatment or exploitation,
including sexual abuse, while in the care o f parent(s),
legal guardian(s) or any other person who has the care
of the child.
Hmm. Maybe the symptoms suggest the cure . Since
issues are the same irrespective of the location, perhaps

The path tourists follow

1 Goa
2 Kerala
3 Andhra
4 Ta m il n a d u
5 Orissa
6 Karnataka
7 West Bengal
32
Chapter IV:
Methodology
Without appropriate research methodologies and intervention
programs, establishing with an accuratefigure is a case of 'nmning
before we can walk'. Far more usefulfor policy makers and
prevention campaigns is to identify trends relating to children and
tourism destinations. For example: Do children involved in selling
trinkets to tourists have access to health and education services in
the tourist areas ? Where do these children sleep at night? How
many hotels have childprotection policies ? Having this information
would mean being able to identify riskfactors and a harm
minimisation approach. This would befar more practical than
documenting statistics. (Beddoe, C. 2001 The Incidence ofSexual
Exploitation of Children in Tourism. World Tourism Organisation,
Madrid)
This chapter provides an overview of the methods
adopted to document and address i ssues related to
exploitation of mi nors and adolescents in the context
of tourism development. It summarises the process from
the methods of data collection to identifying the journey
of a child and fi nally, proposed i nterventions. This
publi cation does not set out to provide conclusive
statistics on numbers of minors exploited i n tourism
destinations. It has been developed to provide a 'snapshot'
of minors' lives in tourism destinations and the services
a v a i l able to protect t h e m f r o m e x p l o i t a t i o n .
This is the first collection and analysis o f data from an
Indian perspective across eight states on tourism and
exploitation of minors and adolescents. It was designed
and implemented using a participatory approach to
research methods that allowed for interviews and focus
group discussions with minors and adolescents. This
was an essential element to understand how they see
Towards StrengtJrening RigJrts ufMinors and Adolescents in Tourism
the problems and solutions. The same framework was
used to collect daia from each state.The methods were
adapted to the specific environment and the state reports
have been written to reflect the individual needs of each
situation. We have undertaken a site-speci fi c literature
review to help identify any trends or changes that have
occurred over time.
The data gathering process was primarily based on a
qualitative research, as the purpose was to obtain
understanding of the complexity of issues and thus
developing int\!rventions to combat them. Qualitative
data sources in'clude participant observation (fieldwork),
i nterviews and questionnaires, documents and texts,
and the researchers' impressions and reactions. Written
data sources i nclude published and unpublished
documents, reports, letters, email messages, newspaper
articles and so forth. These helped identify with people,
their perspectives and the social and cultural contexts
within which they live.
We adopted ' Interpretive' and 'Critical' approaches to
understand and analyse exploitation of mi nors and
adolescents in tourism. This was aimed at producing
an understanding of the context of the exploitation, and
the process whereby the phenomenon i nfluences and
is also influenced by the context. This analysis helped
to form the approach of ' criti cal theory' whereby we
have focused on the oppositions, tensions, conflicts and
contradictions i n the context i n which exploitation
occurs and to help elimihate the causes of exploitation
in tourism.
Therefore the design employed for data collection was
a balance between exploratory and descriptive methods.
The criteria for sampling could not be reliably ascertained
a n d t h e r e fo r e t h e s a m p l i n g w a s purpo s i v e .
Towards Screllgcllenillg Rigllts of ...lillors alld AJoles(.'ell/,� ill Tourislll 33

The types collected were: · Observation

- Child s taying a t an NGO · Unfocused! photography
centre · GrouplIndividuals
Children the care of Probation and o
Department. o Focused Discussions
identified through c h i ld · Role drama etc.
research. · Recal l d i ary: Warm up for Rapport
R e ferra l s stakeholders, rickshaw-p u l lers, Building, Songs and Games.
h o t e li e r s , i n d i v i d u a l s and c o m mu n i ty
2 . 1 .2 . Secondary D ata
Geogra p hica l Coverage :
Loc ation seco n d ary s o u rc i n g : Iden t i fi ed
p u b l i c a t i o n co vcrs s e v e n s t a t e s I nd i a : region specifi c information in all available l iterature on
r'/"\l-n rr, pr,�" ,d
Nadu sexual exploitation was analysed
· Andhra Pradesh to ascertain the trend and magnitUde of problem.
has a l so included documents and
· Kerala d o c u m e n ts of i ntern a t i o n a l a g e n c i e s l i ke
I nt e r n a t i o n a l , I n t e rp o l on re matters.
· Wes t
· Orissa I n formation o n the I n ternet: Internet was another
souree of information. The type that was gathered
2.1 . D at a Types from the I ntern e t i s primar i ly on "Good Practices"
aQ(mH�a by various right to
2 . 1 .2. P rimary Data the problem.

based analysis o n p r i m a ry d a t a 2.2. D ata Collection

s i t e s where
commercial sexual exploitation of children i s prevalent. study used the fol l owing methods to data:
The observations are based on surveys
S electi n g tke S a m p l e : Samp l i n g the study was
Interviews have been conducted with r''''V'P'''C''' based on the standard theories of sampl i ng,
working in area of child l abour andlor child sexual m u l ti - s ta g e s a mp l i ng . sampl space was
exploitation; tourism tour operators, travel representa tive to speak the state as a
agents, the community residing at the site (who and concise enough to be amenable for fi e l d study
were avai l ab l e performing the fi eldwork). The within
fol lowing is a list of the child partic ipatory methods
that were in the Field Work: The exploratory work
of infonnation
· Free Spontaneous Drawings
o Daily Activity Mapping
o Daily M ob i l i ty Mapping
o General Mobil i ty Mapping
o Income/Resource Mapping Networki n g : Variou s work ing w i t h
· Matrix Ranking chi ldren i n t h e identified tourism areas were contacted
o Health Systems during phase. primary obj ective of this activity
o Occupation was to get an overview of their perception and
· Visual Stimu l us analysis the was used to
· Writing o f l i fe h i stories gather information o n child sex tourism i n the
· Story identi fied locations and the ongoing interventions to
34 Towards Strengthening Rights ofMillors alld Adolescellts in Tourism

it. B ased on the fieldwork, networking with as well.

concerned groups and individuals were taken up.
was done to encourage participative understanding Researchers were from the those are
the ground realities on the of Networking already working in the field of child rights (based on
has also led to the study of socia-economic and cultural the locations identified for purpose) and were trained
aspects of the problem. on guidelines.

I n formants: has also and Focus Group D iscussions: Focus group

talked to the key i n and around tour i s m were conducted primarily to understand the demand
areas. Key in the study children "" 1"""'" such as sexuality,
-

who were once exploited by the foreign tourists, hotels, profit d imensions and construction childhood, were
shacks, trinket sellers, fam ilies, adul t sex studied.
workers. This was done to elicit information about the Focus group d iscussions were held w i th c h i ldren
modus and to perception about from the living in slums,school
demand factors pulling children in. Officials of law and children) and school teachers. The play prepared by
fro m judiciary, child rigbts strect working was s taged
were also interviewed in this process. exploitation of in touri sm) before the focus
discussions group started. the context was set
have collection. the play, children were asked to reflect on the series
of in play. play thus guided
I n d i v i d u a l i n t e r v i e w s w i t h t h e c h i l d v i c ti m : discussion to similar real
the sensitivity attempts were
made to get d i re c t i nformation and e v i d e n c e by
i nterviewing c h i l d cen tred at Intervention on the mass
paliicipatory research methods as drawings, of data collected and analysed on scientific lines, attempts
and drama, have been in col lection of the have to evolve for combating the
The pictorial questionnaire was u sed to get the detailed problem. Strategies were drafted in active consultation
information on the of CST. w i t h t h e p a rt i c i p a n t s o f t h e a b o v e n et w o r k .

Field have interviewed victims to The proposed intervention

- to identify outcome of the study. It evolved out normative
players, i nvolvement, the process of exploitation context created by encounters with industry,
and most i m portantly what should be the groups, media and the policy The .. ,. .v" , u

interventions as percieved from the child's perspective. is designed within the broad framework provided by the
The was to abuse that 34 the Convention on the Rights of the
allows perpetuation Child (UN, 1 985)., art 1 2, art 3 etc . . : ) - '

As there were possibilities o f emotional stress on children

the was primaril y through art
workshops, playfu l methods, symbolic interactions
a questionnaire. They were also
a choice to be quiet if they were not comfortable
in a During the process,
c h ildren were made aware of t h e purpose for this
i nteraction a n d their permission was sought for
researcher t o spend time them. The n ature o f
i nteraction and the methods and the
length of session s were decided consultation with
the children and taking account their
Towards Strengtlrellillg Riglrts ofMillors alld Adolescellts in Tourism 35

"At-risk" together with ·"Child victims of commercial

C h ,a pter : �. n alysi " : sexual exploitation in tourism". This was due to the
fact that "at risk" children were found to be not very
There are many different modes of analysis in qualitative open to discussing the issue and the local NGOs felt
research; we have used three approaches or modes of that it would be better to conduct FGD together as the
analysis: hermeneutics I , semiotics2, narrative and children would feel comfortable talking about the issue.
metaphor 3. Children of different backgrounds in the four states
(Kovalam in Kerala; Mahabalipuram in Tamilnadu;
We have primarily u sed semiotics, narrative and Colva Beach side in Goa and Gokarna in Karnataka)
metaphor as approaches for analysis. We have applied were interviewed in depth to find out the prevalence
"content analysis" as "a research technique for making and trends of exploitation. A total of a hundred children
replicable and valid references from data to their were interviewed and the information collected has
contexts. " This helped to search for structures and been tabulated below.
patterned regularities in the stories and makes inferences
on the basis of these regularities. Secondly, we have Age group of Children :
focused on "conversation analysis. " This was primarily
to ensure that the meanings are shaped in the context. S.No Age Numbers
1 5- 1 0yrs 4
A third forn1 of analysis that we used was the "discourse 2 1 0 - 1 4yrs 49
analysis. " This was built on both content analysis and 3 1 4- 1 6yrs 24
conversation analysis but focuses on "language games. " 4 1 6- 1 8yrs 23
A language game refers to a well-defined unit of Total 1 00
interaction consisting of a sequence of verbal moves in
which turns of phrases, the use of metaphor and allegory The children who were interviewed were 5- 1 8 years
all play an important part. This was a vital approach of age. The majority of children were of 1 0- 1 4 years
for understanding different context of exploitation and (49%) and 24% of the age group 1 4- 1 6 and 2 3 % were
its link to tourism development. of 1 6- 1 8 years.

On the basis of the information collected through minors Sex:

and adolescents (within the scope of this initiative) and S.No Sex Numbers
other key informants following analysis has been made. 1 Male 89
2 Female 11
At-Risk Children: Total 1 00
Focus group discussion was conducted with children

J "Interpretation, in the sense relevant to hermeneutics, is an attempl to make clear, 10 make sense of an object of study. This object must,
therefore, be a text. or a text-analogue, which in some way is confused. incomplete, cloudy. seemingly contradictory - in one way or another,
unclear. The interpretation aims to bring to light an llnderlying coherence or sense " (, p. 153).
2 Semiotics is primarily concerned with the meaning ofsigns and symbols in language. The essential idea is that words/signs can be assigned
to primary conceptual categories. and these categories represent important aspects of the theory to be tested. The importance ofan idea is
revealed in thefrequency with which it appears in the text. 3 "Tale, story. recital offacts, especially story told ill theflrst person. /I
36 TOK'IIrds Strengthening Rigllts ojMinors oml Adolescents in Tourism

Famil y Backgro u n d : S .no Mother's Frequency

occupation
S. no Father Frequency Percentage 1 Labor 6 7%

Living 79 80% 2 Agriculture 11 1 3%

2 Dead 17 1 8% 3 F ishing 1 1%

3 DIK 4 2% 4 Domestic 4 5%

1 00 1 00% 5 Housewi fe 24 29%

6 Other 18
S. no Mother Frequency
7 DIK 18 22%
L i ving 78 78%
1 00%
2 Dead 18
It was seen that most of parents were In
3 D/K 4 4% wage work. The of c h ildren came from an
agricultural and background. 20% of them had
Total 1 00 1 00 % their fathers in agricultural and 1 1 %
their mother work i n g i n the sector.
other most frequent occupational background was labour
Most children havc who are Only (9%), fishing ( 5 %) driver (4%) among the
1 7% saying that their father i s not l iving and of the children. Similarly, 24% mothers
1 i s not most were housewives and 6% were labour work and
of the chi ldren are l iving alone and not with parents. 4% as domestic help. 1 9% of the children said that
did not an idea of what father did 1 8%
did not about mother's
S . no Father ' s Frequency
occupation
1 Labor 9 1 1%
School Frequency

2 Agriculture 20 24%
Yes 80%

3 Fishing 5 6%
2 No 20

4 Driver 4 5%
Total 1 00 1 00%
Average c lass children-3 .79
5 No 5 6%

Among c h i ldren iQterv iewed, 8 0% of them had

6 Other 21
attended schooL The attended by
was 3 to 4 grade. Most o f them had dropped
7 DIK 19 23%
out of schools but some were stil l with their
school education.
Total 1 00 %
Towards Strengthening Rights ofMinors ami Adolescents in Tourism 37

Workin g B ackgro u n d o f t h e C h il d re n :
Language
Kind of recent Yes No Total
work of children % % %
Vendor 4 6% 68 94% 72 1 00
18 25% 54 75% 72 1 00
21 29% 51 71% 72 1 00 interviewed

0 0% 72 1 00% 72 1 00 least one foreign

Porter 0 0% 72 1 00% 72 1 00 The language skill is one
Rickshaw puller 2 3% 70 97% 72 1 00 that the fact that
Restaurant! they vary from the
hotel workers 12 17% 60 83% 72 1 00 states to the foreign
Student 8 1 1% 64 89% 72 1 00 world.
Others II 1 5% 61 85% 72 1 00
Work

Duration of the work:

Recent work Percentage The are primarily small

1 Less than one yr 31 45% processing units, self-employed as beach
2 More than 2yrs 19 28% boys, or guides to the
3 More than 5yrs 19 28% their interview children have mentioned that providing

Total 69 1 00% to their seniors is one daily

routine jobs. In the second case, they receive money,
had been for quite good an opportunity to travel to
28% had been working for more than five as well.
years, 28% more than 2 years 3 Jess than
one year. Problems by C hildren *

