The Indonesian Obligation to Protect Sexual Exploitation of Children in Tourism with Child Right Perspective
Asmin Fransiska

The Faculty of Law, Atma Jaya Catholic University of Indonesia

Abstract

Sexual Exploitation of Children in Tourism (SECT) is increasing amid the Covid-19 pandemic. In several cities in Indonesia, such as Surabaya and Bali, SECT has become a social phenomenon that is hard to solve for several reasons. Firstly the issue of child rights as a human right is being neglected, even though Indonesia has ratified the International Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which ensures the state^s obligation to protect the child from all forms of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse. Furthermore, 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- and the exploitative use of children in pornographic performances and materials. Secondly, the SECT occurs due to the economic and social barriers, especially in international tourism places. The number of international travelers has grown significantly in the past decade, and the projections are for continued growth. This situation benefits the local and national economy but also becomes an incentive to the child sexual exploitation industry. This paper aims to find the local and national causes of these cases and to what extent the solitude barriers in the legal and socio-economic issues should be considered to reform the law and the system of child protection in Indonesia, especially in tourist destinations places. This paper finds that poverty, economic disparity, lack of education, gender discrimination (especially for the girls), consumerism, and corrupt bureaucracy contribute to child sexual exploitation in Tourism. The child protection law is far from reaching the safe places of children involved in SECT since the issue is close to pornography which is concentrated on the ^offender^ rather than the subject who gains economic benefit from those activities. The research uses the normative analysis of child rights and socio-legal perspectives

Keywords: Child rights, Sexual Exploitation, Tourism, Children

Topic: Law on Tourism