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International Child Sex Tourism: A South African Perspective

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 March 2009

Abstract

After explaining the nature and extent of the problem of child sex tourism, this article identifies the relevant instruments of international law, before discussing the legal tools available in South Africa to deal with this issue.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © School of Oriental and African Studies 2009

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References

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7 See for instance Britton, S “Tourism, dependency and development” in Williams, S (ed) Tourism. Critical Concepts in the Social Sciences (2004, Routledge) vol III at 29Google Scholar; d'Hauteserre, A-M “Postcolonialism, colonialism, and tourism” in Lew, AA, Hall, CM and Williams, AM (eds) A Companion to Tourism (2004, Blackwell Publishing) 235 at 235Google Scholar; P Roper “The case against tourism: Doubters and sceptics” in Jeffries Governments and Tourism, above at note 5, 27 at 30.

8 Hall, CM “Sex tourism in south-east Asia” in Harrison, D (ed) Tourism and the Less Developed Countries (1992, John Wiley & Sons) 64 at 64Google Scholar.

9 Robinson, M “Holiday sex for sale: Money back guarantees?” (1995) Travel Law Journal 13 at 13Google Scholar. See also Davidson, J O'Connell‘Child sex tourism’: An anomalous form of movement?” (2004) 12 Journal of Contemporary European Studies 31 at 31Google Scholar; Ryan, C and Kinder, RSex, tourism and sex tourism: Fulfilling similar needs?” (1996) 17 Tourism Management 507 at 507Google Scholar. Nevertheless, “the issue of sex tourism is an uncomfortable one for tourism industry groups”: Kempadoo, K and Ghuma, R “For the children. Trends in international policies and law on sex tourism” in Rhode, DL and Sanger, C (eds) Gender and Rights (2005, Ashgate) 503 at 509Google Scholar.

10 This is despite the fact that “children who trade sex do not all alike conform to dominant models of the ‘innocent victim’”: Davidson, J O'ConnellChildren in the Global Sex Trade (2005, Polity) at 60Google Scholar.

11 Taylor, J SánchezDollars are a girl's best friend? Female tourists' sexual behaviour in the Caribbean” (2001) 35 Sociology 749 at 749 and 761CrossRefGoogle Scholar argues that, although “[t]he stereotypical image of the ‘sex tourist’ is that of the Western man who travels to Thailand or the Philippines in order to pay for sex with Go Go bar/brothel prostitutes”, one should not overlook “the complex and contradictory interplay between gendered, raced and economic power” which also shapes the sexual experiences of female tourists with locals.

12 See Giordanella, HCStatus of 2423(b): Prosecuting United States nationals for sexually exploiting children in foreign countries” (1998) 12 Temple International and Comparative Law Journal 133 at 136Google Scholar.

13 See Seabrook, JNo Hiding Place. Child Sex Tourism and the Role of Extraterritorial Legislation (2000, Zed Books) at xiGoogle Scholar.

14 See Fraley, AChild sex tourism legislation under the PROTECT Act: Does it really protect?” (2005) 79 St John's Law Review 445 at 454–56Google Scholar.

15 See Jullien, KThe recent international efforts to end commercial sexual exploitation of children” (2003) 31 Denver Journal of International Law and Policy 579 at 584Google Scholar.

16 See O'Connell Davidson “‘Child sex tourism’”, above at note 9 at 40.

17 As illustrated by the World Congress Against the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children held in Stockholm on 27–31 August 1996, and which ended with the unanimous adoption of a declaration and agenda of action. See Giordanella “Status of 2423(b)”, above at note 12 at 143–47.

18 End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes.

19 This is after the concept of “sex tourism” was identified by “feminist research and action around prostitution in Southeast Asia in the 1980s”: Kempadoo and Ghuma “For the children”, above at note 9 at 503.

20 See O'Connell Davidson “Child sex tourism”, above at note 9 at 34.

21 Jackson, BChildren's Rights World Congress” (2005) 1 UN Chronicle 35 at 35Google Scholar.

22 See R Smalberger “The extent and impact of sex tourism in certain metropolitan areas in South Africa” (MPhil dissertation submitted to the then University of Potchefstroom, South Africa, 1999) at 91.

23 Trafficking in Persons Report: 2006 (2006, US Department of State) at 226. See also Trafficking in Human Beings, Especially Women and Children, in Africa (2005, UNICEF) at 14–15. In its first report to the Committee on the Rights of the Child submitted in 1999 (see note 159 below), the South African government explained that, “[l]ike many social problems which were swept under the carpet during the apartheid years, the commercial sexual exploitation of children and abuse now emerge as serious challenges to society” (at para 551). Indeed, “[s]ex tourism using children is on the increase and, in addition, large numbers of (often minor) females have been brought into the country” (at para 552). The report explained that “[k]nowledge about the incidence and nature of commercial sexual exploitation in South Africa is scant” (at para 554). One of the reasons is that sexually exploited children are often not paid in cash, but receive shelter, food and other necessities in return for sex. Another reason is that “adolescent boys and girls with no other means of supporting themselves and their families regard sex as an ‘acceptable’ way to earn money” (at para 554). It has nevertheless been estimated that at least 28,000 children are sexually exploited on a commercial basis in South Africa's urban centres: see Fitzgibbon, KModern-day slavery? The scope of trafficking in persons in Africa” (2003) 12(1) African Security Review 81 at 83Google Scholar. See also Davidson, J O'Connell and Taylor, J SánchezChild Prostitution and Sex Tourism. South Africa (1996, ECPAT)Google Scholar.

24 “Swiss man arrested for sexually abusing boy (14)” 9 October 2005, available at: <http://www.sabcnews.com> (last accessed 12 March 2007). It was also reported in 2006 that street children, some as young as eight years old, are increasingly being lured into prostitution by local and foreign tourists in the Garden Route area, a world renowned tourism destination; see <http://www.theherald.co.za/herald/news/n03_25072006.htm> (last accessed 12 March 2007).

25 1 League of Nations Treaty Series (LNTS) 83 (entered into force in 1905). The signatories were only concerned by the exploitation of white girls and women. For the background to the concept of “white slavery”, see Demleitner, NVForced prostitution: Naming an international offense” (1994) 18 Fordham International Law Journal 163 at 165–67.Google Scholar

26 1904 Agreement, art 2.

27 Id, art 6.

28 Id, art 3. The four colonies that would a few years later merge into the Union of South Africa (the Cape, Natal, Orange River and Transvaal) consented to concur in art 1 of the agreement, thereby undertaking to establish or name an authority charged with the coordination of all information relative to the procuring of girls for immoral purposes abroad; see <http://untreaty.un.org/ENGLISH/bible/englishinternetbible/partI/chapterVII/treaty8.asp> (last accessed 19 March 2007).

29 3 LNTS 278. The convention was declared by Great Britain to be applicable in the Union of South Africa in terms of art 11; see <http://untreaty.un.org/ENGLISH/bible/englishinternetbible/partI/chapterVII/treaty10.asp> (last accessed 19 March 2007).

30 1910 Convention, arts 1 and 2 read with para B of the final protocol.

31 Id, art 3.

32 Id, art 5.

33 Id, art 7.

34 Art 23(c) of the Covenant of the League of Nations.

35 9 LNTS 415 (entered into force in 1922). Art 1 of the convention compelled states parties to become parties to the 1904 Agreement and the 1910 Convention, if they were not already so.

36 South Africa ratified the 1921 Convention in 1922.

37 1921 Convention, art 2.

38 Id, art 3.

39 Id, art 4.

40 Id, art 5.

41 Id, art 6.

42 Id, art 7.

43 1949 Protocol Amending the International Agreement for the Suppression of the White Slave Traffic, and Amending the International Convention for the Suppression of the White Slave Traffic: 30 United Nations Treaty Series (UNTS) 23 (entered into force in 1949). South Africa accepted the protocol in 1951.

44 96 UNTS 271 (entered into force in 1951). South Africa ratified the convention in 1951.

45 Together with the 1933 Geneva Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Women of Full Age (150 LNTS 12; entered into force in 1934).

46 1949 Convention, art 1(1).

47 Id, art 1(2).

48 Id, art 2(1).

49 Id, art 2(2).

50 Id, art 12. Farrior, SThe international law on trafficking in women and children for prostitution: Making it live up to its potential” (1997) 10 Harvard Human Rights Journal 213 at 219Google Scholar argues that “[t]his deference to national law could be explained by the fact that in 1949, the notion of human rights as a matter of international concern was still relatively new in international law. Unease still existed within the UN about perceptions of undue interference in the domestic affairs of a state by international organizations”.

