The M.P. Catherwood Library of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations,
Cornell University in partnership with the Child Labor Study Office of the
Bureau of International Labor Affairs is releasing the following report for
Internet access--
Forced Labor: The Prostitution of Children
Like the previous two reports, this third document is freely accessible
using the following:
World-Wide Web--
http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/library/e_archive/ChildLabor/
FTP Site--
ftp.ilr.cornell.edu
GOPHER
gopher.ilr.cornell.edu
The Press Release appears below.
BUREAU OF INTERNATIONAL LABOR AFFAIRS
USDL: 96-155
For Release: IMMEDIATE
Tuesday, April 23, 1996
LABOR DEPARTMENT RELEASES REPORT ON CHILD PROSTITUTION AS A FORM OF FORCED LABOR
The U.S. Labor Department's Bureau of International Labor Affairs
today released its first-ever publication about the use of children in the
commercial sex industry around the world. "Forced child prostitution is
forced labor and child labor in their most exploitative forms," said
Joaquin F. Otero, deputy under secretary for international affairs.
The publication, entitled Forced Labor: The Prostitution of
Children contains the proceedings from a symposium held at the Department
of Labor in September 1995. The symposium focused on the forced
trafficking and prostitution of young children, mostly girls, in the
profitable commercial sex industry. Forced Labor includes a keynote
address by Representative Joseph P. Kennedy, sponsor of the 1994 Child Sex
Abuse Prevention Act, and reports by internationally recognized experts on
children's rights and child prostitution.
The report and symposium are part of the department's international
child labor project, in existence for over two years, to research and
report on the exploitation of child labor in all its forms. Two major
reports were issued in 1994 and 1995, entitled By the Sweat and Toil of
Children: The Use of Child Labor in U.S. Manufacturing and Mining Imports
and By the Sweat and Toil of Children: The Use of Child Labor in U.S.
Agricultural Imports and Forced and Bonded Child Labor.
"The goal of the symposium and this publication is to focus
public attention on the issue of child prostitution as a problem of
international dimensions. As we look forward to the Stockholm World
Congress on the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children this August, we
hope that the proceedings from this important symposium will make a
contribution to the ongoing international discussions and action towards
the elimination of child sexual exploitation," said Otero.
The congress is the first international meeting held for the
specific purpose of developing strategies to fight commercial sexual
exploitation of children. It is being organized by the Government of
Sweden in cooperation with UNICEF, End Child Prostitution in Asian Tourism
(ECPAT), and the NGO Group for the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
In August 1995, the Department of Labor signed an agreement with
the International Labor Organization (ILO) to contribute funds to the ILO's
International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labor. One of the
major programs supported by the department helps children at risk of
exploitation in Thailand's sex industry.
Copies of Forced Labor: the Prostitution of Children are available
free of charge from:
International Child Labor Study Office, Bureau of International Labor
Affairs, U.S. Department of Labor, Room S-1308, 200 Constitution Ave., NW,
Washington, DC 20210
Tel: (202) 208-4843 Fax: (202) 219-4923.
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Stuart M. Basefsky *
Information Specialist *
CORNELL UNIVERSITY *
New York State School of *
Industrial & Labor Relations *
232 Ives Hall *
Ithaca, NY 14853-3901 *
*
Telephone: (607) 255-2184 *
Facsimile: (607) 255-9641 *
E-Mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *
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