Dutch Justice Minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin has launched a new campaign this week against child sex tourism. He wants Dutch people on holiday to be more alert and to report child abuse by compatriots themselves. What do they need to know to do so?
"Watch out - don’t play Sherlock Holmes!" warns the website of the international watchdog against child abuse, ECPAT. ECPAT supports the ministry’s awareness campaign. The association of travel agencies ANVR and the Royal Dutch Military Polcie are also participating in the campaign.
What you should do as a tourist, says Sergeant Greet Koster of the Military Police, is just keep your eyes and ears open:
"Say what you hear, look around you when you're at the beach or having dinner at your restaurant and you see men of an age between fifty and sixty with very young children. Especially bars where you see young children and something in your stomach says: this is not right."
Little girl
Travel guide David de Koning from the travel organisation Koning Aap had just that feeling when he saw a tourist disappearing with a little girl into a houseboat on the river Kwai in Thailand.
What you should do as a tourist, says Sergeant Greet Koster of the Military Police, is just keep your eyes and ears open:
"Say what you hear, look around you when you're at the beach or having dinner at your restaurant and you see men of an age between fifty and sixty with very young children. Especially bars where you see young children and something in your stomach says: this is not right."
Little girl
Travel guide David de Koning from the travel organisation Koning Aap had just that feeling when he saw a tourist disappearing with a little girl into a houseboat on the river Kwai in Thailand.
"I once was in a houseboat on the River Kwai. In the houseboat next to me was a bit of a shady character, he had with him one small girl. He reported that this was his daughter, but according to the noises I heard at night it wasn't his daughter so I reported him to the authorities."
Mr De Koning went to the local authorities, but they were unable to stop the man getting away. The new campaign stresses that there is an alternative: reporting child sex abuse after the holiday in the Netherlands. Far too few people know that this is legally possible.
"There might be a chance that you're on the same plane with that person back to Holland. You might notice the chair number in the airplane, so that you can say: okay, it's that passenger. And then, we can go after the airline and ask the name of the person in that seat."
Few prosecutions
Up to now two Dutch nationals have been convicted of child abuse on the Philippines, and one in Gambia. The handful of convictions no way reflects the total number of Dutch tourists which, according to a study from 2002, have sex with underage children, which is more than 3000 per year.
Even that estimate could be too low, thinks Ms Koster. Who knows what we’ll find out once the awareness campaign is up and running and tourists actually start to report what they have seen and heard. "The Netherlands happens to be one of the problem countries in the area. Unfortunately."
That is why the threshold for reports has been made as low as possible. As of this week there’s an internet address, which is linked to a well known anti-child porn site. People can also phone an anonymous police tip line.
Anonymous
Anonymous tip lines in the Netherlands work surprisingly well. Last year alone a crime tip line led to around 1000 ‘ordinary’ arrests and solved more than 800 cases. Meanwhile the number of online reports of child porn has reached up to 1000 per year.
Nevertheless, Sergeant Koster does not want to start cheering too soon. Because an anonymous accusation does not carry much weight, especially if there is just one and its not confirmed by other travellers. "It’s a start."
Photo: pierre pouliquin at Flickr
Mr De Koning went to the local authorities, but they were unable to stop the man getting away. The new campaign stresses that there is an alternative: reporting child sex abuse after the holiday in the Netherlands. Far too few people know that this is legally possible.
"There might be a chance that you're on the same plane with that person back to Holland. You might notice the chair number in the airplane, so that you can say: okay, it's that passenger. And then, we can go after the airline and ask the name of the person in that seat."
Few prosecutions
Up to now two Dutch nationals have been convicted of child abuse on the Philippines, and one in Gambia. The handful of convictions no way reflects the total number of Dutch tourists which, according to a study from 2002, have sex with underage children, which is more than 3000 per year.
Even that estimate could be too low, thinks Ms Koster. Who knows what we’ll find out once the awareness campaign is up and running and tourists actually start to report what they have seen and heard. "The Netherlands happens to be one of the problem countries in the area. Unfortunately."
That is why the threshold for reports has been made as low as possible. As of this week there’s an internet address, which is linked to a well known anti-child porn site. People can also phone an anonymous police tip line.
Anonymous
Anonymous tip lines in the Netherlands work surprisingly well. Last year alone a crime tip line led to around 1000 ‘ordinary’ arrests and solved more than 800 cases. Meanwhile the number of online reports of child porn has reached up to 1000 per year.
Nevertheless, Sergeant Koster does not want to start cheering too soon. Because an anonymous accusation does not carry much weight, especially if there is just one and its not confirmed by other travellers. "It’s a start."
Photo: pierre pouliquin at Flickr
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Anonymous I agree with your opinion on Death penalty to those found molesting children. I would say to take it a step further, casteration without any local anaesthetic and death by hanging with a shameful sign hung around the perverts neck. It would be a good deterrent to those perverts to think twice before molesting children.
A small step but...take away their passports.
JohaninNL, we have occasional cases in our hospital of children who are molested/raped by family friends, elderly in the family and even cases of incest. These are the men who when not finding consenting adults, go for children as children can be intimidated, misled or abused, as they are defenceless and so highly vulnerable.Children are at risk from both homo and heterosexuals, and when I say that, I do not accuse all homo and heterosexuals. What I meant by my reaction was that when we make certain attitudes legal, then there is a very fine line of division between crime and acceptable social norms.There was an article on this site about a fourteen year old gay in the boat party. He is a minor legally, but when you give him freedom to chose sexuality publicly, you also make him vulnerable and at risk of being abused by prowling adults. Children emulate adult behaviour, moreso in open societies, where tv and films do not exercise restraint, and so they cannot differentiate between acceptable and non-acceptable behaviour from adult predators.In order to protect our kids from abuse, we have to be responsible adults and show restraint in our social behaviour.
Death penalty to those found molesting children. Simple as that.
Jasmin, there is a very large difference between two consenting homosexual adults having sex versus an adult molesting a child. Comparing the two is a bit off and, in effect, saying that homosexuals have something seriously wrong with them.
How can a country that's leading the world in gay and lesbian rights, right to sexual freedom, boasts of a paedophile political party, feels proud of the red light areas, lets women get exploited by men citing that the women do so willingly, feel so agitated by child sex tourism by the Dutch themselves? Aren't your messages mixed for the people of your country? You promote homosexuality in festivals but see red when these very people abuse young boys and girls, old enough to be their grandchildren, in churches, schools, beaches and swimming centres!!! You need to get your priorities right about what is socially wrong and right. World emulates you, and our children aren't safe anymore because we focus too much on the freedom to express ourselves rather than on our children and women, both of whom are in danger from the wolves- the prowling men.