51 1949 Convention, art 3.

52 Id, art 4.

53 Id, art 7.

54 Id, art 16.

55 Id, art 8. See also arts 9–11 and 13.

56 Id, arts 14 and 15.

57 Id, art 17.

58 Id, art 18.

59 Id, art 19(2).

60 Id, art 20.

61 Id, art 21. That information had to be published periodically by the Secretary General and sent to all UN members.

62 UN ECOSOC doc E/CN.4/Sub.2/AC.2/1995/1/Add.1 of 28 March 1995 at para 5.

63 See Farrior “The international law on trafficking”, above at note 50 at 221.

64 Bruch, EMModels wanted: The search for an effective response to human trafficking” (2004) 40 Stanford Journal of International Law 1 at 3Google Scholar.

65 (2001) 40 International Legal Materials (ILM) 353 (entered into force in 2003). South Africa ratified the convention in 2004.

66 2000 Convention, art 1.

67 Id, art 2(a).

68 Id, art 3.

69 (2001) 40 ILM 377 (entered into force in 2003). South Africa ratified the protocol in 2004.

70 Id, art 3. O'Connell Davidson Children in the Global Sex Trade, above at note 10 at 74 warns that, “[u]nless we can say precisely what is meant by ‘exploitation’, then to define trafficking as the movement of persons for purposes of exploitation is to invite policy-makers and others to fall back on prejudices about what constitutes a ‘proper’ and ‘tolerable’ relationship between parent/guardian and child, or husband and wife, or employer and employee, or pimp and prostitute”.

71 When it is committed intentionally or merely attempted, as well as when the individual concerned acted as an accomplice or organized or directed other individuals to commit the offence (2000 Protocol, art 5).

72 Id, art 6.

73 Id, art 7.

74 Id, art 8.

75 Id, art 9(1).

76 Id, art 10(1).

77 Id, art 10(2).

78 Id, art 11(1).

79 Zalewski, AMigrants for sale: The international failure to address contemporary human trafficking” (2005) 29 Suffolk Transnational Law Review 113 at 134–36Google Scholar.

80 Defeis, EFProtocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons. A new approach” (2004) 10 ILSA Journal of International and Comparative Law 485 at 490Google Scholar. On the strengths and weaknesses of the main three approaches to human trafficking (the law enforcement approach, the labour rights approach and the human rights approach), see Bruch “Models wanted”, above at note 64 at 15–37.

81 Decision 2004/110, available at: <http://ap.ohchr.org/documents/E/CHR/decisions/E-CN_4-DEC-2004-110.doc> (last accessed 20 March 2007).

82 Doc no E/CN.4/2005/71 of 22 December 2004, para 11, available at: <http://daccessdds.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/G04/169/28/PDF/G0416928.pdf?OpenElement> (last accessed 19 March 2007).

83 Doc no E/CN.4/2006/62 of 20 February 2006, para 81, available at <http://daccessdds.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/G06/109/64/PDF/G0610964.pdf?OpenElement> (last accessed 19 March 2007).

84 See for instance the 1994 Inter-American Convention on International Traffic in Minors ((1994) 33 ILM 721, entered into force in 1997) and the 2002 Convention on Prevention and Combating Trafficking in Women and Children for Prostitution of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, available at: <http://action.web.ca/home/catw/attach/conv-traffiking.pdf> (last accessed 23 March 2007).

85 (2006) 45 ILM 12 (not yet entered into force).

86 Para 6 of the explanatory report: (2006) 45 ILM 28.

87 Art 4. See however UN Office on Drugs and Crime Legislative Guide for the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children (2004), available at: <http://www.unodc.org/pdf/crime/legislative_guides/03%20Legislative%20guide_Trafficking%20in%20Persons%20Protocol.pdf> (last accessed 23 March 2007), which states at para 25 that, “[i]n the case of trafficking in persons, domestic offences should apply even where transnationality and the involvement of organized criminal groups does not exist”.

