Sexual Tourism Boosts Child Exploitation in Latin America

Sexual tourism has become one major factor behind the expansion of child exploitation in Latin America, while the U.S. clusters the world´s largest amount of sexual tourists, international organizations indicated this week.

The biggest leap in demand occurred in the Caribbean, Central America and Brazil, while most of the demand is concentrated in the United States, the United Nations Children´s Fund (UNICEF) stated in a press release.

Estimates have it that approximately two million children –especially girls- are victims of sexual abuse and molestation triggered by a megabuck industry that operates in the shadows.

UNICEF officials are calling for legal actions against child molesters, chiefly in the U.S., where roughly a quarter of the world´s sexual tourists is found, the International Network for the Elimination of Child Prostitution, Pornography and Trade (ECPAT) indicated.