Responses to the International Child Sex Tourism Trade

Abstract

Part I of this Note examines the various parties involved in child sexual exploitation, the child sex tourism trade in Asia, and measures that the countries where the industry prospers (Thailand, Sri Lanka, and the Philippines) have taken to combat the problem. Part II of this Note examines various measures that the consumer countries either have taken or could potentially take to help fight child sex tourism, such as laws to gain criminal jurisdiction over their nationals who engage in child sex crimes abroad, and ratification and enforcement of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Part III of this Note analyzes the legal and practical questions these measures will create. This Note concludes that, in order to successfully fight the problem of child sex tourism in Southeast Asia, consumer countries need to pass laws enabling them to prosecute their own nationals for engaging in child sex crimes abroad.