88 See arts 42(1), 43(1) and 44, as well as paras 381, 383 and 384 of the explanatory report (above at note 86).

89 See December 2006 statistics, available at: <http://www.southafrica.net/satourism/research/viewResearchDocument.cfm?ResearchDocumentID=432> (last accessed 4 April 2007).

90 Although “a number of moral, political and theoretical problems attend on the treatment of child prostitution as a ‘contemporary form of slavery’”: O'Connell Davidson Children in the Global Sex Trade, above at note 10 at 26. On the extent of the contemporary slave trade, see Kapstein, EBThe new global slave trade” (2006) 85(6) Foreign Affairs 103 at 103CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

91 60 LNTS 253 (entered into force in 1927). South Africa ratified the convention in 1927.

92 Id, art 1(1).

93 Id, art 1(2).

94 Farrior “The international law on trafficking”, above at note 50 at 221.

95 1926 Convention, art 6.

96 See note 44 above and Farrior “The international law on trafficking”, above at note 50 at 221.

97 39 UNTS 55 (entered into force in 1932). South Africa ratified the convention in 1997.

98 ILO 1930 Convention, art 1(1).

99 Id, art 2(1).

100 Art 22 of the 1946 Constitution of the ILO: 15 UNTS 18. South Africa left the ILO in 1966 and rejoined in 1994: see G Erasmus and B Jordaan “South Africa and the ILO: Towards a new relationship?” (1993/4) 19 South African Yearbook of International Law (SAYIL) 64 at 84.

101 Art 19(5)(d) of the 1946 Constitution of the ILO, as interpreted in Handbook of Procedures Relating to International Labour Conventions and Recommendations (2006, ILO) at 18.

102 Art 23(1) of the ILO constitution.

103 Art 23(2) read with art 3(5) of the ILO constitution.

104 Valticos, N “The International Labour Organization” in Schwebel, SM (ed) The Effectiveness of International Decisions (1971, Sijthoff) 134 at 145Google Scholar.

105 de la Cruz, H Bartolomei, von Potobsky, G and Swepston, LThe International Labor Organization. The International Standards System and Basic Human Rights (1996, Westview Press) at 145Google Scholar.

106 Valticos “The International Labour Organization”, above at note 104 at 146–47.

107 (1949) 43 American Journal of International Law supp 127.

108 Id, art 4.

109 1953 Protocol Amending the 1926 Slavery Convention: 182 UNTS 51 (entered into force in 1953). South Africa signed the protocol in 1953.

110 266 UNTS 3 (entered into force in 1957).

111 Id, art 1(d).

112 Farrior “The international law on trafficking”, above at note 50 at 222.

113 320 UNTS 291 (entered into force in 1959). South Africa ratified the convention in 1997.

114 Id, art 2.

115 999 UNTS 171 (entered into force in 1976). South Africa ratified the covenant in 1998.

116 Id, art 8. The 1966 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (993 UNTS 3, which entered into force in 1976 and which South Africa signed in 1994 but has not ratified) does not mention slavery, but the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, created in 1985 by ECOSOC to monitor the covenant's implementation, has made references to the trafficking in persons in its comments on state reports: see Scarpa, SChild trafficking. International instruments to protect the most vulnerable victims” (2006) 44 Family Court Review 429 at 439CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

117 (1982) 21 ILM 58 (entered into force in 1986). South Africa ratified the charter in 1996.

118 1970 ICJ Reports 32.

119 See <http://www.ilo.org/ilolex/cgi-lex/convde.pl?C138> (last accessed 20 March 2007). The convention entered into force in 1976 and South Africa ratified it in 2000.

120 Id, art 2(3).

121 Id, arts 4–8.

122 (1999) 38 ILM 1207 (entered into force in 2000). South Africa ratified the convention in 2000. See Noguchi, YILO Convention no 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labour and the Convention on the Rights of the Child” (2002) 10 International Journal of Children's Rights 355CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

123 Id, art 3.

124 Id, art 1.

125 Id, art 7(1).

126 (1999) 38 ILM 1211.

127 Under art 19(6)(d) of the ILO constitution, ILO recommendations do not create any obligation for member states beyond: (a) bringing recommendations before the national authority or authorities within whose competence the matter lies for the enactment of legislation or other action; and (b) reporting to the director general of the International Labour Office, at appropriate intervals as requested by the ILO governing body, the position of the law and practice in their country in regard to the matters dealt with in the recommendations.

