Central American Nations Huddled in Panama to Gauge Impact of Sex Tourism

Representatives of children advocacy groups from Central America and Mexico gathered in Panama City to propose legal reforms in the struggle against the abuse, smuggling and sexual exploitation of children and teenagers.

Nils Katsberg, director of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) for Latin America and the Caribbean, said the meeting’s goal was to find some common ground for local policies implemented in the region to foil sex tourism.

UNICEF is strongly urging local authorities to put child prostitution, the use of children for pornographic practices and sexual exploitation of minors under 18 years of age on the list of crimes.

”Penal codes should throw the book on child molesters and sex tourists that prey on boys and girls,” Director Katsberg went on to explain.

Attendants to the two-day event (with the sole exception of Nicaragua) signed the UNICEF protocol that condemns the sale of children, prostitution and the use of minors in pornographic practices.

UNICEF officials estimate some 110 million Latin American and Caribbean children live in extreme poverty, even in spite of the fact that all hemispheric governments inked the International Convention on Children’s Rights fifteen years ago.