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Chile
To Battle Sex Tourism Targeting
Minors
Chile To Battle
Sex Tourism Targeting
Minors
Santiago - Chilean
authorities on Tuesday signed an agreement
that aims to fight sex tourism targeting
minors, by raising awareness and publicizing
the penalties for such offenses.
The National Minors' Service (Sename), the
National Tourism Service (Senatur) and the
International Labor Organization (ILO)
agreed to work together to tackle the
problem, beginning by fighting the
deeply-rooted myth that teenagers are
willing participants in the sex trade.
"The reality is that they are being used by
adults who use the power they have to take
advantage of minors' financial and emotional
shortages," said Sename chief Eugenio San
Martin.
Senatur head Oscar Santelices said that the
tourists involved in sex trade could be
occasional travelers, members of pedophile
or child pornography rings.
Some 3,700 minors suffered sexual
exploitation in Chile in 2003, the latest
year for which official data is available.
There are no separate figures on child sex
tourism.
According to the officials, some 600 million
tourist trips are taken every year and 20
percent of them are in pursuit of sex. Some
three percent of the latter group, more than
3 million people, are seeking sex with
minors.
Most of this kind of travelers are consumers
of child pornography from developed
countries, focusing on Latin America which
has loose legislation on the issue, said the
officials.
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