128 1999 Recommendation, above at note 126, para 12.

129 Id, para 14.

130 1249 UNTS 13 (entered into force in 1981). South Africa ratified the convention in 1995.

131 Id, art 6.

132 Id, art 10(f) refers to “girls” and art 16(2) to “[t]he betrothal and the marriage of a child”.

133 Id, art 17(1).

134 UN doc A/47/38 (1993).

135 Id, para 14.

136 Id, para 15.

137 Id, para 16.

138 CEDAW, art 18.

139 Doc no CEDAW/C/ZAF/1, available at: <http://daccessdds.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N98/065/49/IMG/N9806549.pdf?OpenElement> (last accessed 20 March 2007). No reports appear to have been submitted since then.

140 Id at 43.

141 Doc no CEDAW/C/1998/II/L.1/Add.3 of 30 June 1998, available at: <http://www.hri.ca/fortherecord1998/documentation/tbodies/cedaw-c-1998-ii-l1-add3.htm> (last accessed 20 March 2007).

142 Id, paras 27 and 28.

143 (2000) 39 ILM 281 (entered into force in 2000). South Africa ratified the protocol in 2005.

144 Id, art 2. Under art 4(1), the committee may only consider a communication after it has ascertained that all available domestic remedies have been exhausted, unless the application of such remedies is unreasonably prolonged or unlikely to bring effective relief.

145 Id, art 8(1).

146 See <http://www.chr.up.ac.za/hr_docs/documents/Protocol%20on%20the%20Rights%20of%20Women.pdf> (last accessed 20 March 2007) (entered into force in 2005). South Africa ratified the protocol in 2004; see <http://www.africa-union.org/root/au/Documents/Treaties/List/Protocol%20on%20the%20Rights%20of%20Women.pdf> (last accessed 20 March 2007).

147 That is every person of female gender, including girls (id, art 1(k)).

148 Id, art 4(1).

149 Id, arts 4(2)(a) and (g).

150 On the history and theories of children's rights, see Freeman, MDA “Introduction” in Freeman, MDA (ed) Children's Rights (2004, Ashgate) vol I at xiGoogle Scholar.

151 1577 UNTS 3 (entered into force in 1990). South Africa ratified the convention in 1995. See J Sloth-Nielsen “Ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child: Some implications for South African law” (1995) 11 South African Journal on Human Rights (SAJHR) 401 at 401.

152 Id, art 1. O'Connell Davidson Children in the Global Sex Trade, above at note 10 at 61–62, argues that this “age boundary of childhood … seemingly reflects the interests and experience of the affluent in the affluent world … . In reality, … there are millions of people in the world who, long before the age of 18, have had to assume responsibilities, face discrimination, suffer losses, endure hardships and make choice that a middle-class adult from an affluent society will never have to assume, face, endure or choose. Some of them trade sex as part of a strategy for coping with the circumstances in which they find themselves. And they do find themselves in these circumstances simply because they are ‘children’, but also because they are members of impoverished communities, and/or groups that are socially, economically and politically disadvantaged on grounds of race, ethnicity or caste, or groups that are forgotten, feared or despised by the wider community (homeless, gay, slum-dwellers, drug users)”.

153 CRC, art 11(1).

154 Id, art 19(1).

155 Id, art 34.

156 Id, art 35.

157 Id, art 43(1). Freeman, MThe future of children's rights” (2000) 14 Children and Society 277 at 290CrossRefGoogle Scholar stresses that the committee has no real teeth and is under-resourced with the result that “it is clearly overwhelmed by the work the Convention generates”.

158 Id, art 44(1). See McGoldrick, DThe United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child” (1991) 5 International Journal of Law and the Family 132 at 155–57CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

159 Doc no CRC/C/51/Add.2, available at: <http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/(Symbol)/CRC.C.51.Add.2.En?Opendocument> (last accessed 20 March 2007). No reports appear to have been submitted since then.

160 1343 UNTS (entered into force in 1983). South Africa ratified the convention in 1997.

161 See paras 555–70.

162 Doc no CRC/C/15/Add.122 of 23 February 2000, available at: <http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/(Symbol))> (last accessed 20 March 2007).

