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Combating Sexual Abuse and Sexual Exploitation of Children and Youth in Asia through Human Resources DevelopmentThe incidence of sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children and youth is on the rise in Asia and demands urgent action. Greater local demand, the growth of the sex tourism industry and the persistence of poverty have all contributed to the rise in the number of young people who are victims of sexual abuse and sexual exploitation. In addition to thriving cross-border trafficking networks, which lure or force children into prostitution, young people are also entering commercial sex work willingly, unaware of the psychosocial and physical consequences of their decision. Socioeconomic and cultural factors, such as lack of education, family breakdown and poverty, make young people particularly susceptible to sexual exploitation (prostitution, trafficking and pornography). Children and youth are also at risk of sexual abuse (rape and incest), usually by someone whom they know and trust. Young victims are at high risk of contracting sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), including HIV/AIDS, as well as developing many other physical, psychological and emotional problems. These children and youth are in urgent need of psychosocial and medical services, which are lacking in Asia. Hence, in addition to critical prevention programmes, service provision is crucial to facilitate the recovery of victims and their reintegration into society. In 1997, for the first time, governments in the Asia-Pacific region joined forces to adopt ESCAP Resolution 53/4 to tackle this problem. The Resolution called on ESCAP to combat sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children and youth through human resources development initiatives. In response, ESCAP's Human Resources Development (HRD) Section launched a regional programme covering 12 countries in South Asia, the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) and the Philippines. The 12 countries participating in this regional programme are Bangladesh, Cambodia, China (Yunnan Province), Lao People's Democratic Republic, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Thailand, Sri Lanka, and Viet Nam. The programme is being supported by a consortium of donors comprising the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agenda (Sida), the Governments of Japan and Australia, the United Nations International Drug Control Programme (UNDCP), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). The programme is being implemented at the regional, subregional and national levels, and aims to support victims of sexual abuse and sexual exploitation through: Research, Capacity-Building and Awareness Raising. Programme Objectives:
RESEARCH ESCAP has conducted research in collaboration with Uppsala University, Sweden, to determine the health and social service needs of sexually abused and sexually exploited children and youth and the capacity of health and social service personnel to respond effectively to those needs. Primary research undertaken by ESCAP found that there were few services available for these vulnerable young people, and where services did exist, they focused on physical recovery with little regard to psychosocial care. In many countries, the research was the first of its kind ever conducted. ESCAP assisted in the training of national personnel in research methodologies, and interviewing techniques, thereby improving their capacity to conduct in-depth qualitative research and analysis. The research findings, which were presented at National HRD Workshops in each country, provide the basis for the design of the capacity-building and awareness raising components of the ESCAP programme. CAPACITY-BUILDING OF HEALTH & SOCIAL SERVICE PROVIDERS The capacity-building component consists of national-level training needs assessments (TNA) of health and social service providers, and the development and conduct of training courses at both the subregional and national levels. The results of the TNAs, along with the country research, formed the basis for the establishment of the "ESCAP HRD Course on Psychosocial and Medical Services for Sexually Abused and Sexually Exploited Children and Youth." The Course focuses on:
Through the Course, a pool of competent health and social service personnel are being trained to provide the psychosocial services required to support young victims of sexual abuse and sexual exploitation, and aid in their reintegration into society. This pool of trained national personnel will then be able to train other health and social service providers in their countries, further expanding the services available in the region. AWARNESS RAISING The incidence of sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children and youth tend to remain hidden. Therefore, it is vital that national policy makers, local communities and other members of civil society are made more aware of the extent of the problem and the dangers and hardships young victims face. To generate awareness among governments, ESCAP has disseminated research findings and produced a film about sexually abused and sexually exploited children and youth entitled "No is Not Enough", which has been screened widely in the region. ESCAP has also played an advocacy role with policy makers on preventative and rehabilitative measures to combat this problem. Aside from national level action, community-based interventions are also essential. ESCAP is supporting community awareness pilot projects to educate communities about the rights of young people, the tricks traffickers use to lure children and youth and about the damaging physical and psychosocial effects of sexual abuse and sexual exploitation. In Pakistan, where the subject of child sexual abuse and sexual exploitation is still taboo, a popular media campaign was used to make it easier for audiences to discuss the issue. The campaign involved theatre groups which preformed original plays dealing with the subject of sexual abuse. The plays were preformed during the "Theatre Festival" in different cities in Pakistan. The Festival was inaugurated on 19 November 1999 in Karachi, as an activity to observe International Children's Day. The pilot project in Cambodia, while focusing mainly on community awareness raising, is also working to provide vocational training and microcredit funding for poor and at risk families. Through these efforts, at risk families will develop new skills and be afforded greater opportunities within their communities. By making communities more aware of young people's rights and the long-term damaging effects of sexual abuse and sexual exploitation, it is hoped that the factors which lead to abuse and exploitation can be overcome. ESCAP is working to improve the situation of young victims of sexual abuse and sexual exploitation by increasing the capacity of health and social service providers to assist these young people, thereby creating a pool of qualified personnel who can train other service providers at the community level, providing for project sustainability. ESCAP is also working to prevent the sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of new generations of young people by improving government and community understanding of the issues and by strengthening political commitment in tackling this problem. Through these activities, and by involving a wide variety of stakeholders, ESCAP is helping to reinforce the network of national organizations, institutions and United Nations agencies working with young people. It remains the challenge of all sectors of society to work together to formulate effective responses to these problems and to bring about positive change and the protection of all young people's human rights.
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