7. 1 . 1 .7 . Education children who had a

reSIJonded that they faced
A majority of children are not educated or have work (28%), not having money ( 1 0%)
low education. below describes their harassment ( 1 0%) were the main problem that they
literacy level: Other problems that they were regarding
health problems and problems due to police
EDUCATION (N 50)
60%
the Touri st s
50%
c
f: 40% from tourist
:s! 1 Yes
:a 30%
U 2 No
.... . 20%
Q Total 1 00
-:, 1 0%
as received for m the
0"10
No UplO Uplo Uplo Continuing 54% of the children said that some
Educalion 2nd Sid 4th Sid 10th Sid Schooling hel p fro m the o n cc.
Educational Qualification
38 TOHJllrds Strengthening Rights of Minors and Adolescents in Tourism

*Problems Faced by Children

Problem Faced Yes No Total

while working Frequency 0/0 Frequency % . Frequency %
Inj uries 5 7% 67 93% 72 1 00
Family problems 4 6% 68 94% 72 1 00
Finding Work 20 28% 52 72% 72 1 00
Police problems 7 1 0% 65 90% 72 1 00
Harassment 10 1 4% 62 86% ' 72 1 00
Health 4 6% 68 94% 72 1 00
Education 6 8% 66 92% 72
Food 2 3% 70 97% 72 1 00
Money 10 1 4% 62 86% 72
No Response 16 22% 56 , 78% 72 1 00

Kind of help received else, he would stop s upporting our family. ,

Help From Yes No
From this narrative, it is clear that the help that children
Tourist Frequency Frequency
received from 'the tourists ' is a modus operandi to get
Money 41 14
easy access to the chi ldren and not a simple gesture of
Food 43 11 friendship alone.
Clothes 33 21
Friend 37 17 S.no Taken around to Frequency

Family 6 48 d ifferent places

Support 1 Yes 43

Educational 16 38 2 No 57

Support Total 1 00

Health Support 12 42 43% of the children said that they had gone to different
Travelling 18 36 places w ith the touri sts. The places they had gone
included places for overnight stay and in some cases
The help received from t h e tourist w a s i n t h e form o f even distant places.
food (80%), money (76%), clothes (6 1 % ) , travelling
(33%) etc. Some tourists also helped them in terms of Places of visit with the tourists :
health support (22%) and family support ( 1 1 %). Many
of the children also said that they were very good friends Where Yes No
with the tourists. 69% of them responded that the help Frequency Frequency
they got was in the form offriendship. A child mentioned Hotel 27 16
that ' what you see apparently, is not always the reality'. Restaurant 32 11
The child explained it by saying that the help comes i n Trekking 10 33
t h e g u i s e o f friendship, w h i c h o ften results i n an Other States 5 38
exploitative relationship. One child i n Puri, said that '[ Cycling 6 37
was a very goodfriend of a German tourists. He used Disco 7 36
to take English tuition classes for us. We became very Swimming 14 29
close to each other. He also helped in renovating our Film 7 36
house. But one-day he forced me to have sex with him. Lonely Places 9 34
1 was hurt and also fearedface loss in front of my other Others 5 38
friends. The tourists told me, if1 say this to any body
Towards Strengtirening Rights ofMinors lind Adolescents in TOllris"l 39

with the tourists. 62% were the tourists. 48%

Most of the children had gone to hotels (74%) and of the children said that they had seen the naked picture
restaurants
(63%) with the (23%) of the tourists.
swimming (33%) were other popular pastimes. 1 6% of
the chi ldren said they went to and to Economic compulsion or survival ... ..., e,,,, , ,,.,,, VV'LllUHH.,'-'

the disco. 2 1 % of children had taken to the lonely with a lack of opportuniti�s, has
places. by the children as one of the most
the problem. From the narrative below, it seems
Most of the children many a time the are to
matters (60%) with the exploitation of children.
included family problems
They also frequently talked desperate fight for
tourist and their family as the family to protect
that they a l so d i scussed UnUI,,""l s i tuations. Families are forced to
tourists. of the future generations for
need for continued existence i n a consumption driven
3 . 1.7. P h ys i c a l with Tou ri s ts society tips the balance favour of

S.no without questioning the means used.

1 Yes 21
2 No 72
HI am staying with Joe (a German tourist) from last
Escaped
jive years. He says that he will marry me. I
3 7
with him regularly. Initially it was I
1 00
cry. Now it is a daily routine. He
Only 21% of the chi ldren interviewed responded that family. He has sex with other children
they were physically close with of the he wants us 10 have sex with other
tot a l ch i ldren s a i d that they could from Anjali, I2-year-old child
eventualities.
A nine-year-old girl who had
N ature of relationship: year-old Swis s gentleman for
story. After a raid she had been res,cuc:<.t
Activities Yes No Niketan. The Pune girl said the
her a house and lots of money to hcr invalid, alcoholic
Obscene Language 10 10 The l ittle mother died she had
Touch 17 3 younger brothers. For three months she had been
Kiss 13 7 in the Raj nesh Ashram, then he took her to
Shown naked 10 10 Gulistan in Bombay and finally to a in
Goa. She said that the Swiss uncle would bath her
17 3 and at night he showed her blue
naked body patted on her face. When she got frightened w i th all
Shown porn 13 7 that was shown, he would hold her tight and put her to

p ictures k i s sing her everywhere. (Hindustan Times,

Taken naked 20 o Patna, 20 March 1 997)
picture of the children
In the case of 80% of children interviewed it was evident
All of the above 3 17
that they were not getting the farni l ial love and affection
Most of the children (95%) responded that the tourists that any child naturally expects. Tourists take advantage
had taken naked picture of the children. 81 % of the of t h i s fact by showering a lot of attention on the
children experienced touching and being ...",.... ".,.n"... neglected children. This makes children feel comfortable
the tourist. 62% of the children had seen porn also in the presence of the
40 Towards Strengliumillg Rights ofMinors and Adolescents in Tourism

making them to e xp l o i t a t i o n . Children that did not share

anyone because they felt shame ( 1 4%). 1 2% said that
M aj ority the c h i l dren h av e their anger they did not say it to anyone beeause they were receiving
with the government systems. They mentioned firml y h e lp fro m the tourists. Threats fro m the tourists was
" i t is t h e lack of political will that us vulnerable. another reason. o f the children though that it was
Government is not interested to look at the poor section their o w n m i stake a n d they feared p u n is h me n t .
of people while in change to our p lace where How did Yes No
we live". after Frequency
Disgusted 11 10
Another reason that came up quite strongly was the
2 19
obscenity o n the beach. Children raised questions and
2 19
i f w e go to their (foreign) shall we b e
Fear 2 19
a l lowed t o r o a m around w i t h o u r under garments".
20
Chi l dren that this is a contributory factor that
has influenced their values and belief systems to b e 52% of the chi ldren that they felt disgusted after
-''''''"'''';'''''' to exp l oitation. the 1 O%of them were and 1 0% were
angry. Another 1 0% said that they felt a of fear after
'Nudists on Goa Beaches offend local ;A '
the Only 1 % said that they e nj oyed the
Belgian tourist Mr. Smeedt mentioned, "nudists experience.
'/ bother me 'I think it is a What did you No
Some of these people are not normal, and naturalism that
an excuse to advan tage ofchildren on the Nothing 9 12
" Mrs. Lin da R iddle, from us mentioned, Wants to forget 5 16
"Tourists should not indulge in this if it offends the
i t t o onesel f 2 19
local culture Herald, Banga/ore, 8//5/96)
Cry 2 19
n.

Angry 2 19
Reactions
Why don't Yes No Responding to the question on the coping strategy used,
share with anyone Frequency Frequency the 4 3 % of the c h i l dren said that they nothing in
They feel 14 86 reaction to it. 24% are still trying to forget the incident.
Received help 12 88 1 0% of the total of children kept it to themselves, 1 0%
fro m tourists another 1 0% were angry about the incident.
Threatened 5
tourists Support and Recommendations
5 95 S.no Told al�yone Frequency
1 Yes 30 30%
own 4 96 2 No 70 70%
Due to punishment 4 96 1 00 1 00%
to such 3
incidents I f yes, to whom No
Unaware about 3 97
the abuse Friends 5
No one believes 2 98 Social worker 9 21
them Famil y 4 26
Their own 2 98 Police 2 28
willingness
No 64 36 3 0% of t h e children s a i d that they shared these kinds
inciden t e w ith other people. 8 3 % shared i t with
fri ends, 3 0% t o l d social workers and 1 3% d iscussed
Towards Strengthening Rights ofMinors and Ado{escen/s in Touris1II 41

with family mcmbers. Only 7% of them sharcd it with
the police.
S.no Need help Frequency Percentage
I Yes 29
2 No 71
Total 1 00
29% of the total children interviewed said that tbey
expected some level of help so that they could cope
a n d fight against these kinds o f i ncidents. *
69% of the children said that they needed more help
from the police on such cases. 62% wanted more help
from the social workers and 5 9 % wanted help from
their friends. 52% of the children expected help from
the family members.
Foreign Tou rists :
The respondents were very easily able to detem1ine that
a significant majority of the tourists they had sexual
encounters with were foreign nationals. It was said that
they get a more lucrative deal with them than with
domestic tourists. It was also a matter of prestige for
the child to be seen with a white skinned individual.
Over time, a certain ' give and take' relationship was
built between the child and the foreigner. This may be
because the foreigner will most probably make an
'investment' (grooming) in the child's health and well
being at least as long as they are together.
Domestic Tourist:
While the childrcn find it easy to recognise a foreign
tourist, this is not the case with domestic tourists. Only
tbe north Indians, with their distinct dialects were
identified by the respondents as 'tourists ' . Any other
domestic client who speaks the same dialect was not
identified as 'tourists' . This is because domestic tourism
in our country may also take place within the state of
origin o f the tourist. For this reason, i t is difficult for
the child to differentiate between exploitation by local
people and that by domestic tourists.
29%
According to the total numbcr of the children
71%
interviewed, 20% felt that only new tourists would
1 00%
engage in exploitative activities. 1 8% of the children
said that old tourists (repetitive or long term visitors)
are more exploitative. 26% of the children said that
both male and female children could equally get engaged
in sexual activities, where as 1 0% said that only male
tourists and 2% said that only female can engage in it.
As far as economic status of the tourist is concerned
1 6% of the children said they were rich tourists and
1 5% said thqt they were backpackers who did not have
much money with them.
25% of tbe children reported that they were Europeans,
2 1 % said that they were Americans, 4% South Asians
and 7% Japanese! Chinese origin.
Modus Operandi : And last b u t not the least, by
identifying parents, relatives and friends as persons to
be b lamed for their misfortune, the extent of the
vulnerability of the children is exposed. This is because,
even the closest kin and/or the most trusted people in
the lives of the children, appear helpless to protect them
and/or also paliies guilty of pushing them into hazardous
situations (such as into the lives of street children).
Hotels have contacts with adult sex workers, pimps and
other middlemen - rickshaw pullers, van pullers, petty
traders. These people make contact with street children
and bring them to tourist lodges and hotels based on
the demand of the customers,
Tourists make contact with families. They become very
friendly with them by providing money for their daily

Help needed Yes No Total

From whom ? Frequency % Frequency % Frequency %
Police 20 69% 9 31% 29 1 00
Social workers 18 62% 11 3 8% 29 1 00
Friends 17 59% 12 41% 29 1 00
Family 15 52% 14 48% 29 1 00
Others 7 24% 22 76% 72 1 00
42 Towards Sfrellgthelling Rights ofMinors alld A dolescents in Tourism

needs. This gives the to their in The p i lgrims coming to

children out for few and sometimes for a a route through Kovalam and are i n volved in i llegal
of as are booked i n advance from
the help rackets. Local NGOs attribute
HI did not know to my child He
"'nM h O¥! nroT'p<><'P in exploitation h a s been
to stay with us. -day he asked permission to take to the lack of employment for adults, poverty, broken
my outfor a When came was families demotion in moral
rJlPpn,rnu and that man never came back to my
village. " m o th er of ch ild tourism backwaters, beache:s,
and ayurvedic health massages to attract tourists.
Remu n eration! Accor'dlrHl to an from National Commission fro
Most of the children i nterviewed have mentioned that Women, New Delhi. temptations further
they had sex with range Tourists who the opportu n i t i e s are subsequently i nducted
pay j ust 501- fro m tourists pay Rs. 2001-. B u t prostitution or lured with money out by
foreign tourists provide them with dresses and tourists as tips. attraction the natural
sometimes money to renovate their houses or to build beauty of the land is replaced in some cases attracted
a new house. towards dark and mind. Most of the
children come from a poor b ackground and are willing
to a "tourists (Foreign) are very to d o to earn money. an
interesting people - make happy will excu se, applying lotion and sun i s another
whatever you want, but if they are not, they can excuse. The and even Indian tourists look
up as well. " friendly but beh i nd their
a n u n c o n t ro l l ed
Economic c n needs a critical look sometimes given other stimulants so that they
completely, w i th o u t and to the
"I have to work i n I l i k e i t or not. satisfaction abuser. nude photographs
My home is worst than the s ituation i n the children is a source An official mentioned
My earns Rs. 1 500/- a month. We are 1 0- that the increasing tourist flow into the
family with my parents. State was likely to go Goa way with child prostitution,
to on the street. I do not want to have the of Kerala was
sex with everyone ever B u t I can 't help it, toned down and a plan of action w as drawn up to
tourist pay more than peop l e . I to earn R s . She that would
5001- a d a y the survival o f my family. My father i s by the prospect of quick money into prostitution.
a daily wager".- A c h i l d As today in one can say impact
not shown u p acuteness a s some report that the
Local NGOs foreign tourist Kerala i s comparative low and
seasonal. Hence, the cultu ra l impact h as not been
Res p o n d e n ts : Kera l a , K ar n a t a k a , Tam i l n a d u , i n the light deep
A n d h r a Prad esh, G o a , West Bengal a n d Orissa. of However i t
the s e statements to
in Kerala highlighted a conducted by them
i n 2 0 0 1 i n Kovalam & A l appuzha a n d A state "'I"\,,,pnnrnpnt
uar,UHUU. They mentioned that out of the 1 samples of c h i l d sexual exploi tation cases i s quite high i n
2 2 % w e r e c h i ldren. s t u d y showed t h a t c h i l d Kovalam a s as parts of State. A lthough
prostitution i s very Kovalam. C h ildren earn the cases are not reported i n media, number i s
<UV'\.U1\.' Rs 700 to 1 000 per
. I l legal ",,,,,,,,,,, "' r:::. . It was stated that hotels, auto rickshaw
at paying guest fac i lities as llla,:>:>�If>t; parlours are involved in racket.
The have up w ith The official recollected the efforts State Women '5
Karnataka. In Varkala, illegal Commission on the rescue of Karnataka girls from