163 Id, para 3.

164 Id, para 9.

165 Id, para 39.

166 Id, para 40.

167 (2000) 39 ILM 1292 (entered into force in 2002). South Africa ratified the protocol in 2003. On a 1993 draft protocol which asserted that the trafficking and sexual exploitation of children constitute crimes against humanity, see Healy, MAProsecuting child sex tourists at home: Do laws in Sweden, Australia, and the United States safeguard the rights of children as mandated by international law?” (1995) 18 Fordham International Law Journal 1852 at 1879–80Google Scholar.

168 Id, art 10(3).

169 Id, art 10(2).

170 Id, art 10(1).

171 Id, arts 4–7.

172 Doc no E/CN.4/2003/79/Add.1, para 86(g), available at: <http://daccessdds.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/G03/101/04/PDF/G0310104.pdf?OpenElement> (last accessed 19 March 2007).

173 Id, para 86(h).

174 Available at: <http://www.chr.up.ac.za/hr_docs/african/docs/oau/oau2.doc> (last accessed 20 March 2007) (entered into force in 1999). South Africa ratified the charter in 2000.

175 Id, preamble. On the interaction between the CRC and African cultural values, see Kaime, TThe Convention on the Rights of the Child and the cultural legitimacy of children's rights in Africa: Some reflections” (2005) 5 African Human Rights Law Journal 221 at 221Google Scholar.

176 Id, art 27. Under art 29(a), states parties must also take appropriate measures to prevent the abduction or sale of, or trafficking in children for any purpose or in any form, by any person including the parents or legal guardians of the child.

177 Id, art 32.

178 Id, art 42(b).

179 Id, art 43(1).

180 Id, art 44(1).

181 Id, art 45(1).

182 Doc no A/HRC/4/72 of 13 March 2007, available at: <http://daccessdds.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/G07/118/96/PDF/G0711896.pdf?OpenElement> (last accessed 19 March 2007).

183 For an extensive list of policy documents and codes of conduct, see <http://www.ecpat.net/eng/ecpat_inter/projects/sex_tourism/sex_tourism.asp> (last accessed 20 March 2007).

184 Res A/RES/338 (XI), available at: <http://www.world-tourism.org/protect_children/statements/wto_a.htm> (last accessed 22 March 2007).

185 Doc no A/RES/56/212 of 28 February 2002, available at: <http://www.unwto.org/code_ethics/pdf/UNres.56.pdf> (last accessed 22 March 2007).

186 See <http://www.unwto.org/code_ethics/pdf/RES406-English.pdf> (last accessed 22 March 2007).

187 Id, art 2(2).

188 Id, art 2(3).

189 Id, art 10(3).

191 See <http://www.world-tourism.org/protect_children/index.htm> (emphasis removed) (last accessed 22 March 2007).

192 Commission communication COM(96) 547 final of 27 November 1996 (Official Journal C 3 of 7 January 1997).

193 Decision 2004/68/JHA of 22 December 2003 (Official Journal L13 of 20 January 2004 44).

194 Proceedings of the Regional Consultation for Africa on the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation in Tourism (Dakar, Senegal, 2003) at 135–37, available at: <http://www.world-tourism.org/protect_children/reunions/final-report-africa.pdf> (last accessed 22 March 2007).

195 Id, para 4 (emphasis removed).

196 Id, para 19 (emphasis removed).

197 Constitution of the Republic of South Africa 1996 (Constitution), available at: <http://www.info.gov.za/documents/constitution/index.htm> (last accessed 12 April 2007).

198 Id, sec 2.

199 Id, sec 8(1).

200 Id, sec 8(2).

201 A child is “a person under the age of 18 years” (id, sec 28(3).

202 Id, sec 28(1)(d) and (f).

203 Id, sec 39(1)(b). See Dugard, JInternational Law. A South African Perspective (2005, Juta) at 336–40Google Scholar.

204 Government of the Republic of South Africa and Others v Grootboom and Others 2001 1 SA 46 CC 75 and Centre for Child Law and Another v Minister of Home Affairs and Others 2005 6 SA 50 TPD. See Rosa, S and Dutschke, MChild rights at the core: The use of international law in South African cases on children's socio-economic rights” (2006) 22 SAJHR 224 at 224Google Scholar; and van der Burg, A “Legal protection of undocumented foreign migrant children in South Africa: Reality or myth?” (2006) 10 Law, Democracy and Development 82 at 82Google Scholar.

