Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children

Commercial Sexual Exploitation of children CSEC is a bitter reality existing in all parts of the world. The most painful thing is this that besides implementing laws and policies it still exists. Poverty is one big factor due to which the young boys and girls are inducted in commercial sex trade. Parents willingly or unwillingly send their children into the hands of people interested in commercial sex. As a result these innocent buds are brutally scratched.

The Declaration adopted at the first world congress against Commercial Sexual Exploitation in 1996defined CSEC thus: “The fundamental sexual exploitation of children is a fundamental violation of child rights. It comprises sexual abuses by the adult and remuneration in cash or kind to the third person or persons. The child is treated as a sexual object and a commercial object. The coercion and violence against children amounts to forced labor and a contemporary form of slavery. CSEC involves the sexual exploitation of a child primarily or entirely for financial benefit or other economic profit, in either monetary form or in kind (food shelter drugs etc.), and in the most cases gives maximum benefit to the exploiter (client broker, agent, intermediary). CSEC also involves a violation of basic rights, dignity, and physical and mental wellbeing of the child. Children used for this purpose are called sex workers or prostitutes.”

Though CSEC is not very visible in Pakistan but nowadays NGO’s and even law reform government agencies are admitting this problem. Both male and female children are involved in this business. Male child can easily be found at parks, hotels, restaurants, bus stops and railway stations. While girl prostitutes can be found easily in red light area or by research teams. The most painful reality is this that the girl child prostitutes are spread in the whole cities in the guise of some other business like beauty parlor, dancing, singing etc.. They can be found in lower middle class, middle and upper class. This attitude shows the tolerance of our society towards male child prostitution.

In Pakistan prostitution can be categorized into following classes:

a) Girls sold or married for profit.

The legal age for maturity of a girl according to Marriage Restraint Act is 16 years but marriages do take place before this age. In some areas it is customary to receive a dowry at the time of marriage, though payment may not always be in form of cash. Despite of this custom in some areas there is that boys are supposed to pay the price of bride to girl’s parents or its guardian. This is the least acknowledged form of CSEC.

b) Female Prostitutes

Although prostitution is illegal in Pakistan but it does exist under the guise of dancing business. Dancing is legal in many cities of Pakistan and many dancing girls engage in commercial sex. Girls from other province are being transported in this profession. Girls also come from nearly small towns and adjoining prostitution. Naikas can be found in the various localities of the city. Lower middle class from small towns and adjoining places travel to the major prostitution centre of city and remain there for some time to earn money.
There is a premium on virginity in the work. The price of first night referred to Nath Attarwai is enormous as compared to the local rates of prostitutes. For this reason a girl child of red light area may be forced to work into commercial sex work as early as age 10.

c) Male child Prostitution

Male child prostitutes can be found easily in restaurants, at bus stops, and in shops. The majority of these children are those who run away from homes. Apparently they seem to be working in restaurants and victims of child labour. But in fact they are used to provide sexual services not only to their pimps, managers, employees but also to the customers.

Considering the severity of CSEC, it is now known as worst form of child labor. Because they are exploited and abused regularly.

Reasons of CSEC

The reasons of child sexual abuse are strongly rooted in our society.

The main and biggest reason is poverty. Due to poverty many children are used to work at restaurants where they are forced to enter into this heinous form of labor by their owners.
Some children are coerced by their friends and some children join this profession after their parents’ death.

Trafficking of children

Children and women are being sold everywhere. Chinese children in Bangkok, Nepalese in India, Bangladeshis and Burmees in Pakistan and Pakistanis are trafficked to middle east for fulfilling sexual desires and in camel jockeying.

In Pakistan, Bangladeshi children are trafficked through organized agents. These agents illusion poor families about bright feature in Pakistan and sometimes demand a money to bring them to Pakistan which family fulfills.

On their way husband and wives are separated infant children are left by these agents in the way to die. When these children arrive in Pakistan then they are sold from 145 US $ to 500 US $ depending on girl’s virginity and male child’s cuteness.

Overview of relevant national laws

a) Sexual Exploitation

The prevention of prostitution including the restriction on advertising, printing, circulation and display of obscene literature, is a principal of policy written into the constitution of the State of Pakistan. It is also a criminal offence under the Pakistan Penal Code of 1860Act no. (XLV) To transport or import a girl under the age of 18 years for purpose of prostitution. The offence is punishable by 10 years imprisonment or fine or both.