4 Tourism in Kerala may go the Goa way ', New Indian 1 6/ll12000
Towards Strengthening Rights ofMinors and Adoiescmts in Tourism
Kovalam a cou p l e o f y ears back, when she was a
member of the S tate women 's Comm ission. Children
di sclosed that foreigners were involved in molesting
them. She also stated that many foreigners came to the
Women 's Commission and s houted i n protest, "We
come here in Kerala to see the beauty of the country.
Child sexual exploitation by tourists should be stopped".
Suspected child sex workers rescued
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, Nov 1 Eleven minor
- tourism-based economy, d rugs and sex are the two
tribal chi ldren, including nine girls fro m Karnataka,
who were forced to work in the Kovalom beach near
here as hawkers and probably as sex workers would
leave for their home state in the next two days, thanks
to the efforts of the local police and the Kerala Women's
Commission. (Th e Tribune Monday, N ovember 2,
1 998)
Mrs . Sugatha Kumari5 stated that there is an aspect of
tourism which is of concern : prostitution . S he stated
that there are two kinds of foreigners visiting Kerala.
"One who wants to learn about our culture. Two, who
looks for cheap pleasure, and they are the problem. And
paedophi les are even a bigger threat".
"A few years back when I was the chairperson of the
Kerala Women 's Commission, I got a complaint from
three women- Western tourists- who said people were
coming and asking them if t hey wanted a 8-year old
girl or a l a-year old boy. We filed a case with the police.
They conducted a raid in some hotels and after repeated
attempts, they rescued 1 6 girls. They were a l l from
Andhra Pradesh, and were between the ages of 8 and
1 5 . They could not even sign their names, but they
could speak broken English with German or American
accent".
A case narrated by Mrs Sugatha Kumari
"This exp l oi tation of children is shamefu l in a state
such as Kerala which boasts 1 00% l iteracy, political
awareness and has taken steps to empower women, "
s a i d Sugatha Kumari , Ex-chairperson o f t h e S tate
Women's Commission, Kerala and a well-known poet.
Mr. Thomas, Ex-DIG, Kerala mentioned, "Chi ldren are
lured, through fake marriages, tricked with promise of
glamour or better j ob , or kidnapped. Around 44% o f
c h i l d victims of CST come from a broken family and
5 Mrs. Sugalha Kumari, Ex-Stale Chairperson, Kerala
43
64% come to it because of poverty. Their clients include
politicians, businessmen, migrants, officers and tourists."
He stressed the need for policy and an agenda for action
for the law enforcing agencies, social mobi l ization,
networking and setting of definite goal to combat
commerci a l sexual exploitation o f chil dren. H e said
that this respons ib i l i ty l ie s w i th parents, teachers,
neighbours, locals, NGO's etc. He said that "when there
is demand, supply will be forthcoming, is an o ld dictum
of political economy, even of moral philosophy. In a
card inal commodities on w h i c h the entire e d i fi ce
depends. Kovalam is no exception to this nco-colonial
tourism syndrome. Rather it is an acute example of this
vicious d emand and supply chain. A s the growing
demand for drugs and its supply propagated in the area,
the flesh trade fol l owed c l osely, and that, too, i n a
variety of forms . "
In the case o f Goa, organisations have highlighted that
p a e d o p h i l i a i n G o a is i n d an g e r of b e c o m i n g
institutionalised. Case studies and data collected through
field studies show this d isturbing trend. An ILO report
warned that tourists seeking child prostitutes are flocking
to Goa, where business is brisk enough to rival Bangkok,
curre n t l y t h e worl d ' s c h i l d pro s t i t u t i o n c ap i ta l .
According to Roland Martins of the Jagrut Goenkaranchi
Fouz, or the "Vigilant Goan Army" (JGF), a group that
keeps a vigil on the state's tourism industry, Goa fulfils
several prerequi si tes o f "Child Sex Destination" - a
l arge flo ating popu lation o f m i grant c h i ldren, an
inditTerent police force and government officials who
want to promote tourism at any cost. But according to
Martins, "unlike Sri Lanka and Thailand, in Goa, the
abuse is more d angerous b e c a u s e i t i s covert . "
If govt doesn 't crack down, goa wil l g o bangkok
way ' : Nina Martyris
MUMBA I : Goan writer Mario Cabral e Sa once wrote,
We used to think that God was a white man in a three­
p iece suit and a bowler h at. But the h ippie k i l led the
white God for the Goan. He died when we saw h i m
lying naked o n t h e beach."
T h e T i m e s of I n d i a , F e b r u a ry 2 5 , 2 0 0 1
Refer annexure for ful l article
B a i lancho S aa d , a women 's c o l l e c t i v e , c l a i m e d ,
"photographs of children are clicked in vulgar poses i n
44 Towards Strengthening Rig/lis ofMinors and A dolescenls i n Tourism

the name of art, and are sold to Goa i n work o n construction

promoting ch ild prostitution in men and women i n construction work,
affects society adversely. children oeC:OlTIC walkers", selling
children from poor families for and gift to in order t o eke out a
family into confidence and Many are also bought from poor
Ot:I]CIIlS. The parents may not even to on beaches for
on their children and on Without any adult
_ � ' U H " M to India, and "'"" ...."'<<< homes, these chil d re n are
their sexual need. But range of visitors both domestic
addressed legally i n our as to approach strangers and _UJ""�"',-
in open, friendly conversations to se l l their wares.
" M a n y e o m e to s e l l renders them vulnerable to maltreatment and abuse of
(groundnuts) and cnd up sell ing , says an various kinds at the hands of tourists.
from a local child-rights According to
her, the Coastal B e l t fro m S i n qucrim t o Baga is the offi cial o f Department for Women
tourist hotspot where most o f the are sexua l l y in Kamataka said that, "the
abused. She a l s o a d d s that abuse i s not restricted t o as prostitutes is a social problem
of migrant l abourers, even children l i ving identi fiable. Young children who
i n the coastal areas are vulnerable. i s the little kids who are today
most form o f ab�se street face c lassrooms,
in G oa. Access to children is easy stuff i nstead o f books and
as are fi l le d with fi l th instead of
many t i m e s w i th o u t any i n te r m e d i a ry. Enhanced tourism may bring in
peace and tranqu i l l i ty t o the trav e l ler and enhanced
Tou rism-related paedophilia, of revenue for the state but i t also brings in a l i fe o f
a blind Eye: The I ta li an darkness for young ones whose l i fe is ruined with the
56, arrested by the Colva ill effects of peddling, prostitution and the
a minor girl, has been ,."rr",,.,,, ,,.,..
custody on November 2 l . VVHUHF. of live bands in
November 22, 2004)
the annexure for ful l article
Is no
contributory factors are "lack fOim
in formulating an e ffective to
and t h e fai l ure o f t h e organs o f
the executive and t h e o f country,

Live bands or d an cers' bars

Are they live bands or dance Artistes who perform

live with a band at star women who dance
at dance bars, both are called bands". The
i s t o i m p l e m e n t and government intends to but not those that
P I1 1 B > ti� I " and appropriately. perform at star hotels.
A retired police "Live band i s
M os t of the children in Goa are a concert and singers
drought-prone join in. In dance to recorded music.
in Karnataka. Their gestures are permissible

6 hltp:lll'>ww. rediffc omlnewsI2005IfebI03band. htm.

Towards Stretlgtheni/lg Rights ofMinors a/ld Adolescents in Tourism 45

limits. The two must not be confused." Law enforcement personnel

However, artistes who perform at five star hotels say
they have nothing to fear . "While we sing, no girls are
dancing, we sing only to provide a soothiing atmosphere,
" said Priya Mendens, a singer . Shyam Sunder, who
has been a singing in a band for 30 years, said ' live
singing' has nothing to do with dancers at the dance
bars. If the govt wants to ban all live bands, then it
should also ban performances by bands like ' Sting' and
Respondents7 : 1 5 (Tourist Police, Assistant Inspector
General of Police and Area Inspectors)
The Goa Police admitted the problem o f paedophilia in
the state but denied that the magnitude of the problem
is as large as depicted by the media and said that
paedophilia is not yet a threat to Goan society. The
deputy inspector general of police (Range), ( . ) that . .

' Deep Purple. "', he says. the Goa Police were committed to implementing The
Goa Children's Act, 2003. He also said the Goa Police
Deccan Hera l d , Sund ay, F e b r uary 1 3 , 2005 was committed to "refining the system" in order to curb
the scourge of paedophilia in Goa. But besides referring

Issues Responses Findings

D i scussed

Registering cases of Respondents mentioned that registration o f cases could Unwilling to register
CST be done only if there is some amount of evidence that is cases of CST.
Investigation brought in front of the police. In many cases the complaints Less priority to
arc based on observation, thus there is a problem in investigate cases o f CST.
registration. Narrow definition of
Respondents mentioned that quite often investigation evidence in the "Evidence
proved that there is no evidence that could prove CST Act" in India causes
while conducted raid or during inquiries. They said "it prob lems to gather
is waste o f our time to conduct such investigation." evidence of CST.

Mandate of Tourists Respondents mentioned that Mandate of tourists police Due to NGO initiatives,
Police are to look after the safety o f tourists and not o f chil drcn there is a noticeable
loitering on the beach. d i fference in the
functioning of Tourist
Tourist police i n Goa mcntioned that they arc working Police i n Goa, while in
with NGOS to report on "doubtful behaviour of tourists Kovalam; tourist police
accompanying children" to the Child Help line not as part arc willing to disclosc the
o f their mandate but as a moral responsibility. Issue.
While police in Goa are
But in Kerala, Tourist police were not wil ing to talk about aware of child rights,
thc issue. They denicd the existcnce o f CST i n Kovalam pol ice in Kovalam and
and said "CST docs not happcn on the beach as thus i t Varkala has n o
does n o t fall under o u r jurisdiction." understanding o f child
They mentioned "we know that few hotels in Kovalam rights.
are the places where prostitution takes place and there are
tourists staying at those hotels live with children for 3-4
months, but we c a n ' t raid t h e hotel a s t h i s issue comes
directly under the Kovalam Police Station, Crime Branch."

7 Covering Goa. Kovalam and Varkala in Kerala, Mahabalipuram in Tamilnadu, Bhuvaneswar in Puri iI; Orissa, Diamond
Harbour, Digha and Shankarpur in West Bengal, Gokarna and Karwar in Karnataka, Hyderabad, Vishakapatnam and
Vljaywada in Andhra Pradesh
46 Towards Strengthening Rights ojMinors ami Adolescents in Tourism

new methods" like a data bank From the above table it is evident that there
modem technology to hand le l arge volumes is complacency on the part of establishments
of M r Randhawa d i d not elaborate o n the 10 activity. Law agencies have
new methods. (. . . . )8. very l i tt l e interest to investigate these cases,
there was enough provided by the
Involvement of Tourism,
of Women are
paedophilia cases: rather questionable, as they did n o t secm to visualise
any in presurising the agency to
Tourism establishments are c o l luding to the i l l egal take action against the accused (for paedophilic
activity of trafficking and exploitation Immigration j udiciary and other

Few c ases from GOA:

N ationality! N ame C h ildren Status of

Origin were from the case
Fore igner Freddy Kamataka; Convicted i n 1 996
unknown Poor fam i l ies
, .

ongm 1 996 in Goa

British 1 996 Andhra Pradesh N o conviction, absconded

National

Swiss N a tional 1 99 6 Pune, A l l owed to leave the

Maharashtra due to lack ofevidence of sexual
exploitation
B ri ti s h 1 996 Runs c h i l d sex No case was filed
N at ional tours for h i s
foreign c l ients

Belgian origin RW, 1 998 Handicapped c h i l d Found dead i n h i s room

from Andhra
Pradesh

French 1 999 Was out on bail, the

N ational Delhi on
-
lft���'
tra n s i t to Tha '

German H 200 1 M umbai Assistant sessions Judge

convicted, but Add i tional
Session dismissed the
judgment the earl ier court.

B ri t i s h JCM, 200 1 Nepali Arrested

8 Pm'dmJhilia not yet threat to Goon police, Goman/ak News, Feb. 2001
Towards Strengthening Rights ofMinors and Adolescents in Tourism 47

Cases from Puri, Orissa:

NationaJity/ Name Reported by Children Status of

Origin were from the case

British National JU , 1 99 8 1 0 yr. Old c h i l d Andhra Pradesh Out ofj a i l on advanced bai l ;
absconded

Gennan ST, 1 99 8 Local residents P uri Left o n bai l, acquitted

European DB, 1 99 8 1 4 yr. O l d child Kamataka; Arrested and left on bail, Later
p i cked up from absconded
Goa

American C H K. Local resident Nepali Police did not register FIR

National

T, 1 99 9 Social Activist Mahab allipuram, Not arrested due to lack

Tam i lnadu o f evidence

Italian EPM, 2000 Local residents Andhra Pradesh 1 0 days after registering the case
w i th Puri Police, Maria and the
child was found dead i n their
room

A case from Mammallapuram, Tamilnadu:

Nationality/ Name o f Reported by Children Status of

Origin I n stitution were from the case

Dutch LHO. 2002 I nvesti gative reporting
(Wi l l H ume) revealed that the
establ i s hment procures
chil dren to cater the
sexual need o f foreign
tourists visiting the
orphanage
Villages Police raided the home
surrounding following the withdrawal o f
M ahabal l ip uram; two children by their parents
Kamataka altd i n Sept. 2 00 1 . Parents d id not
Andhra Pradesh file any case

Analysis of cases found in Pondicherry:

Nationality/ Name Reported by Children Status of

Origin were from the case

French, 2 0 02 D S C RH , Elder Brother of the Street Chi ldren Arrested

2002 victim

Cases found in Ahmedabad:

Nationality Name Children Status of

/ Origin were from the case
Hotel Owners (3) Call girl racket Arrested
Hotel Plan t i n um by crime
Hotel S ignor branch, No
Hotel Samir, 2003 follow up
48 Towards Sfre/lglhenillg Rigllts ofMilum alld Adolesc"lIL� ill TOllrisIn

Cases fou n d i n Andhra Prades h :

Nation a lity/ Name Children

were from
i Anonymous i
Domestic Street Children and R aj m u n d r y , o f ongoing
Tourists 2003 Child • S u rr o u n d i n gs study
working on Child Vijaywada

Domestic Children interviewed Vij aywada,

Tourists, fro m and C h i l d Rights Vishakapatnam
Organizations and other
. neighboring
Hyderabad; • districts of

fro m
neighboring
states o f Andhra
Pradesh

Austral i an A l le n Paul Andhra Pradesh i Not Known

, alias Parvi
I R aj 2002
-

Role-played by various agen cies in these cases:

Tourism Dept. of Women of Tourism Police

service and child Culture
p roviders Development
Goa I n formed Police Lack o f N o involvement N o involvement one case III

for involvement
Follow up
conviction

Orissa N o local NGO Lack o f No invo lvement No involvement Arrested but left
i nvolvement involvement due to n o
(revealed evidence, o r
study fro m the released o n bail
local

Tamilnadu I n formed Police Lack of N o involvement ]),fo inv

for investigation; involvement

N o i nvolvement No i nvolvement

role

Andhra N o involvement N o involvement Cases are not filed

P radesh
Towards SlrengtheJIing RigltL� ofMilrors and A dolescents in Tourism 49

have not any to labour, children were literally thrown out into streets,
punish the accused. exposing them to higher of exploitation. In aU\.H HVU,

the Labour cannot regulate

Legal Professionals (primarily from Goa Kerala) of children, as there are no legal concerning
this aspect. In the context oftourism-related paedophilia,
Legal professions mentioned that recommended publicizing offenders
while the legal framework was not adequate and scanning o f tourists on their arrival as
to combat the new Goa Children 's Act has adequate part to paedoph iles.
provisions to combat it. However, the enforcement Policy makers however have shown little interest fearing
such acts is crucial to curb CST in They menWJm:o a backlash on the in India.
that the l egal framework to address the issue
it is the that To u r i s m F a c i l i ty O w n e r s and Tou r
properly and thus professional � Issues d i scussed Responses
are when case comes for hearing. of
Awareness on A l though Tourism facil ity owners and tour
the maj o r poi nts t h e y r a i s e d w ere th e absence o f child Rights operators have an understanding of Child
laws the Rights, the operators in Kovalam and
Varkala has no such understanding
o f origin. Acknowledging
CST
Instances of exploitation of c h i ldren article 1 0.3
of the I C E S C R , w h i c h s t ates " c h il dren a n d young
persons should be from and social
explo itation . employment work harmful to
Worki ng in
their to life or to Partnership

In this could not be dealt w i th the

to a
hoteliers as deny existence o f C ST.
comprehensive set of laws p e rta i n i n g to c h i ldren '8
only recourse that the system offers is Where does
the Juve n i l e Justice Act and c ertain sections the
Indian (IPC) s u c h as Section 3 7 7 : Respondents: seven states
"Unnatural Sexual Offences".
Destinations of child sex appear to be VWU't;U'I:;'
Apart fro m i nadequate, fai l t o take i n to As prevention and protection efforts are stepped up i n
account the vast nature c h i l d exploitation and the one state, child s e x tourists are choosing
l e v e l s a t w h i c h abuse o c c u r s . states as their destination . This move is apparent between
started a S tate the choice Goa and Kovalam i n Kerala
i n 1 994 with the of ending child labour in and the new preference varkala, Cochin, Kum i ly i n
2000. This not been Measures Kerala other coastal Orissa,
included modi fication a n d enforcement of the Ta m i l n a d u , A n d h r a a n d Wes t B e n g a l .
Daman and Diu Shops and establishment 1 973 to
eliminate c h i l d l abour in the h ot e l and construction "A case study involved seven year old Salim who
industry, domestic the unorganized sector. as a kitchen at a restaurant INR 1 0
So far, the government has only been able to amend the a day. months later h e was earning five times the
Child Labour (Prohibition and Act 1 9 86, amount pineapples to Now years
raising the m inimu m employable age of a child old, he is a self s ty l e d entertainer. "I s ing, dance and
1 2 to 14 years . for the (foreigners).
for a m a s s ag e in t h e i r r o o m s " .
However, v",,",a.u,,,,, of these attempts at elilmillatling child
50 Towards Strengthening Righfs ofMinors Imd Adolescents in Tourism

further and the boy 's eyes blank and

he says he finds it embarrassing to talk about abusive How does CST take
s i tuations may When m
hotel he was taken he pointed towards the Taj . I nitial Contact
brings h i m about INR 1 50 a day, more than
S a l i m u s e d to m a k e an e n ti r e " A growing number o f paedophiles children
as - have discovered
(Weighing the G ATS On A Development Scale: the haven. form part a wider syndicate
c a s e of t o u r i s m in I n d ia , EQUAT I O N S , globally within a well-defined operating
November 2002) the u s e of modern communication systems
I nternet. New provides new opportunities
of Establishment paedophiles to surf for victims. also
c o n s t r u c t e d t h e o re t i c a l form u l a t i o n s
Explo i tation o f m inors adolescents t a k e p l ace in p aedoph i l i a as an s e x u a l preference o r
d i fferent settings and i n different An attempt is orientation; drawn u p a roster o f ' sexual rights' for
made here to outline the possible which and that a n t i -c h i ld and
easy access to m inors for exploitation: ' restrictive ' sexu a l norms and behaviour w i l l stunt
and maturity.
Reaction of a foreign tourist o n sex tourism in Kenya
and Dominican Republican There are usually wel l i nformed,
come every year spend long ranging from
" It was terrible. I was really shocked. I t was a whole season to 9 months, Goa. Some new
There were young boys, only about nine or ten years friends whil e others operate alone. They appear very
s i tting outside in the dirt w i th these b lokes, n or m a l and are m o s t l y aged or even o l d.
s el l i ng them . And it stank, i t was j ust the
thought was those p l aces, I wouldn't go They the chi ldren's confidence
in, i t was d i s gusting". (D avidson and Taylor, 1 998) w i th or some o f the fami l y/community.
They like chocolates, sun glasses, etc. and
interviewed mentioned that even cycles. and they take the
have hotels, street children, at or to d ifferent
corners, rooms they d e s erted places.
con stru c t i o n s i te s e t c . M aj or i t y o f c h i l dre n h a v e
t h a t beach i s often used a s a p l ace to have Tax i s a i d ' Where are you 'Do you
Fore i gn tourists often u se hotel s , as it is Goa?'
p l ace a s d escri bed having he said, 16
Domestic tourists use lodges or 1 7 year,
bars for this purpose . I said 'No' h e was very pushy. 'Only
and h e could bring her to hotel, she ' d
are no cases paedophil i a night with m e . H e o ffended because 1
from the sites under research i n Kerala, interviews with ' No ' . Eventu a ll y he said, you want boy? I
personnel Media the you boy ' .
instances. setting that was mentioned by the
communit ies part i c u l arly i s m assage health
parlours that cater solely to tourist It has been
the and health
hotels are o n ly
l<.<Ull","... prostitution rackets ' . trend
tourism destination, be it Kamataka, Some run travel or get into
i lnadu, or Bengal. with some local to run a business. Some are in contact
Towards Strengthenillg Rights of Millors alld A dolescents in Tourism 51

with beach or massage boys, who have · Stray cases of Lamani

been mates or have o ffered sexual owners
supply the children.

ful l advantage of the generosity

the locals who bend backward to
and allow them a number
a hotel".
Some also go around proj ecting their i mage This child works in bars as a dancer but, having not
. S o m e p a e d op h i l es havc reached puberty, she has not yet been The
relationships with youth,(boys or girls). Some of tourist claimed that h e wanted the child to accompany
youth are and some of the tourists are women him the older prostitute as their masseuse kept
who l ive-ins on an annual basis with their boy the two of them with for eight days. she
had provided with room
happened. The tourist has "only
A from the nomadic ·(Weighing the GATS On A
tribe as well as from villages i n northern Karnataka are the case of tour is m i n Goa, Ind ia,
wares on the beach. I t h as been 2002)

AND PULL FACTORS

a major part o f their covers two constituen t e l ements

parents in their to h ighlight selectedC> V '-" V - "' 'v V

groups that target tourists cultural and personal - fam i l ial

wares. are certainly among the most
unprotected sections that inhabit the
with some such chi l dren revealed that
are sometimes being asked b y
in their hotel and apartments, with an
part of the multi-layered social fabric that
the perpetration as well as perpetuation of
ways of treating children. The two
the study are as fol lows:
· M u l tifactorial causes that lead to
(Push factors)
...., ..,u�"'y creates its own supply (Pu l l

sums of money , around 1 000 rupees $ detai l s of t h e

chi ldren mentioned that children ethnic and cultural mix context
one or two days and when they return macro features have
. In some cases children were as fisk or vulnerability factors that
by tourists for

that the initial contact with children
two processes, either by the direct
i n termedi aries. As per the
residents o f the coastal belt
i n termed i ari e s a r e :
o f paedophiles, serving as procures
. Youth shack-owners, called ' b each
boy s '
. 'Pilots' or t axi drivers and some
drivers
Multiple
..."'.,", ........,. Absolute and Relative
of this study have voiced poverty as
reason' for being in the situation that makes
to sexual exploitation. Around 70% of
mentioned that the situation at home
them. The poor economic condition
by the children interviewed as
a reason home or taking up
In or any other establishments. They mentioned
52 Towards Strengthening Rigllts o/M.inors and Adolescent.1 in TourislII

that there i s n o way t o l iv e l i fe other than us money to television, to renovate our house. So
earning i n some way or other. The case below what i s so wrong i f I go out with h i m have sexual
this fact: relationship - that is need. It is my duty to
fu l fi l l need i s fu l fi l l ours . "
I know what can happen to m e but I c an ' t help i t I go Veeru Bihari, 1 2 yrs, Kova/am, Kerala
out only I good pay
them. They and sometimes From the study finding i t is well established that this
. On questi o n i ng, "Tour i s ts are of a steady source of children
good - for one n i g h t they p ay me R s . 200/- . and or tricked, the sex
they take me them to states a s
w e l l . I t is a g o o d opportunity to l e arn Engl i sh a n d to
visit free of cost". (Ani!, Goa, 1 0 Krishna, a boy from Perambur district, was
brought by a neighbourhood uncle in the pretext of
w e found that i s sense of providingjob in a hotel at Kovalam. the interview
poverty where parents created the sense o f "no
he mentioned, "My b etrayed me. have
sold me to this person for Rs. 1 0, 000/- now ask
option" . the c h i ldren i nterviewed are
me how am 1 doing and how is my health
upper c lass. They mentioned that though
after this conversation sarcastically) ". On further
Lilla"" "" crun ch, the need to h ave a
he "May be my were cheated
a n d p l e asure w a s s o m e t h i n g that
[00- they do not kno w what 1 go everyday ".
dominated their o f involvement act.

These have that they were unable to cope

up with pressure created by their Education as a d iscourse i s to be understood in i ts
in one hand and in the other by society itself. fu l le r sense. The study has shown that i l literacy is a
has also made vulnerable to exposed to the major h i ndrance to be well informed about the issues
exploitative s i tuation. related to well-being, self hood and other related issues.
Most o f the respondents have expressed their
Consumerism/Materialism about the consequences of C S E C . Fam i l i e s have no
i nfom1ation about the consequences and children under
This factor i s to t h e above research have l earnt about s ex e i ther from a very
poverty". Today, cannot exploitative or from friends or thus
understanding of the consequences of sexual
only cause for increase in C SEC. The commodification
exploitation are not c lear to them .
of perceived of
In the narration of a family from Goa have mentioned
the contributed to a change
that children go out with tourists often. Sometimes,
levels
they spent two/ three weeks with them visiting other
places. Children have reported about itching in their
but as parents we have never
for our culture, we are a community which is losing they are with the
its today relationship because goodfood; gifts
c ompet i t i o n p re d o m i n at e . . . " ( GA N, Chile) and money which we, parents can 't afford to them.
On discussions about consequences, Parents voiced
T h e study h a s shown t h a t t h i s change i n values and their concern about children s but they said this
have a situation to in which is t h e fat e p o o r c h ildren in o ur s o c ie ty.
"'H" 'Tl'" have either sold their children to an intermediary
or al lowed to b e with and Unempl oyment
j ust for some material gain.
This was another factor that came up our
a s of c r u c i a l i mp o r t a n c e t o the d i s c u s s i o n s on
"Being with tourist is h i gh l y profitable. They give you
vulnerab i l i ty. m igrant labour is recruited fro m
whatever you want. A tourist from gIven
Towards Strellglhening Rights ofMillors and AdolesceillS ill Tourism 53

various o f a particul ar state way in remo v i n g such hurdles 'lnd proper

or for work outside that state in of the A c t . B u t the fo l lo wing were
and other projects We have found a increase i n observed as the hurdles:
migration of fam i l i es from p laces i n and arou nd the I . R e luctance of workmen i n giving ful l
identified tourism areas. For all the respondents (under information about their and
migrant category) the of their dream has turned out
to be a The fac t that this popul ation n e ither e n fo r c e m e n t m a c h i n e ry
belong to the host c ornmunity (residents of that particular
place), nor they are seen to be value, the treatment
i s more hostile than supportive. This apathetic attitude
and behaviour of the local residents and the State results
in neglect and of t h e i r etc.
existence. 7 . Apathy of the "''''''''- '".'' to uphold the rights
W h e n it c o m e s t o the l i ab i l i t y of the S t a t e , t h e
F u n d a m e n t a l R i g h t s o f t h e C o n s ti t u t i o n o f I n d i a
categoric a l l y says that ' N o person shall be of
his l i fe or personal libcrty except according to procedure
estab lished by law.' lArticle 2 1 read with thc Directive
Hi ''' 1J1'''' of State enshrincd in A rticle 39 and
the Inter-state Workmen A c t, 1 979 the
state to i dentify and take the necessary to ensure Breakdown I Dysfu nction
that the migran t l a bourers also have the right to live
with human This ACT has failed i n of households
the human of the rec o n s t i t u te d r e la t i o n s h i p s between
The fo l l owing and a step-parent, c h ildren from
rights: c h i ldren being a l ienated from carers or being
for s o meone other a pare nt, are a l l
Provision for payment of d isplacement allowance
·
indicators o f heightened risk. Leaving home and family
equ i v a l e n t to 5 0 % o f w ag e s o r R s . 7 5/- at an a ge , and to survive on the streets
whichever i s h igher through whatever means are increasing vulnerability.
Provi s ion for p a y m e n t of j o u rn e y a l l owance
·

including of wages the

M igrants c h i ldren are espec i a l l y vulnerable t o sexu a l
1 5) ;
abu s e b e c a u s e t h e y a r e l o n e l y a n d t h e y crave
· Provision for suitabl e residential accommodation,
a ffe c t i o n " , says A u d a Vegas a s o c i a l worker
medical faci lities and as
Often the c h ildrcn are not even aware of the
16 (a)-
But the difficulty is in obtaining implications. They s imply conclude that this i s all

of the S tates from which workers m igrate to entcr the adults behave. Pick-up include the frequent parties
premi se s for thc purpos e o f s a t i s fy i n g t h e m s e l v e s on the beach or the weekly flea at Anjuna Beach.
whether the of the Act in relation to n:.t'VTTl"'"
o f w a g e s , c o n d i t i o n s of s er v i c e e t c . a r e b e i n g In s o m e parents bcen d e s c r i be d a s
implemented. The Court j udgement delivered fro m physical or drug
in ] 990 in a writ involving workers alcohol i sm. They arc i n desperately difficult and
to the e ffect that S tate/Union in I n d i a homeless, unemployed, mobile,
s h a l l be obliged t o p e rm i t officers o f t h e originating unstable, combination of which may severely l i m i t
State o f the migrant labour for holding proper enquiries t h e i r abi l i ty to c ar e and protect t h e i r c h ildren.
within the l i mits of the States for enforcement
today no longer use deception. instead they
ofthe Act and no recipient State shall any
use concern, affirmation, friendship and emotional
or h i n drance in such is to go a long