205 The Constitution, sec 7(3).

206 Id, sec 36(2).

207 Id, sec 36(1).

208 Id, sec 10.

209 Id, sec 12(1)(c).

210 Id, sec 12(2).

211 Id, sec 12(1)(e).

212 Id, sec 13.

213 Id, sec 7(2).

214 Id, sec 28(2).

215 Act no 38 of 2005, available at: <http://www.polity.org.za/pdf/ChildrensAct38.pdf> (last accessed 12 April 2007).

216 Id, sec 2(b). Sec 8(1) explains that “[t]he rights which a child has in terms of th[e] Act supplement the rights which a child has in terms of the Bill of Rights”.

217 Id, sec 2(c).

218 Act no 74 of 1983, available at: <http://www.acts.co.za/child_care/Child_Ca.htm> (last accessed 12 April 2007).

219 South African Law Reform Commission report on the review of the Child Care Act, project 110 (2002), available at: <http://www.doj.gov.za/salrc/reports/r_prj110_childcare/r_pr110_cont_2002dec.pdf> (last accessed 12 April 2007).

220 The convention was incorporated into South African law by sec 2 of the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction Act 1996 (act no 72 of 1996), available at: <http://www.info.gov.za/acts/1996/a72-96.pdf> (last accessed 12 April 2007).

221 Id, sec 275.

222 Id, sec 276(1)(a).

223 Act no 24 of 1987, available in: Juta's Statutes of South Africa (2007, Juta) vol 5 at 2.

224 Children's Act, above at note 215, secs 278(2) and (3).

225 Id, sec 282.

226 Id, sec 284(1) read with sec 305(1)(s).

227 Id, sec 291.

228 Id, sec 305(8).

229 Id, sec 284(2).

230 Id, sec 284(3).

231 Id, sec 284(4).

232 Id, sec 285(1)(a). Under sec 291, it is also an offence for a South African citizen or permanent resident, or a juristic person or partnership registered under South African law to commit such an act outside South Africa.

233 Id, sec 305(5).

234 Id, sec 285(1)(b). Under sec 291, it is also an offence for a South African citizen or permanent resident, or a juristic person or partnership registered under South African law to commit such an act outside South Africa. Under sec 285(2), an internet service provider operating in South Africa must report to the South African police any site on its server that contains such information.

235 Id, sec 305(6). Under sec 305(7), a person convicted more than once is liable to a fine or imprisonment for a period not exceeding 20 years or to both a fine and such imprisonment.

236 Id, sec 286.

237 Id, secs 288 and 289(1)(a). Under sec 155(2), social workers must then “investigate the matter and within 90 days compile a report … on whether the child is in need of care and protection”.

238 Id, sec 289(1)(b).

239 Id, sec 150 explains when a child is in need of care and protection.

240 Id, sec 289(3).

241 Id, under sec 289(2).

242 Act no 130 of 1998, available at: <http://www.info.gov.za/gazette/acts/1998/a130-98.pdf> (last accessed 12 April 2007).

243 Children's Act, above at note 215, sec 290(1). See further van der Burg “Legal protection”, above at note 204 at 82.

244 Id, sec 290(2).

245 Id, sec 111(1).

246 Id, sec 114(1)(b) read with sec 1(1).

247 Id, secs 116(1)(a) and (c).

248 Id, sec 118.

249 Bill no B19-2006, available at: <http://www.info.gov.za/gazette/bills/2006/b19-06.pdf> (last accessed 12 April 2007).

250 “Taking” includes causing to be taken, in any way assisting in taking, as well as causing or inducing to accompany or join oneself when departing from South Africa: id, sec 138(2)(a).

251 “Sending” includes causing to be sent or in any way assisting in sending: id, sec 138(2)(b).

252 Id, sec 138(1)(b).

253 Id, sec 141(1)(a). Exceptions are allowed under sec 141(2).

254 Id, sec 141(1)(b).

255 Act no 13 of 1999, available at: <http://www.polity.org.za/html/govdocs/legislation/1999/act13.pdf> (last accessed 12 April 2007).