The Punjab Children Ordinance of 1983 and the Sindh Children Act of 1955 also make it a criminal offence to allow a child between the ages of 4 and 16 years to frequent a brothel, or to abet, cause or encourage the seduction or prostitution of a girl under the age of 16 years or cause or encourage anyone other than her husband to have sexual intercourse with her. The Punjab Children Ordinance of 1983 also authorizes the court of a First Class Magistrate to order protection of a child on information received from any interested party in the event that an offence against the body of the child is being committed.

The Punjab Ordinance of 1983 , under section 25,26 and 27, covers similar offences to the Sindh Children Act. The law, however, does not cover exposure to the risk of seduction as covered under the Sindh Children Act (section 58). Furthermore, the Punjab Children Act defines a girl child as less than 16 years of age as opposed to the 18 years specified in the Sindh Children Act of 1955 and CRC . While the penalty for placing or exposing a child to a brothel is the same as in the Sindh Children Act, the penalty for seduction or outrage of modesty (section 27) is different in that it provides for three years confinement and/or a thousand rupee fine.

b) Pornography

The constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan, under its principle of policy clause 37(g), provides that the state shall prevent prostitution, gambling and taking of injurious drugs, printing, publication, circulation and display of obscene literature and advertisements.

c) Child Marriage

The Marriage Restraint Act of 1929 states that a girl below the age of 16 years may not be allowed to marry. However, in cases such a marriage does take place, the law does not invalidate marriage. Therefore, a marriage below the prescribed age is against the law yet is still a valid marriage, thereby bringing sexual trauma upon the child under total religious and social sanction as well as legal immunity.

Sexual Abuse

a)Sodomy

Sodomy is covered under the Pakistan Penal Code(section 377). The law states that “whoever, intending voluntarily, has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal shall be punished with the imprisonment for life, or with imprisonment of either description for a term which shall not be less than two years nor more than ten years shall also be liable to fine”.

The minimum sentence for sodomy is two years and the maximum is 10 years. Thus, it seems that the State considers sodomy a far more serious crime than the vaginal penetration or any other sexual violence to a child for which two years is maximum punishment. It means that the concern lies more with the nature of crime, whether it is “against the order of nature” rather than with the violent aspect of the crime or the trauma that it will cause.

Therefore legislation seems to be motivated by perceptions of morality (i.e., which sexual conduct is acceptable or unacceptable) rather than with the intent to severely penalize sexual violence against children. This undermines the seriousness with which child sexual abuse is either understood or addressed in Pakistan.
b)Rape

The offence of Zina (Enforcement of Hudood) Ordinance of 1979 makes it a crime punishable with imprisonment for life and flogging not exceeding 30 strikes and fine, to kidnap or abduct any woman with intent to compel her to marry any person against her will to or to force or seduce her to have intercourse; and to sell, let to hire, or used for the purpose of prostitution or illicit intercourse with any person or for any unlawful and immoral purpose.

The Ordinance states that an adult, defined as a person who is at least 18 years old if male and at least 16 years old female, or a person having reached puberty, may commit the offence of Zina. Zina is defined as a man and a woman willfully having sexual intercourse without being validly married each other. To prove the Offence of Zina liable to Hadd punishment, testimony of four Muslim adult male witness having witnessed the act of penetration (the most crucial point of this ordinance). Tazir punishment may be given if the requisite proof for Hadood punishment is not forthcoming. Tazir means any punishment other than Hadd.

Most cases of child sexual abuse are registered under the Hudood Ordinance. Besides making both girls and boys vulnerable to malicious charges of adultery and creating a dangerous situation wherein a girl who has reported rape can be charged for adultery if she cannot prove rape, the Ordinance has replaced the earlier law on sexual intercourse with a wife of minor age(under 14 years) which as a result is no longer considered rape. In 1997, an amendment in the Hadood Law provided the possibility of death penalty to those found guilty of having committed gang rape and also to those found guilty of sodomy with a child.


It would be good if we’ll see other international conventions and laws relevant to child sexual abuse and prostitution which Pakistan has ratified

Article 34 of CRC says:

States Parties undertake to protect children from all forms of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse. For these purposes, State Parties shall in particular take all appropriate national, bilateral and multilateral measures to prevent:
the inducement or coercion of a child to engage in any unlawful sexual activity:
the exploitative use of children in prostitution or other unlawful sexual practices:
the exploitative use of children in pornographic performances and materials.

Article 35 further says:

States parties shall take all appropriate national, bilateral and multilateral measures to prevent the abduction of, sale of our traffic in children for any purpose or in any form.

Article 4 of UDHR says:

No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.

If the authorities are really serious about addressing this issue then all responsible factors should be targeted through effective strategies. For this there is a need to improve poverty alleviating programs and to aware people about the hazards and severity of CSEC, because in this way we are spoiling our future.