Thailand Kids For Sale



Child sexual trafficking is alive and well in Thailand and many other countries around the world, including the U.S., according to child advocate Diana Scimone.

Scimone is president of PawPaw's8217;s Pals, an international children's8217;s relief agency that just launched a child-trafficking awareness program in Thailand called 's8220;Not For Sale.'s8221;

's8220;Some of these child prostitutes are 5 and 6 years old,'s8221; says Scimone, 's8220;and they's8217;re forced to serve multiple customers every night.

's8220;With the high-profile JonBenét Ramsey murder case in the news in Thailand,'s8221; she adds, 's8220;it's8217;s time to do something about the millions of little girls and boys's8212;in Thailand and our own country's8212;who are exploited like animals.'s8221;

The numbers, Scimone says, are staggering:

--1.2 million children are trafficked for sex around the world every year.

--Human trafficking is the third-highest income-generating syndicate (drugs and guns hold the top spots).

--Average age of sex workers around the world is just 11 years old.

--Child prostitutes are forced to serve 30 or 40 customers a night, night after night.

--100,000 children and young women are trafficked in the U.S. Average age is 11.

In Thailand, one of the centers for commercial se xual exploitation of children, the UN estimates up to 200,000 children are bought and sold for sex each year. 's8220;They's8217;re abused, exploited, and terrorized into submission by their captors,'s8221; says Scimone, 's8220;living a life of horror, rape, and abuse that often ends with death by AIDS.'s8221;

According to Scimone, many trafficked children in Thailand come from poor villages in the north. 's8220;Child vendors offer their parents large sums of money to educate their daughters in the big cities,'s8221; explains Scimone, who recently returned from a fact-finding mission to northern Thailand. 's8220;Of course they's8217;re never seen again.'s8221;

Others traffickers promise young teenage girls good jobs in the city's8212;never mentioning that the jobs are in brothels. Still others children's8212;boys and girls's8212;are sold by their own parents, who may be addicted to opium or alcohol.

Trafficked children are also brought across the border from Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, and China, and often re-sold and shipped to other locations around the world.

Although child-trafficking is a multi-billion industry around the world, Scimone says that many people are not aware of the extent's8212;either abroad or in the U.S. To bring awareness to the problem, PawPaw's8217;s Pals just launched a child-trafficking awareness program called 's8220;Not For Sale.'s8221;

Scimone is collaborating with social workers, counselors, and attorneys in Thailand to write the 's8220;Not For Sale's8221; awareness materials and distribute them to Thailand's8217;s 18 million school-age children, their parents, and 10,000+ schools. 's8220;Once we test 's8216;Not For Sale's8217; in Thailand,'s8221; she says, 's8220;we's8217;ll make it available to other countries where child trafficking is a crisis.'s8221;

In almost every country of the world, child trafficking is against the law, 's8220;but those laws are often unenforced or under-enforced,'s8221; says Scimone.

Trafficking countries are on the U.S. State Department's8217;s TIPS (Trafficking in Persons) List. Divided into 3 tiers, the list includes 12 countries in Tier 3, meaning their governments 's8220;do not fully comply with the minimum standards of combatting [human trafficking, and are not making significant efforts to do so.'s8221; The full list is at http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2006/65985.htm

Thailand is listed in Tier 2 because the government and law enforcement agencies are making efforts to combat the problem. Tier 3 countries are Belize, Burma, Cuba, Iran, Laos, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, and Zimbabwe.

Scimone, who traveled to Zimbabwe last year, said more than 1 million children there are AIDS orphans and many live on the streets, putting them at high risk for trafficking.

's8220;Lest we think child trafficking is just a problem in other countries,'s8221; she adds, 's8220;it's8217;s also a problem at home.'s8221; According to the FBI, 100,000 children and young women are trafficked in the U.S. today, ranging in age from 9 to 19, with the average age just 11.

's8220;With the high-profile JonBenét Ramsey murder case back in the news,'s8221; Scimone says, 's8220;it's8217;s time to do something about this horrific abuse.'s8221;

For more information on child trafficking, or to interview PawPaw's8217;s Pals founder and president Diana Scimone, who has traveled to Thailand, Zimbabwe, India, Sudan, the Philippines, and other countries documenting human rights abuses against children, contact PawPaw'ss Pals (see contact information).

PawPaw's8217;s Pals, Inc., is an international relief agency helping children in disaster and crisis situations around the world. It was founded by Diana Scimone, a journalist who traveled to more than 40 countries documenting human rights issues. As a result of seeing the devastation that many of the world's8217;s children face, she founded PawPaw's8217;s Pals to respond to those needs.

PawPaw is the title character in Scimone's8217;s children's8217;s book series, Adventures With PawPaw, about a little dog who travels to a different country in each book, introducing young children to other countries and cultures. A portion of profits goes to PawPaw's8217;s Pals to help children in disaster and crisis situations around the world, including the 's8220;Not For Sale's8221; child-trafficking awareness campaign. PawPaw's8217;s Pals, Inc., is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.





Thailand Kids For Sale