1 Article 2 1 ofthe Constitution of india. rvith to a corresponding provision in the fifth andfourteenth amendments US
Constitution which says that no person shall be deprived of his life. or property without due process oflaw, Field. 1. in Munn v Illinois
94 US 113 interpreted that the term ' more is meant than mere animal existew.:e . ..
54 Towards Slrenglhening Rights of Minors and Adolescents in Tourism

manip ulation to lure girls into . . . p rostitution . " investment, multinationals are the
new "Mantras" that replaced the earlier priority,
are raped and and thus such as a l l ev i ation, welfare oriented.
pressurized into receiving customers. A 1 4-year-old government i s obsesse d with profit making and so-
i n a B ombay brothel all pressure three development.
weeks. Consequently, she was put i n a small room with
a cobra. S h e sat there numb, to move or " The liberalization economy in oj
for two days, and eventually gave i n to her captors. globalisation vastly diminished traditional livelihood
meansJor The introduction aJmodern methods
Out of School ! in the Labour Market ojJarming has vastly reduced the needJor nm�lr·lJIl1.fr/T1
workers. has in depriving dependent
that are n o t in education are v u lnerab l e . on agricultural labourJar a livelihood to a state oJno
Whether means that they are or optionJor economic survival. tracts
of the school system, they are more land h a ve converted for commercial aqua
of production the oj traditional
Many livelihood. mechanizedfishing has
including living and working on streets, livelihood means traditional fisherfolk. " (Dr.
pr(lte(�nCm of family or concerned Sunitha Krishnan, Prajwala, an organization involved
Some may vulnerable to exploitation by other in campaigns.)
sexual favours or
demanded in return a of protection Tou rism
other gangs.
Although tourism is not the perpetuator of chil d sexual
Procurement within ext:)loltatlon, vAIJ)V""" ;) make use of the faci lities offered
by tourism industry (hotels, nigh tclubs,
Whether through through In tum, the tourism i ndustry help create a demand by
awareness of the possibility, or decreased resistance to promoting a .location's exotic Another factor
it, a parent or an sibling is already involved have by 70% of interviewed
in the sex trade, o th e r c h ildren are more at risk of is the loss o f their traditional l ivel ihood due to tourism
becoming involved. primarily the fishing i n Goa
"Many c h i ldren we met had been social ized to view and Kovalam They mentioned that the
"prostitution" as a way to repay thei r of h av e dra s t i c a l l y gone d o w n .
to their parents, especially by mothers or e lder communities of both the areas
who been CSWs some point time." said that the situation that they are i n has left them
Thi s i s not always the case, and are children with very options.
c o n t i nu i n g t o i nvolved, or According to a fishing fami ly "I go out morning
returni n g t o prostitutio n , the exp l i c i t aim o f for fis hing and come back only by My wife
fami l y through providing works as a help in the morning, afternoon
material ly, and thus reducing the eeonomic pressures goes with other women to collectfirewood, returns
on the fam i ly. in the All three ojmy children are not in school.
I could not make them study due to financial situation.
Demand Creates its Supply They are behind at home - whole day alone. Tourists
flock around our village - they are well connected with
Development Policies our children. I not know what children do when we
are away from home. But I have noticed they get new
The recent adoption of p o l i c i e s defined clothes, and sometime money ". On Jurther
considerations h a s shifted the emphas i s questioning, he said "I know my Jamily situation has
to every made my vulnerable to exploitation, I not
our society. Globalisation, large-scale production, foreign know what to do. Sometime tourists offer money to other
Towllrds Strengthening Rights ofMinors tInd Adolescellts ill Tourism 55

fam i lies as well, we accep t due to p o verty. " fol lowing were the oel'ceIOt1(}ll S PYY1, "1",y"rt as factors
l
that create Deman d ' for children.
n arrative the fi shing points out to a
situation where the development "tourism" is I n n e r Mechimisms : Motiv atio n and Core Beliefs
instrumental in taking away traditional oc(;upaWJns
of tourism areas (which are the of our fieldwork Goa, we had with
fishing community for their l ivelihood), alienating the three s uspected paedophi l e s to e l i c i t i n formation on
from their occupation as well a s known tourism general, the purpose o f l o ng in
s u rro u n d i n g s and t h e n p ro v i d i n g support to t h e Goa their perceptions on tourism commercial
communities b y them or their children some exploitation of children. While talking to them
materials benefi t the tourist that one o f them mentioned that he when a
child is happy and thus he wants to take chi ldhood
A n a l y s i s of P e rcep t i o n s of Var i o u s S ectors o n away hurt them he was hurt in chi ldhood .
"Demand" Another individual said he was sexually abused
and he enjoyed it. It did no harm to Thus do
Promoting tourism as an "employment has children no and not abuse. He believes that
proved to be another factor leads to vulnerability i s an showing love to c h i ldren.
of children. Most of the children interviewed have
that reason choosing tourism areas as the Perceptions on Masculinity
destination is because thought that l i festy l e there During the focus group with Children
w i l l be very attrac t i v e and opportu n i t i e s are local NGOs,
enormous. This promo tion has a l so strongly by
traffickers to convince i n the sex' is an tourist
their children for in tourism areas. field visit have mentioned that
the depri v a t i o n o f tra d i t i o n a l have distant
activities, another factor comes to the is the saw h i s behavior a s s o c i a lly, if not
visible that have been In He mentioned that h e sees no reason to
tourism from its conventional culture and heritage question it. H e mentioned clearly that he abused his
expenencmg. exp l aining " I t was the way she
e mp h a s i z i n g more o n dressed made m e do it; she's got a real sexy
of tourism. body-what coul d a man do?"
change leisure has brought
in a range as well as Perception on G ender and Power
t h e perceptions o f T h e term
"recreation and has been interpreted differently and
by diverse set of p eople, conflicting " p,n1<'p"
..,,,,,,,-,,,,,,,, and cultures. l i kely to be it
i s boys those are mostly are
An i nterpretation to recreation and l eisure been male and not too many female. (It is not to say
conveniently a s a motivation to travel for there are n o female paedophiles).
fu l fillment of sexual desires. A segment of tourist has
used the tourism industry as a provider to what group on adu l t sex said
is notoriously tenned as "sex from initial p l ay s a v i t a l rol e the e xp lo itation . They
exploitation adul ts thi s to and i t by the males are more mobi l e
victimize most vulnerable section of the society they are taught to do whatever they want to d o their
children. perception of their biological sex h a s
While discussing issues CST i n focus believe they a to expl o i t
discussions with Local NGOs working on child opposite sex. T h i s perception w a s shared based on the
tour operators other the of domestic Goa
 Towards Strengthenillg Rights o/Millors I1l1d Adolescellts in Tourism

Kovalam. a different notion

believes
child should be given an
to this group, the
from culture to culture.
be another reason why
activities w i th c h i l dren.

Profit

m i dd le m en and guides w er e
t h e rol e o f pro fi t i n
team) stated
children for sex. They
a h igher price from
so b ring in more chi ldren.
,",H.W... ., ,,, , , to m y customers everyday, I get

child. I am operating on the basis

It not bother me, whether it i s
sexual fantasies with a child j ust to sell someth i ng else, I
because children are not to say "no" to any " (Faroo, 3 5 years old broker) .

adults.
C h ild Sex
Perception on
Resi d e n t i a l C h ild S e x E x p l oi t e r s
w i th adult sex workers,
have the notion of settled in Goa, visiting
creates demand. The question for the purpose o f getting
I t was said that u""" ;,,,,-u. They may be involved

o n i ssues related to C S E,C, "''''' ''''E> a restaurant or a travel

w ays, a s chi l d marriage) o f agency.
are n o t looked into.
genera l ly stays in a
to have sex brought their own houses
was 35 years When I resisted, IJ U'"",U IJlJlllll. ,, are i nvolved i n

I have to satisfy his and i n VH:.\ULlL..

? It has continued to sex tours.

paeao::> p I11H;S visit. Goa for a few months every

in i so lation, M os t of the members
have as an identity that leads to demand
for chi ldren.
Construction of C h ildhood
tourism sectors on the issue of
perception o f childhood
year, i n the months corresponding with winter
in their of residence . They o ften stay in hotel
or in cheap on the beach . They o ften call
to their room during the day. In some cases, a
chi l d l ives with the paedophile in h i s room, with the
proprietor of the hotel or guesthouse."
Casual Visitors
Towards Strengthening Rights ofMinors alld Adolescents in Tourism
This group includes tourists who visits Goa and then
find out that in Goa children are easily reached, while
there is also another category of casual visitor who
visits Goa knowing that children are easily accessible.
This includes tourists visiting India on a one to two
week package tour or others that travel on their own
and stay for a longer duration.
Traditional Sex Exploiters
Local men, migrant workers and seamen represent an
established group of sex exploiters.
Preferential Paedophiles
There are also paedophiles and preferential child sex
abusers who travel independently to Goa. These men
may sometimes make usc of red light area where they
know there needs will be catered to. Sometimes, they
approach beach seller children and make them direct
offers, or they can obtain access to such children through
an intermediary. If these people are living in private
accommodation rather than in hotels, then the whole
process of child abuse is conducted in almost complete
privacy. While it is diffi cult to estimate this mode of
exploitation and abuse, it was reported that in 1 995, the
Department of Forensic Medicine at Bambolm received
Profile of the 'Typical' Child who is vulnerable to exploitation in tourism destinations:
57
nearly 60 cases of sexually abused children, mostly
pubescent boys from the tourist coastal areas.
Male Homosexual Sex Tourists:
Like heterosexual sex tourists, homosexual sex tourists
who have no specific or focussed sexual interest in
children may become ' situational' child abusers due to
anonymity that tourism brings to the trave l l er.
Female sex tourists
"In Goa it is possible to observe female tourists who
use their greater economic power in such locations in
order to indu lge racial sexual fantasies with local men
or boys". (Davidson and Taylor 1 996).
W h o a re at r i s k i n t o u r i s m des t i na t i o n s :
From the experiences 0 f EQUATIONS and its network
organisations involved in issues related to child and
tourism, potentially any child may be vulnerable to
exploitation, but at particular risk arc children living in
difficult conditions, such as:
. Minors and adolescents in living in tourism
destinations without adequate care and support structures
. Minors and adolescents those have migrated to
the tourism locations with their parents or without their
58 Towards Smmgtiliming Rights. ofMinors and Adolescents ill Tourism

parents and arc presently left unattended by any support / and threaten to leave
( l ike stay play
skill development and so on) During this phase the attitude and the approach the
"., ..,,,u,,., III location carer is crucial .
have reported organised crime
· M i nors and living i n environments Settling Phase
where there i s regul ar misuse of drugs, alcohol and
substances child begins to feeL more secure, and
· Minors and adolescents living on streets, problems should gradually diminish - although i t may
or d i sused bui lding s etc without any take months I years to this. may be periods
avai lable support structure . when the behaviour as they 'test' the
M inors
· children in the of
sector beach boys, s e l l ing scarfs or doing small
in hotels, shacks . 'Moving on' Phase
· Minors and adolescents working in hotel s (where
they be required to offer themselves to Once is
child should move else,
person will have to deal w i th their
I d e n tifi e d b eh av i o u r that c a n be e x p ected when o n -from that they
looking after a child who has been sexually abused used to. This may make them anxious and they
I exploited (as derived from the pathways of chil d ren may return to some of more unhe lpful
from variou s states) behaviours as they attempt to more i n control and
manage
I nitial P h a s e ( m a y l a s t 24 h o u rs t o 2-3 weeks)
Patterns of v u ln erability:
may be very and gratefu l . During
thi s time they may few behavioura l Following the the the
a s they are pattern that emerges from the eight states of India that
behaviour. pushes children to vulnerable are as

Adj us t m e n t P h a s e (ty p i c a l l y fro m 3- 9 weeks, · Peer Pressure

following the initial p h ase) · Fake Marriages
Having the 'safety' of the life that they · Low income
the c h i l d needs to p ro c e s s and a dj ust to their new · D y s fu n c t i o n a l tourism areas
circumstances. This process of adj ustment will bring · Presence of run-away i n Tourism areas
about emotions that child · Migration
will need to come to terms with. in the ofjobs
may: · No employment situations

Test boundaries
Resent adults' authority
Resist
Display anger of education opportunities, for
children
Rebel about physical and psychological
impact of. sexual abuse
Express v iews and things as hoard foo d ! hide w i t h i n the fami l y, commu n i ty
possessions f lock room or door ! with l i ghts on · Wel fare policies and programme s not implemented
· Aspiration a better l i fe
Towards Strengthening Rights ofMinors alld Adolescents in Tourism 59

· Desire for consumer goods

· Perception that being with the tourist increases
personal status and opportunity
· Unregulated and aggressive tourism development

Pull Factors:
· The powerless posi tion of children in society
· Constructs of gender and violence
· Organised crime, including trafficking of children
· 'Sexualised' promotion of tourism
· Inaction by police and other authorities, corruption
· Involvement of 'third person' agents - taxis, tour
guides, family member
· Migration to tourist areas
Demand fo r c h i ldren as sexual o b j e c t s
· E x i stence o f prostitution and sex t ourism
60 Towards Strengthening Rights of Millors and Adolescents in Tourism

addition it is imperative to work on the broad setting in

o experienced from the interaction with children under
Survivors of child exploitation are likely to become the
future exploiters themselves. Also they are not adequately
taken care of, they are very vul nerable to being exploited
repeatedly. Case studies indicate that most exploiters
were subject to exploitation at an early age during their
formative years. This issue is very complicated and
sensitive, requiring a multi-disciplinary approach. To
say the least, the issue calls for interventions and
assistance from various agencies, with the assistance
of professiona l s trained in different discipl ines.
Survivors generally require person specifric attention
which exploitation of minors ( below 1 8 years) and
adolescents takes place.
The main objectives of this chapter is to provide ways
and means to make the public and concerned agencies
work together to address the issues and problems in a
sustainable way.
This chapter will focus on the following e lements of
the intervention framework:
1. Understanding the various needs of minors and
adolescents who are vulnerable in tourism areas (As
the scope of this initiative)
2. Identifying the various stakeholders to work with
to strengthen the rights of minors and adolescents in
tourism.
3. Developing specific interventions based on the
identified risk patterns and the stakeholders presence
in a given tourism destination to strengthen the rights
of minors and adolescents in tourism.
Section I:
The fig. 1 . 1 provides an understanding of the various
services that is needed in vulnerabl e situations. The

