Child sex trade increasing in Asia

A RISING number of children are entering the sex trade in East Asia and the Pacific, with exploiters using the internet and mobile phones equipped with cameras to lure minors, child rights advocates have said.

Senior officials and representatives from 23 countries ended three days of talks in Bangkok aimed at evaluating efforts to fight child prostitution in the region.

“It is commonly agreed that, tragically, the situation in some cases is graver than it was before,” said Denise Ritchie, New Zealand representative of the watchdog group ECPAT, or End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes.