Netherlands failing to tackle sex tourism

Children's aid organisation Terre des Hommes says Dutch tourists travelling abroad are still able to engage in illegal sex with minors without fear of prosecution, five years after a new law aimed at curbing this criminal activity took effect.

The law empowered the Dutch justice authorities to prosecute Dutch tourists here in their home country for sex crimes committed abroad, but since it came into effect in 2002, only two men have been charged.

In a new report, Terre des Hommes focuses on Cambodia, a country visited by over 100,000 sex tourists each year according to some estimates. It is not known how many of these visitors are Dutch.

Piece of candy
There is rampant poverty in Cambodia, accompanied by a widespread sex industry in which many children work, both in brothels and on the streets. "They can be bought with just a piece of candy," says Terre des Hommes' researcher Lucien Stöpler.

It is a well-known fact that the Cambodian police do not have the resources needed to stop the annual invasion of sex tourists. For this reason, those Western countries where many of these tourists come from have agreed to assume more responsibility.

Two prosecutions
Prosecuting sex tourists in their home countries is a good start, according to Terre des Hommes, but not if the justice authorities simply sit back and wait for someone to get arrested in Cambodia. While only two Dutch nationals have been prosecuted in the Netherlands for sex tourism since 2002, Terre des Hommes believes the actual number of Dutch sex tourists must be far greater. The title of the organisation's latest report speaks volumes: 'What We Don't See, Doesn't Exist'.

In other European countries, meanwhile, more progress has been made. "The United Kingdom has a system in which they train the Cambodian police in technical investigative methods," says Stöpler.

"British police officers also go out to Cambodia to help track down British sex tourists and to ensure that they are actually convicted. The Netherlands could certainly follow this example."

No idea
So far, the Dutch authorities have had almost no contact with their Cambodian counterparts, and this - according to Stöpler - is where the problem starts. The Cambodian police have no idea what signs to look for when searching for suspected Dutch sex tourists, he adds.

Terre des Hommes has begun its own small-scale training programme in Cambodia, but Stöpler says a much bigger effort is needed.

"You need to invest time and money in this problem. The country is still emerging from a civil war, it is very vulnerable, and the children of Cambodia would be greatly helped by more vigorous efforts to track down their abusers."

Unwilling
So is it ignorance, or unwillingness on the part of the Dutch authorities that's causing the failure to tackle this problem? The Terre des Hommes' report says it is mainly the latter.

"The Dutch justice ministry did not want to cooperate with my research into this problem," says Lucien Stöpler.

"That is, as far as I am concerned, an indication that the ministry is not interested in this problem. That is why it has not freed up any resources to deal with it."

Terre des Hommes has decided to submit its report directly to the Dutch parliament in the hope that it will be able to spur the justice minister into action.