Prov iding short stay Child friendly legal aid

facilities (For. Eg: night Access to justice rights � mechanism;
stay facilities, Day care (basic needs) � Information on legal
centres) procedures

Social Skills: Protection

Environment - Physical and Keeping safe (For
protection and basic eg; skill to saying no),
needs (survival needs - Different ways of
food, shelter and relating the society
education)

Services needed
underpinned by the
principle of Best Interest
Emotional Safety - Eg:
of the child
being with people (care
providers/ community Psy chological services
representatives) who to help ' undo' damages
are consistence and - Eg: creative therap y,
reliable group work, counseling

Health - Personal
Hy giene, Nutrition,
fig. 1 . 1
Affects of drugs and
Physical safety: being other substances, Sex
in a n environment that ./l--.-.I'...
provides a sense of <i===> Educational
functional literacy and
-

�
Education, Informa tion
on HIV / AIDS and safe
security numeracy sexual behaviors
Towards Strengtllening Righ/s ofMinors and Adolescents ill Tourism 61

services mentioned below are not linear in nature. The
services explained are needed to be undertaken
simultaneously where each services has a contribution
towards the next step towards strengthening rights of
vulnerable minors and adolescents.
Comprehensive multiple needs of the child - circular
and not linear ----
Section I I :
Fig 1 .2 delineates the various stakeholders a t different
levels whom one needs to work with in a tourism
destination for strengthening the rights of minors and
adolescents. The diagram suggests that the interventions
have t o b e comprehensive b y involving and engaging
with various important stakeholders in the process of
intervention at different levels.
The diagram could be interpreted from both the top­
bottom approach and the bottom-up approach. This is
to show that the interventions to strengthen the rights
of minors and adolescents in tourism need to be multi­
layered and multi-faceted.
Section III:
Developing specific interventions: The analysis of

fig. 1.2

Working a t various levels to strengthen the rights of minors and adolekents in Tourism

International
level

Tourism
Representatives service
Local police of Local providers; media,
\._� st�a� n
o�
ti� v.::
�g�o:: nce incillding children's
erna�
_---I�====�r,-:: �� � �� media groups
Vulnerable
Children families
(Vulnerable);
other children and }- .....J
___

young
62 Towards Strengthening Rights ofMinors alld Adolescents in Tourism

v u l n era b i l i t i e s s h o w t h e i n terplay b e t w e e n t h e
i n fl u e n c i n g factors, and the l ac k o f regu latory
mechanism. To develop a comprehensive and integrated
in terven t i o n framework, it i s i mperative that t h e
identified stakeholders work together t o mitigate the
problem. I t i s recommended that any intervention on
the issue under discussion should have three teams to
work w i th d i s t i n c t ro l e s and r e s p on s i b i l i t i e s .

ROLE : Anchoring the

intervention on
intervention on preventive
Legal measures
measures

COMMUNITY MULTI ­
VIGILANT DISCIPLINARY INVESTIGATION
G ROUP G ROUP TEAM

9 Annexed is a list ofsuggested intervention based on the identified vulnerability

Towards Strengtllenillg Rig/Its ofMillors alld AJolescen£� in Tourism 63

The table below out possible destination that would help reduce
the vulnerabilities of and adolescents to

I nterventions

Prevention
measures

Develop participatory
approach so as to facilitate
understanding of the issue
and

Build awareness among

tourism sub sectors on the
impacts of tourism
on minors and adolescents

Extensive media campaign Makers, Tourism service

to inform tourists about civil
responsible tourism olher concerned
64 Towards Strengthening Rig/us ofMinors and Adolescents in Tourism

intervention tourism destinations

Interventions Action points Partners

(Description)
Corrective regulatory Makers, Tourism service
measures civil society
other concerned

Lobbying for
for social
to examine the
status minors and
adolescents in tourism
destinations

Campaign for a statement

i n Annual report of Tourism
';pn"rt-n'PTlt on "Minors and
are not
exploited i n the creation of
the tourism product".

Lobbying for local

community participation in
decision making process on
tourism with
National and
pn"rtTn,>nr of tourism and
of Tourism,
Government of India.
Lobbying with law - Tourism sub-sectors Tour
enforcing to have operators/ tourist guides/
tourist police in each tourist travel
state with extended
mandate to look at of
children

Awareness
on socially responsible
tourism

Sensitisation of the law

Towards Slrenglhening Rights ofMinors alld A do{escenlS in Tourism 65

Interventions

Legal bodies
measures

Police, Government
Welfare, law
agencies, Law
institutions
�------�

Lobbying for new laws to

deal with of
minors and

The fol lowing sections the the three

is to use o f l ocally available
cfr,'no'thp'n capacity to take up social actions. There
vi l a n c e , and are that have been tried by the
investigative groups for (Defined in the next

I t is extremely i mp ortant that

various levels and community is ensured. infrastructure in the
Thi s is due to the fac t that vulnerable groups of minors a youth club, this could be s trengthened
and adolescents, if identified at an eould from local governance,
be prevented from being explo i ted. The method of "'-" ,[VUl" and senior members

communi ty involvement i n i nformation commu n i ty a s

VU�" H"b and planning coul d help towards responsibilities. I f
of m inors and child right
capacity building 'A�AAHUb
Community vigilance group: on commercial
on documenting of children, legal aid, and
I : F o rm i n g a c o m m u n i ty grou p : monitoring ski l l s . T h i s team works w ith a m u l t i ­
intervention vigilance i s to clearly understood disciplinary group of professionals that i s s e t u p b y the
as a mechanism for co l lective awareness local NGO, particular tourism
bui lding and initiating actions. Equal ly important i s the destination.
nrr\(' p" c of communicating to the rr",,'prnF'"

such as local government bodies, local R o l e of C o m m u n ity Vigi l a n c e G ro u p ( C V G ) :

who might be in a better to Step I I : . a c ompreh e n s i v e s t u d y
1 ) I d e nt i fy i n g m i no r s and a d o l e s c e n ts at
a process does not require the i mmediate risk of (All members play this
structures, but only role)
s t ructures (such a s You t h
groups) and Assessment of the Social Environment: This
•

particular task calls for a multi-faceted assessment o f

66 Towards Strengthening Rights QjMinors and Adolescents in Tourism

the environment o f the child is Role o f the representative from the local government
conducted b y representatives of t h e l ocal NGO, i n bodies Based on the
in close w i t h M Do. attention takes up t h e
is paid to a l l ex isting fac tors, which are causing
for child. I t must be whether
those risk factors can be controlled or whether neeessary
measures must be introduced. I n the case ass are
child, for example, the continued presence
in the c o m m u n i ty m u s t be taken account. child and/or family are provided w i t h appropriate
factors t o be fi ed i n the and necessary to
community and among ,-," 'v"'>'-'" money to start a vocation
wel l . or

minor or adol escents who are living Role of the NGO:

in s ituations. This activity may apply to a child
at extremely risk o f o r a child who . At stage, the NGO
has already been victimized in any s i tuation. are to both the p o te n t i a l v i c t i m and her/ h i s fam i ly. I f
two s te p s i n fac t a n d gathering: necessary, t h e potential victim i s a thorough
med i c a l assessment.
a) Collecting the preliminary data
the case, to i n dicate where Training and capacity building on
b) And c o llecting and evidence healthy methods, and
that w i l l determ i ne the rehab i l i tation and t c c h n i qu e s to individual fa m i l y
p lans of the child, and will also be essential
conducting legal a ga i n s t abuser or The m ulti-disciplin ary group (MDG):
trafficker.
p o i n t the c a s e referred t o multi-
Preliminary data that are necessary for both group to take i t forward. A multi-disciplinary
a case and proceed ing the group w i l l comprised of: fro m
rehab i l i tation process i nclude: local officer), Medical professionals, Social
. Identity of the survivor, and others 'l " ' nl1 ,c r
local govemment Tourism industry
involved (Chief t h e Tra v e l a n d Tour A s s o c i a t i o n ) , and
. D et a i l s on how to access the survivor of Wom e n a n d C h i l d d e v e l o p m e n t
facts and evidence o f the abu se s ituation ( S e cretary), D c p ar t m e n t o f Tou r i s m and C u l ture
that can be used to a proper by the CVG
multi-discipl in ary team in c o l l ec t i n g comprehensive S o c i a l Psycho l o g i s ts and Superintendent
facts and

2) A c t i o n s t o r e d u c e the v u ln e r a b il i t y a n d working o n
strengthen their rights h a v e created a network o f professionals t o deal w i t h
" :n'...," '" of exploi tation to support
Role of the rpr\rp,�pn to the vulnerable group-so Thu s one needs to fonnalise
presence the and to the
''''H 'V'''' " work group about the existence the same. This would also
gather pre l i minary data mean formalizing relationship and role
potential victim's physical community v i gilance and the multi -disciplinary
and psycho l ogical s tatus, background up- group.
conduct a n assessment of her/his fami ly.
Towards Strengthening Rig/lis ofMinors and Adolescellts ill Tourism 67

Role of Multi-Disciplinary Tea m : · Never over look any details of material evidence,
symptom that might
Th i s t e a m w i l l t w o d i s t i nc t approac h e s : the abuse with the suspected
surv ivor have been abused or
w i th t h e c h i l d (may be victimized or trafficked, and by what means.
to exploitation) · Vital that might help identi fy the abuser
the context of exploi tation and collected properly, such as traces of semen,
fingerprints, bloodstains,
t e a m m u s t work i n c l o s e
with the c hild (may be victimized or highly
vulnerable to exploita tion) :

o f Wom e n a n d C h i ld d evelopmen t
from the local NGO
''"'''''''''F> n ' lI" :h
or closed question, because
r,,.,

to such questions carry less m

and Superin tendent
sub-team to w ork o n · B ear in mind that a statement made in response
to an open in the survivor's own words,
and i s m u c h more h e l pfu l for
'''''' ''' '''J l n rr
p reliminary Data: This would mean,
reviewing by the CVG and identifYing protect the confi dentiality,
possible sources of addi ti onal, rel i able information to the child.
p r e p a re c o m p re h e n s i v e d a t a c o l l e c t i on . investigation can hann the child. It i s
multi-d iscipl inary team not only to col lect
Comprehensive Facts and Evidence but to protect the child while evidence
collected.
any attempt to establish facts members of the investigation team2 be
cal l s for a survi vor-centered t o p o s s i b le i mp a c t o n t h e c h i l d .
I t IS to solicit co-operation can exacerbate the child's
each and every one in a multi-d i sciplinary team. trauma; careless questioning of friends and
T h i s is t o ensure a compi lation the in a b ad l i g h t in the
and psychological family.
of the c a s e . to protect t h e
b y police, a n d fro m by
To physical and psychological or o nl o okers. From the very
O il the survivor caused by the abuser or by the i n form ation m u s t b e kept i n strict
a l l forms o f evidence such as

a dossier: Maintaining a dossier is

In case of legal action, solid facts and evidence are
building up a solid case against thc abuser;
or o thers involved which can l ead to
prosecution i n a court of justice.
are the points t o remember while collecting
methodology j ointly carried out by multi-
team. Each d i scussion or consul tative
systematically documented, with minutes
fi led, and the time, place and
noted for the record . I f any new
conclusions on the case are made, and found t o be
previous conclusions, such changes must
duly recorded with clear explanations or justifications.

2 Will be exfJ!Ia/J�ea in next section.

68 Towards Strengthenillg Rights ojMillors amiAdolescents in Tourism

I d e n t i fy t h e s t a r t i n g p oi n t o f t h e a b u s e : help to p os s i b l e to certai n
Understanding and identifying starting point o f the s u c h as a p o s s i b l e fam i ly for a
.",.., process is very important i n building up a case.
� � ,. � . CllT'u"rnr or sources of possible {Yt1 '"J_tf" -rrI support
In the case of sexual exploitation i n this would
include how the abuser might have
survivor, what the first contact was, tree i s drawn out, showing at least two
m i ght primed the In of the fam ily, with necessary
the c ase o f trafficking i n touri sm areas, the manner i n added for each fami l y member, as b e l o w :
the child was h-"iTlf' I"",rl
d u p l i ci t y o r w h e t h e r p u r c h a s e d . S tatus each member o f the fam i ly, i nclud i ng
c o m m u n i ty , must be b i ological own
stepmother, brothers and sisters, half-brothers or
For one can seek answers t o the etc,
questions. How the survivor have been
a v ulnerable s ituation? How m i gh t
approached? there any talk relations?
Was the survivor to pornographic materials? , Profession
All the of abuse . Relations between fa m i ly members,
influential a which members if
any are abusers, influences
Look fo r p atterns of abuse or function as a protector
, Other of fam i ly members that have
That bearing on case, including presence of communicable
mental etc.
victims same
investigating C o n s i d er a t i o n s i n t h e c a s e o f t r a ffi c k i n g
trafficking cases.
I n the case of a from home
A case must try to a brothel, there is inevitably more than one person
case might a serial offence. Are there any who can be the 'abuser'. As much as
or d i ffer en c e s b et w e e n o p p o r tu n i ti e s o r "'VII"'" '"'' regarding sequence and
circumstances? H o w l on g h a d t h e abuse been
When did abusing process start and
Had the survivor subj e c t to o r different These the initial of the the
forms prior to or after the reported case? In ' se l l er ' (who may be a family if the was
case there were additional involved the purchased; the the child to the
o r I n case suspected had brothel; the 'purchaser' on the brothel side (who coul d
or trafficked other this process may be brothe l owner or manager); a n d the person(s)
be to gather facts for who forced the child to conduct prostitution, including
additional cases. the m a n a g e r a n d b r o th e l '
,

