According to the research, titled Global Study on Sexual Exploitation of Children In Travel and Tourism (SECTT), the children are typically Malaysians, Indonesians, Thais and Indian nationals who are kept in dilapidated low-cost apartments in the capital rather than brothels in order to avoid detection by authorities.

Citing the study conducted by End Commercial and Sexual Exploitation of Children (End CSEC), ECPAT International executive director Dorothy Rozga said Malaysia had been identified as a sex trafficking destination for women and children from other countries.

“Some of the factors that contribute to Malaysia being a destination for these sex offenders include its central location as a travel transit point (to the UK, European countries and Southeast Asian countries), travelling that is made more affordable, simplified visa procedures and ease of border crossing,” Rozga said in her address during the launch of the global report held at Novotel Kuala Lumpur.

“Data of tourist inflows into Malaysia is consistent with the complex and evolving image of the typical travelling sex offender.

“Like many other countries in Southeast Asia, the tourist flow in Malaysia is growing.

“A concrete evidence of SECTT in Malaysia is Richard Huckle — the young traveller who was found targeting, grooming and sexually exploiting up to 200 Malaysian children, including infants.”

Travelling to look for vulnerable kids

Rozga said that this was the dark side of the growth in the travel and tourism sector.

While the tourism industry today was lifting millions out of poverty, she cautioned that there were tourists and travellers looking for opportunities to exploit vulnerable children.

“We are speaking of offenders who, because they are away from their homes, communities, countries, regions or continents, think that they are anonymous.

“They think that this anonymity provides them a certain level of security and that they will not be caught.

“Offenders on the move can be domestic or international. It could be a Malaysian business traveller from George Town visiting Kuala Lumpur, who pays for ‘services’ of a minor being used in a situation of prostitution,” she said.

She added that while they have anecdotal evidence that thousands of children in this region were affected, they did not have precise numbers.

As such, Rozga said more investments should be channelled into research and data collection on sexual exploitation of children in the travel and tourism sector.

She said this was important as more children were at risk of becoming victims of travellers.

“This crime is able to thrive in countries where there is a nexus between tourism and poverty, impunity, cultural acceptance of abuse, weak laws and under-resourced law enforcement.

“Thus, there is a call to invest in research and data collection. It is vital to open a window on this horrendous crime.

“We cannot effectively manage and solve situations that we do not understand well. It is also difficult to mobilise resources for problems that we cannot quantify and communicate well,” she said.

Weaknesses in criminal justice system

It was reported that most complaints of sexual exploitation of children in Malaysia do not lead to successful prosecutions, largely due to weaknesses in the nation’s criminal justice system.

“Why do I say that it is difficult to get data? We need to realise that these things are happening in the shadows,” Rozga said.

“My question is, why are countries good at keeping data on tourists but do not have accurate numbers on children sexually exploited by travellers and tourists?

“This is something we have to change.”

Among other trends found in the research mentioned by Rozga that applied to Malaysia included sex offenders who travelled mainly in their own countries.

Malaysia has also become an exporter of child sex offenders to its neighbours and travelling sex offenders were seeking contact with children under the guise of volunteer work or employment in institutions such as schools, churches, shelters, orphanages, sports clubs and NGOs.

Another trend that is growing is the influence of the internet.

“Digital technology has increased the opportunities for offenders.

“They have enabled those who seek to harm children to easily produce, share and conceal abuse materials, find like-minded offenders, evade capture and hide profits made through the Dark Web and crypto currencies.

“One of the pieces of evidence would be the recent report that placed Malaysia as having the highest number of IP addresses uploading and downloading child sexual abuse material in Southeast Asia,” she said.

Training hotel staff to look out for kids being exploited

Rozga also called on the Malaysian private sector to curb child trafficking, citing an example of international airlines staff who were trained to identify sexual perpetrators and also Novotel Hotel (part of AccorHotel) that had trained more than 100,000 employees on how to look out for children who were in danger or were being trafficked.

“Imagine if the private sector in Malaysia could be fully mobilised in this manner. It can work together to put in place a blanket of protection around the nation’s children,” she said.

ECPAT International is a global network of organisations dedicated to ending the sexual exploitation of children, focusing on trafficking of children for sexual purposes, prostitution, pornography and sexual exploitation of children in the travel and tourism sector.

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