Indonesia: ICITAP Brings Together Critical Partners to Combat Child Sexual Exploitation

On December 5, ICITAP-Indonesia facilitated an interactive forum titled “The Specter of Sexual Exploitation of Children in Travel and Tourism.”  The panel discussion included speakers from the Indonesian National Police (INP), End Child Prostitution, and Child Pornography & Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes (ECPAT), the Ministry of Woman Empowerment and Child Protection, and the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy.  The two-hour program was attended by over two hundred guests in the studio audience, and was simultaneously streamed to the University of Tanjungpura in Pontianak and the American Corner in the University of Andalaf, West Sumatra. Live audience attendees included representatives from other foreign embassies, Indonesian National Police, the Government of Indonesia, several different foreign Chamber of Commerce’s, Non-Governmental Organizations, and international organizations. It should be noted that ECPAT estimates that over 150,000 children, under the age of 18, have been forced to work as prostitutes and traded for sexual purposes in Indonesia during the last 10 years.