. Developing a Family Tree for the child survivor

A fam i ly tree i s a basic, practical tool for a case gangs,

In a w ay, it the family and coll aborators i s nearly i mpossible, However, it i s
,","" ,",'1\J,",U fami l y chi ld, as wel l a n o b l igation to c o l l ec t as many facts a n d a s
as size, and other o f family evidence a s possible, not for prosecution, but to
environment A fam i ly tree can help identify possible determi n e of treatment and
problems and involved i n the case. A tree rehabilitation, and t o determine i f the chi ld can b e
Towards Strengthening Rights ofMinors and Adolescents in Tourism 69

r e u n i te d w i th h er/h i s fam i l y c o m m u n i ty . and evidence, the multi-disciplinary team

pn)te(;t1cln activities necessary two "l'lt,pon,n

Applying facts a n d evidence t o the reh abilitation a) through t h e

and ..,:n n t-,,,rn· ,,, b ) Protection through a legal prC)grllln:me or
system.
The facts and collected will combined with
medi c a l , psychological s o c i a l assessment upon Social Protection :
intake. These will whether t h e chi l d
should receive treatment rehabilitation Intl:!rv'emlons, is still or
or she or he can move rapidly into to or it i s necessary to provide
protection by the survivor from vulnerable
The facts w i l l help i n d i cate potent i a l situation or environment and placing himlher in a safer
sources trauma t h e child that not cl early setting for further deta i l ed assessment o f case.
evident. Facts carefu l l y collected can also point out separation of the survivor for of safety
certain significant events during formative years can be arranged by referring the child to a number
the herthis family, and others that will be helpful a lternatives, as: temporary in a foster
i n carrying out the assessment the survivor. or home of relatives, emergency shelter or half-way
run and operated or a omJPnn rrlp n t

immediate reintegration, and

w i l l help i ndicate whether fam i ly and community
are receptive t o return of the child. Chil d Witness Support

the A by means and normally

process, or child protection plan, for providing adequate require a rather prudent and analytical approach. Any
nrr,tp{' l 1 r.n for each child survivor must be developed must carried out with best
by the case management team. to of the child survivor at heart. Once the intervention
prevent return to a n team that case can be a court
or often i n t h e c a s e of trafficking survivors, possible ofjustice, it usually begins by a proper complaint
or t o the child or family by the traffickers. with the local police, and pressing the
accused wrongdoer.
may i n c l ud e four phases At th i s t h e C h i l d Witness Support programme
protection. The is essential, the other in preparing t h e child survivor a s
three phases may or may not b e nC(;eSSar a i n the criminal j ustice system as well as for
on estimated safety the child. court appearance, testifying, and being cross-examined
by the lawyer, etc.
· Protection prov i d ed during the critical i ntake
fol l owing are as In
· P r o t ec t i o n p r o v i d e d d u r i n g t h e preparing the child witness:
assessment o f the child and
· Protection provided during the rehabilitation period the child survivor with the processes
I-'rr,tp('t ,r.n or measures for the and DfC)Ce'Om of the
reintegration period
. Help child survivor to and see the
In facts and may benefit of obtaining and speaking the truth for the
col lected for the formu lation of a P(, 1 ! TH1,n o f the case .

10 or t o proc e s s .
having a..., ...,VIL'" initial collection of facts
70 Towards Sirellgihelljllg Righls ofMinQrs and Adolescents in Tourism

. Minimize on the child survivor, · Creating the case file: Each child her/hi s own
as their and ernlOtlOn,al case contents which are under
before confidenti a l i ty. This includes written assessments
results interviews, other infonnation
collected, as well as all meetings of the case management
for psychological counselling support team. A l l information c o l lected should recorded in
fo r the c h i l d survivor, i n to h e l p h er/h i m to standard form, with avai l ab l e photographs,
w i thstand of l e ga l proced ures and sound record i ngs of
information may be as evidence for legal nn .'"n"cPc
as for the next course action in
some to ch ild. case fil e a l s o inc ludes
the child survivor documents, including of birth
more secure and cert i fieate, house registration documents, citizensh ip
o r passport, educational records, h e a l t h
for collaboration and co- record.s, etc.
operation oelwe:en agencies and orf:anlZ3110ns,
both a n d NG Ds, i n order to p ro v i d e a l l · Even if the family has gone through a process of
as�astall(�e and necessary to support the may sti l l be some conditions, which
foc a l organi zation that i s caring for the c h i l d . are not favourabl e for the return of the ch i l d survivor
into the or not the is ready to
I n a functional Child Witness Support system, numerous receive the child, it i s subj ect to a pre-reintegration
players would have to together as part of a assessment to ensure that the is of
network. include committed specialists and t h e c h i l d in a and c h i l d - fri e n d l y
""v " ,,,..t ,,
i n medicine, and work, reintegration process.
as as volunteers. role
to p l ay i n the process and makes a m eaningfu l · A we l l- formulated re i ntegration is
c o ntributi o n t o a c o m m o n c a u s e . W i th s u c h a n arrived at between the child and the
e s tabl ished network , C h i l d Witness Support can Thi s fostering proper relations .... "" 'nlt'<>n

provided in d i fferent of country, to en sure child and of the providing basic

efficient and response on behalf of many chil d counselling on parenting,
and providing capaci ty-bui lding for members,
such a s problem-solving ski l l s and communication
. Social assessment: assessment is conducted sk i l l s . p l ay an important role i n this
b o t h w i t h t h e c h i l d a n d w it h fam i l y a great i n soliciting both
commlUli ty. Among are relations w i th m aterial and n o n-material for fam i ly.
adults and peers, home l iving or social environment,
security, pres e n c e of h i gh-risk
fam i l y commu n i ty, socio-

� n ,.,...",rl
H ' ''' UV'H IS "'''' ',Uv',,",U them, outside assistance
i nterv iews of the c h i l d survivor, supporting n etwork.
and other individuals
who m i gh t helpfu l in supporting the witness If the c h i l d is re-enterin g formal s c h o o l
in some ways. Data i n c l ud e background '"UUV"', then the is also to assessment.
and up-bri n g i n g of the survivor, any possibl e aspects the school its system must be
of mistreated, or assessed, including the general environment, teaching
a n d any other i n formati o n to system, the of school students and
teachers towards the child, and whether teachers are
Towards Strengthening Rights ofMinors and Adolescents in Tourism 71

capabl e of assisting the child and addressing the Working with t h e context of exploitation a n d "'''',<I''ll:.
invol ved. All these must be assessed and up regulatory m echanisms
provided to the case management team, which
integrate the into the rehabi li tation p lan. to
this case, the plan include strategies for
c l o s e l y w i th als and helps in
the adverse impacts
·Communi ty assessment i s normally requi red to section gives indicators methodologies, by
ensure that the child may secure and protected on which community members themselves can
return to h er/h is own It must borne in and assess, the impact oftoUl;sm. The impact assessment
m i n d t h at t h e t h e c h i l d i s paramount. exercises also act as a for making
Infonnation must be on the social environment help in future process. This could
of the community, both about individuals who are likely undertaken by the local government or by the
to have access to the as well as individuals disciplinary team as well. To
might be p repared to h e l p p rotect the c h i ld , if the process o f impact =0''-'''''''''_11<,
situation arises. p rocess, we have
provide on;
In addition, a
· support system the · The current status conditions
needs to be put i n consi s ti n g o f concern e d · The advances towards fulfilling children's
individuals, groups and r i g h t s ( i n the c o n t c x t t o u r i s m d e v e l opmen t)
organizations o r government agencies. These include From the point of view of assessing situation of children,
local hospitals, clinics, local adrnmlstrators three levels of are l isted out:
welfare offices, youth groups, neighbou · Baseline indicators to establish the current situation
rs and relatives. p o i n t for future
ndlcators to show changes over
· Once the of
programmes for
an <I n,''I r f'l,nr. (through models, cconomic
process, and be able to political changes , d i s a s te r or
a t e m p o ra r y o r a r e i n t e gr a t i o n . Early warning '"",""�"Vl to provide danger signals
deteriorating conditions children in situations
P r ep a r i n g C o m m u n ity p p o r t ( C o m m u n ity or unexpected vU,'llF,""
Vigilance group)
Basic h ealth a n d u n de r five)
Prior to the placement o f the child in a new setting, the
case officer or estab li s h a npT"Xlr\lrv U nder-F i v e -Years Rate ( U 5 I M R) is a
of support with community you about the health and
to provide Vll,5V j' 1 l 5 it is tracked over
schools, doctors, '-'Ulialll"ll")' it indicates the impact health promoting
local administrators, and even But it is also
important tei know i f, for example, babies die more
A preliminary case this network should frequently than boy or a d i sproportionate
be organized, to formulate an action plan for child of chi ldren of a particular ethnic group d i e
protection, and to ensure the c h i l d survivor i s their fifth birthday, o r what in U5IMR
provided w i th proper for h er/hi s physical, b e t w e e n c h i l d re n l i v i n g i n d i fferent
emotional and social and development. y _ context.
• • • _ •.• •

This effort should be followed by periodic assessment

case s u p p or t g ro u p . not get the right
is not only a rights
72 Towards Strengthe1!ing Rights ofMinors amiAdolescents in Tourism

and target programmes to

of life. It shows inequalities between
a context. to be broken down: etc.

Survival a . Net primary school enrolment rate

a . Under-five morta l i ty rate (Thi s correlate with b. Proportion of children who reach
provision of potable immunisation, health
provision) c. School dropout, absenteeism and repetition rates4
d . Learn i n g a c h ievement school
e. Rate of primary school completion (avoids the
to measure compulsory education)
c. Vitamin A deficiency f. Net s e c o nd ar y school enrolment rate
d. diseases (captures g. Proportion o f are l iterate (the
(for all teen pregn"mc equivalent of ' le a rn i n:g primary

f. Substance abuse (important, but hard to measure: h. Policy of school attenaance

focus on are excluded
but pregnancy exclusion i s

Expl o i t a t i o n ( e Re a rt i c l e s 35 and 3 6)
g. (measl e s , if
h. i n child nutrition a. Proportion of children and not attending
L to early c h i l d h o od school (by gender)
J. t o adequate health care (hard t o "''''"1'', b. Proportion of children working and attending
but must preventive care) school (by gender)
k. A c c e s s to w ater and s a n i t a t i o n ( i n c l u d i n g c. (These indicators should be measured separately
in children and groups and
l . Access to adequate care (including definitions for work and decided on
a n d reproduct i v e based on village
d. Existence of s tandards child labour and
s c h o o l h e a l t h programmes conditions on rea l it i e s )
o f health service p erformance
Social security
o. Are differences of treatment,
or access a . Safe p l ay areas not necessarily to
boys ands girls generally? formal p l aygrounds: define safe as 'under
d i ffer e n t s o c i o- e c o n o m i c adult supervision ' , i s a very i mportant component
. According t o where they live (province, district, to m o n i to r i n of tourism development)
eco-area, urban/rural)? b. Existence structures to handle issues related

childhood development. This has yet to be measured in any meaningful way, since the components can range from child minding to
ael/elo'pment work.
m.</nH·,/u1n Learning in a second is not a bad thing. witness India. But the question is important. and might
eAUlU":U re,rnonallv It also identity
(;oln{JletlO'n ofsecondary school. This has not yet been but it malters both in its own and as an indicator of the
con1pUISOJ'Y schooling laws. since the components can range from to work.
nmnlpl'uln ofsecondary school. This has not yet been but it matters both in its own and as an indicator ofthe
con1pulsOJ'Y schooling laws. Vocational A nother important issues that leads /0 understanding
nrenar'IIl" children to cope with outer world in terms of employment opportunities.
4 Which may correlate with provision ofschools and teachers as well as with child and the rates of entry into secondary and
higher education.
 Towards Strengthening Rights o/Minors and Adolescents in Tourism 73

to child collaboration tourism industry and the department.

c . Q u a l i ty o f t h e i n s p e c t i o n by Village hotels and service providers
Council who continue to hotels rooms to be used for purposes
d. o f a p r ogramme o f act i o n t o u p h o l d o f CST.
t h e s t a n d ar d s for (by t h e
Tou r Operators and/or Hoteliers

Governing Pri n ciples: country of origin and

travel (In partnership of tourism,
"The principle of non-discrimination (CRC . This of Women an:d Child Development; Ministry of Infornlation
nationa l or simi lar averages are not sufficient: and broadcasting and
indi cators need to monitor the rights of population 2. Create a system tour operators in JVU,YW,,",
subgroups, the most assessing and to m\names on passenger lists
helping to narrow disparities. paedophiles.
"The of the best interests of the child (article 3)" 3. infonnation t o tourists on C S T and
choice of indicators should always reflect the dealing with thc by informing i f
that the interests of the child are paramount. principle see any doubtful behaviour oftourists accompanying
is a lso usefu l i n examining how budgetary allocations give 4. Establishing contact with user hotels them
priority t o children and to the of their children (in the book while
"The principle respect for tourist's room
1 2 - 1 5)". principle defines leV'GIOOm!! an ethical trafficking and
not as passive recipients, but as actors contributing commercial exploitation of children.
to decisions that their Iivcs. 6. To introduce a clause in contracts with suppliers,
'The principle of the right to survival development a common repud iation and sexual
(article 6)". This principle encompasses entire span o f exploitation of children (In partnership with ofTourism).
children's t o realise their fullest potential, from 7. To provide information to travellers by means o f
their health, nutrition and education needs to supporting their catalogues, brochures, in-flight films, home pages,
and social Children's well is the ctc.
responsibility not only o f family and government but also o f 8. To provide information to local "key persons" at the
whole world (in partnership with NGOs).

B ased on analysis; the responsi b i l i ty and For a sociaUy responsi ble travel a n d tourism i n dustry:
accountability o f each "'''',",''\JJIU\", in a tourism destination WTO Code of for the P rotection of Children
have to be identified to rights of from s e x u a l E x p l o i t a t i o n i n T r a v e l a n d To u ri s m
adolescents.
T h e WTO-OMT Code is a s e t o f s i x criteria, originally
A suggested list of roles and responsibilities stakeholders: developed by Scandinavian tour operators with support
the Nordic Council of Ministers and the WTO, and the
Tourism Authorities financing of the Commission. criteria call for
the establ ishment o f an ethical policy regarding child sex
· To develop mechanism t h a t w o u l d create a tourism, continuous the
framework under the "commitment to benefit l ocal and partners agree to
communities" b e dealt with with local information to In evaluations Code as
N G O s , c o m m u ni t y and D e p t . Wo men a n d C h i l d app l ied in six d i fferent touris t destinations have yielded
encouragmg
· To conduct social ""'\>"'''5'
· To report annually on the s ituation women and of tourism services the code
children in areas (in Annual report). t o i m pl e m e n t the fol lo w i n g s i x
n etwork s processes for sharing 1 . To establ ish a n policy regarding commercial
i n form a t i o n on C S T and interve n t i o n s i n sexual exploitation of children.
74 Towards StrengtJ/ening Rigllls of Millors and Adolesce1IIS ill Tourism

2 . To train the personnel i n the country o f origin and providing c lear actions against perpetrators, rehabi l itation
travel ","""H�>UV" " vav",a�,v for chi ld and to have proper schemes for
3. To introduce a clause in contracts with suppliers, stating
a common sexual exploitation of that protect the
children.
4. To provide inform ation to trav e l lers by means o f Act"
catalogues, brochures, in-flight films, ticket-slips, home pages, friendly
etc. by l e g a l p r o c e d u re s .
5 . To provide information to local "key persons" at the b e reviewed,
destinations. and harmonimd with convention on the Rights of the
6. To report annually Child Qther International to address
C o m m i t t e e o f t h e C od e o f C o n d u c t :
D e p a r t m e n t o f Wom e n a n d Development
development of the of Conduct' Project is supervised
by an international, multi-stakeholder Committee 1 . To develop monitoring in partnership
formed of: Interpol, WTO, TAT, of with local and local NGOs t o enforce
the tourism of tourist of conduct.
The Steering Committee is 2 . To a s s e s s and e v a l u at e impact s u ch
Organization. implementation on the situation (whether is a
in situation) in partnership with Dept. o f tourism, local
NGOs t _C1('VPlmrriPnf and NGOs.
3. To l obby w ith tourism industry and the Department
L lp\fi'I"rl1n(Y ",,,,tl'hriAfT cells to monitor child exploitation o f Tourism for rehabilitation for
in tourism. stakeholders to redress through exercising
2. Establ i s h a process t o and the
implementation a n d e ffe c t i v eness o f t h e ethical policy. 4. To p·ut. pressure tourism industry to adopt resolutions
3 . Conducting awareness and capacity in international forums against child sex tourism (CST).
building for law enforcing agencies, state protection 5. To ensure legal l iabil i ty for corporate breaches o f
tourism industry. national laws and of i nternational Jaws or
1.>,.." <"<", ,,.(.> judiciary services new l eg i s l ation to 6. Adequate rehabilitation o f victims o f child trafficking
address CST in India. (in collaboration with NGOs, industry and other government
5. Lobbying with Home and Department departments).
Tourism to have police in each state with
extended mandate to look at safety in collaboration with Law Enforcement
DWCD.
6. Running campaign to inform tourists 1 . S t r i c t e n fo rc e m e n t o f e x i s ti n g l eg i s l a ti o n .
that is not acceptable in partnership with Industry 2 . Implementing JJA, 2002 to a cell for
and Department of Tourism and Culture. child protection and deputing special police
7. local-self t o critically 3. u n i t s within the police and
development i n their area to put monitoring mandate of tourist police for monitoring and reporting CST
in with the participation of stakeholders should
such as hotel and t o u r o p erators, authorities and 4. Immediate steps should be taken to adopt extra territorial
communities t o monitor safety o f children. laws initiate appropriate action to ensure that no OU1endmg
foreign tourist escapes punishment leaving this country.
State Protection Services 5. legal shoul d be strictly enforced
and appropriate l egislafion be immediately initiated to make
Judiciary sexual abuse and commercial exploitation of children
a serious crime and to impose deterrent punishment on the
I. A comprehensive policy on and offenders, Indian and
Expl oitation Children should be worked out for
Towards Strellgthening Rights ofMillors alld Adolescellts ill Tourism 75

With the Tourism B i ll of Rights and Tourism Code

Conclusion: adopted by the WTO-OMT General Assembly in 1 9�5,
this apex organisation recognises the problem of chIld
Governments around the world have promoted
international tourism as an answer to economic growth
exploitation. In 1 995, the eleventh General Assembly
of WTO, held in Cairo, adoptcd a rightfully "denounces
and development. As shifts from traditional sources of
and condemns in parti cul ar, commerc i a l sexual
employment to towism occur, children and young people
exploitati on of children, considering i ts violation of
are encouraged to migrate to tourist areas, in hopes of
AIiiclc 34 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child
sustaining themselves and their families. TOUlism brings
and requiring strict legal action by tourist sending and
w i th i t consumerism to many parts of the world
receiving countrif:s" ' .
previously denied access to luxury commod ties and
.
!
services. O ften the lure of money and matenal gams
I n response t o this, ECPAT Sweden and Scandinavian
such as T-shilis, walkmans, bikes and even air tickets
tour operators had developed a Code of Conduct to
out of the country makes young people, includ i ng
ch i l d ren to f a l l prey of sexual ex p l o i t a t i o n .
protect children from sexual exploitation in 1?�9.
Various partncrs from Gennany, Sweden, Great B ntal ? ,
EQUATIONS and i t s network partners have facilitated
Italy, Netherlands and the United Kingdom and AustrIa
training workshops and consultations, in different parts
now joined this initiative.
of I nd i a w i th various agen c i es, such as Pol i c e ,
Government departments and NGOs o n the i ssue of
Rio Grande do NOlie2, Brazil took on the implementation
rights of minors and adolescents in tourism. As a result,
of the Code of Conduct as a State responsibility and
the parti c i pating organisations are wiling to take up
worked through a collaborative process w i th several
actions against this menace. This has created more needs
governmental and non-governmental segments of
in training, supporting materials and skilled human
society. The Tourism Ministry in Brazil (Embratur) has
resources to undertake e f fec t i ve i nterventi ons.
set up a police hotline to rcpOli instances of child sexual
This publication responds to the need of a doc � m �nt
abuse, and encourages both nationals and visitors to
that speaks on Indian experiences of child expl�ltat � on
use i t. It also has a poster, leaflet and ticket jacket
in tourism and the ways to combat. The publ IcatIOn
campaign with the slogan: "Beware. Brazil is watching
rea ff i r m s the c om p rehens i ve i n terven t i ons by
you".
highlighting the need for strong effective and preventive
methods, involving multi-stakeholders to combat
While numerous western tour operators have rati fied
exploitat ion of m inors and adolescents in tourism.
the ECPAT Code, Accor3 is the first global hotel company

I Code of Conduct for the protection ofcommercial sexual exploitation ofchildren in Travel and tourism; A plVject overview and implementation
examples; WTO-OMT, ECPA T- international and Respect. pp4. 2003.
2 A province of Brazil
76
in the world to make such a strong commitment. The
Yice President of Accor Human Resources - Asia, Mr.
Fabrice Tessier, said the company was keen to take a
stand on important issues relating to child welfare, and
that hopefully signing the Code would set an example
for the industry to follow. He said, "Accor is indeed
proud to be the first hotel and resort management
company in the world committed to eradicating
commercial sexual exploitation of children. Signing the
ECPAT Code is another step in preventing child sex
tourism. "4
In South Asia, Sri Lanka chose to combat commercial
sexual exploitation of children in tourism by setting up
campaigns with NGOs and the government. The Tourism
Authority of Thailand (TAT) has also distributed
brochures at tourism offices and airports to combat
child sex tourism.
Though many European companies have dcmonstrated
their commitment to practice a socially responsible,
child-wisc form of tourism by signing on to the Code
of Conduct, there has yet to be significant commitment
from U . S. companies. In April 2004, the Code of
Conduct campaign was formally launched in New York
City. The event was marked by a presentation by Queen
Sylvia of Sweden and the signature of Carlson
Companies, Inc., the largest North American company
to have signed the Code of Conduct.
From the above experiences, it is obvious that
3 Accor is the hotel company
4 WWW asistraveltips.com
Towards Sirellglirmillg Riglrls ofMillors alld AdolesceIIls ill TOllrism
governments and t h e tourism i n d u s t r y h a v e
acknowledged the problem of child sex tourism and are
implementing the Code of Conduct to protect
commercial sexual exploitation of children in tourism.
There are various manifestations and ramifications of
the services provided by tourism. They range from
luxurious five-star facilities to the medium and small
entrepreneuri.al efforts. This attracts in a wide range of
clientele. Tourists plan and book travel arrangements,
use of various modes of transportation and use tourism
facilities at the host d e s t i n a t i o n i n c lu d i n g
accommodation, eating and drinking establishments,
attractions and retail shops. E ach of these provides an
opportunity for the tourism industry to take action to
prevent or stop the sexual exploitation of children. What
is needed is a clear sct of goals, a timeframe and a
budget. If a multi-stakeholdcr collaboration is to work,
everybody should know what their role is and what the
common interest is.
The stakeholders in tourism development should be
aware that investing in prevention now is less costly
than trying to solve problems in the future. This is also
due to the fact that issues related to CST is not always
curable (solvable) as this victims suffer from severe
mental trauma and health hazards as serious as
HIY/AIDS.
Towards Strengthening Rights of Millors and Adolescents in Tourism 77

http://www. world-tourism. org/protecl_chiidren/slalements/wto_a. him WTO

STATEMENT ON THE PREVENTION OF

ORGANIZED SEX TOURISM

Adopted by the General Assembly of the World Tourism Organj.zation at its eleventh session
Cairo (Egypt), 1 7-22 October 1 995

(Resolution A/RES/3 3 8 (XI))

Whereas the WTO Tou rism B i l l of Rights and Touri st Code (Sofia, 1 98 5 ) calls on States and
i ndividu a ls to prevent any possibility of using tourism to exploit others for prostitution purposes;

Having consulted international and national organizations concerned, both governmental and non­
governmental, as well as the representatives of the tourism sector;

Considering the preoccupation of the international community over the persistence of organized
sex tourism which, for the purpose of this statement, can be defined as "trips organized from with in
the tourism sector, or from outside this sector but using its structures and networks, with the primary
purpose of effecting a commercial sexual relationship by the tourist with residents at the destination";

Aware of the grave health as wel l as social and cultural consequences of this activity for both tourist
receiving and sending countries, especially when it exploits gender, age, social and economic
i nequality at the destination visited;

The General Assembly

Rejects all such activity as exploitative and subvers ive to the fun damental objectives of tourism
in promoting peace, human rights, mutual understanding, respect for all peoples and cultures, and
sustainable development;
Denounces and condemns in particular child sex tourism, considering it a violation of Article
34 o f the Convention on the Rights of the Child (United Nati ons, 1 989), and requiring strict legal
action by tourist sending and receiving countries;

R e q u e s t s g o v e r n !D e n ts of both t o u r i s t s e n d i n g a n d r e c e i v i n g c o u n t r i es to

Mobilize their competent departments, including National Tourism Administrations, to undertake

measures against organized sex tourism;
Gather evidence of organized sex tourism and encourage education of concerned government
officials and top executives in the tourism sector about the negative consequences of this activity;
Issue guidelines to the tourism sector insisting that it refrains from organizing any forms of sex
tourism, and from exploiting prostitution as a tourist attraction;
78 Towards Strellgthening Rights of Minors and Adolescell/s in Tourism

hIlP:/lwww. world-tourism.orglprotect_childrenlstatementsliata_wto%20stalement.htmJoint Statement by the

International Air Transport Association (lATA) and the World Tourism Organization (WTO) on

THE PROTECTION OF CHILDREN FROM SEXUAL EXPLOITATION

IN TRAVEL AND TOURISM

Presented at Yokohama on 1 7 December 200 1

lATA and WTO are sensitive to the forma l ly expressed wishes of our respective membership to
deter child sexual exploitation i n travel and tourism.

Our organizations take particular account of the WTO Global Code of Ethics for Tourism (Santiago,
Chile 1 999) which clearly states that " the exploitation of human beings in any form, particularly
sexual, especially when app lied to children, conflicts with the fundamental aims of tourism and is
the negation of tourism " .

W e also recall t h e lATA A G M Final Resolution Condemning Commercial Sexual Exploitation of

Children ( 1 996) and the WTO S tatement on the Prevention of Organized Sex Tourism ( 1 995).

It is absolutely clear from the above policy declarations that the leaders of our respective constituencies
are convinced that the well being of chi ldren has to be respected and protected everywhere.

We take the opportunity of this Second World Congress Against the Commercial Sexual Exploitation
of Children (Yokohama) to urge those in positions of power and authority to take specific measures
to counter sexual exploitation of children, by adapting their legislation to criminalize child sex abuse
and i ntroducing extraterritorial prosecuti on, in particular through the reinforcement of judicial
cooperation between States and the designation of national focal points.

We, for our part, will continue to encourage airlines and other international travel organ izations,
including airport authorities, to multiply their awareness-raising efforts towards passengers, especially
by means of articles in i n-flight magazines and by screening i n-flight video clips or other spots in
airport passenger lounges, departure gates and on airport buses.

We and our respective organizations favour actions by the tourism industry, in particular the adoption
of self-regulatory measures, such as codes of conduct and good practices, to complement existing
legi sl ation, as well as the education and training of staff at home and at tourism destinations .

Our two organizations will continue to work for closer public-private tourism-sector partnerships
at national, regional and international leve ls to j o intly combat sexual offences on m inors in travel
and tourism networks and call upon all tourism stakeholders to effectively support the international
campaign fo r the protection o f c h i ldren fr o m sexual e x p l o i t at i o n i n t o ur i s m .

It i s our sincere hope that by our actions, we shall help those engaged i n carrying out the measures
needed to advance the above policies and that we shall encourage others to add their strength to thi s
alliance.
 r
Towards Strengthening Rights ofMinors alldAdolescents in Tourism
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 EQUAT I O N S (EQU ITA B L E TO U R I S M OPTIONS) :

EQUAT I O N S was founded in 1 985 in response to an

urge to understand the impacts of development particularly
in the context of l i beral ized trade regi mes, the opening
up of the national economy, the beg i nn i n g of economic
reforms and concomitant structural adjustment programmes.
Campaig ning and advocacy on tourism and development
issues in I nd i a , our work has focused on women and
tourism , the child and tourism, ecosystems, communities
and tourism and globalization . We envision tourism that
is non-exploitative, where decision-making is democratized
a n d access to and benefits of tourism are equ itably
d istri buted. We endorse justice, equ ity, people centered
and movement centered activism , democratization and
d ialogue as o u r core values.

For further deta i l s visit www.equ itabletourism.org

or write to us at i nfo@eq u itabletourism .org

United Nations
Development Fund for Women �

UNIFEM�d �

U n ited Nations Development Fund for Women

South Asia Regional Office
223, Jor Bagh, New Delhi - 1 1 0 003
Tel : 9 1 - 1 1 -24698297 , 2460435 1
Fax: 9 1 - 1 1 -24622 1 3 6, 246276 1 2
Email: chandni .jos h i @ u n d p . org
Website: http://www. u nifem .org . i n

equations
Equitable To urism Options (EQUATIONS)
23/25, 8th Cross, Vig nan Nagar
N ew Thippasandra Post, Banga lore -- 560 075
Telefax: 9 1 -80-2524 4988 / 2534 4 1 49
e-mail: equations1 @vs n l . com