256 Sec 50A(1) of the Child Care Act 1983, as amended by the Child Care Amendment Act 1999.

257 Id, sec 51.

258 Id, sec 52A(1). Exceptions are allowed under secs 52A(2)–(4).

259 Id, sec 50A(2). Under sec 50A(3), any person who is convicted of an offence under sec 50A, is liable to a fine, imprisonment for a period not exceeding ten years, or to both such fine and such imprisonment.

260 Bill no B50B-2003, available at: <http://www.pmg.org.za/bills/061110b50b-03.doc> (last accessed 12 April 2007).

261 Act no 23 of 1957, available in: Juta's Statutes of South Africa (2007, Juta) vol 1, sec 1 at 302.

262 Sexual Offences Amendment Bill, above at note 260, second para of the preamble. The provisions criminalizing child sex exploitation are included in the bill rather than the new Children's Act because the latter focuses on the protection of children rather than the prosecution of offenders; see South African Law Reform Commission report, above at note 219 at 187.

263 Id, chap 3, secs 15–22.

264 That is “a person under the age of 18 years”: id, sec 1(1).

265 Id, sec 17(1).

266 Id, sec 17(2).

267 As defined in sec 1 of the Social Assistance Act, 2004 (act no 13 of 2004), available at: <http://www.info.gov.za/gazette/acts/2004/a13-04.pdf> (last accessed 12 April 2007).

268 Sexual Offences Amendment Bill, above at note 260, sec 17(3).

269 Id, sec 17(4).

270 Id, sec 17(5).

271 Id, sec 17(6).

272 Id, sec 54(1).

273 Id, sec 56(5).

274 Id, secs 18(2), 18(1), 19, 20(1), 20(2), 21(1), 21(2), 21(3) and 22 respectively.

275 Id, secs 3 and 15(1) respectively, read with sec 1(1). Under sec 57(a), a child under the age of 12 years is incapable of consenting to a sexual act. Furthermore, under sec 56(2)(a), it is a valid defence to a charge of statutory rape to contend that the child deceived the accused person into believing that he or she was 16 years or older at the time of the alleged commission of the offence, and the accused person reasonably believed that the child was 16 years or older.

276 This includes any act which causes direct or indirect contact between the genital organs or the female breasts of one person and any part of the body of another person: id, sec 1(1).

277 Id, secs 5(1) and 16(1) respectively, read with sec 1(1). Under sec 56(2)(a), it is a valid defence to a charge of statutory sexual assault to contend that the child deceived the accused person into believing that he or she was 16 years or older at the time of the alleged commission of the offence, and the accused person reasonably believed that the child was 16 years or older.

278 Id, sec 42(1).

279 Id, secs 61(1)(a)–(d) and 61(2) respectively. Sec 61(1)(e) also includes any corporate or unincorporated body of persons in South Africa.

280 Act no 116 of 1998, available at: <http://www.info.gov.za/gazette/acts/1998/a116-98.pdf> (last accessed 12 April 2007).

281 Act no 121 of 1998, available at: <http://www.info.gov.za/gazette/acts/1998/a121-98.pdf> (last accessed 12 April 2007).

282 See Fitzgibbon “Modern-day slavery?”, above at note 23 at 88.

283 Under sec 1(1) of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act (above at note 281), read with schedule 1 as amended by sec 68 of the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Bill 2003, a criminal gang includes “any formal or informal ongoing organisation, association, or group of three or more persons, which has as one of its activities the commission of one or more criminal offences, which has an identifiable name or identifying sign or symbol, and whose members individually or collectively engage in or have engaged in a pattern of criminal gang activity”. The latter involves “the planned, ongoing, continuous or repeated participation or involvement in” a number of offences including rape, sexual assault as well as the sexual exploitation of children, and requires at least two such offences to occur within ten years of each other.

284 The Prevention of Organised Crime Act (above at note 281), sec 9(1)(a).

285 Id, sec 9(2)(a).

286 Id, secs 12–62.

287 Act no 67 of 1962, available in: Juta's Statutes of South Africa (2007, Juta) vol 1, sec 1 at 314.

288 Act no 75 of 1996, available at: <http://www.info.gov.za/gazette/acts/1996/a75-96.pdf> (last accessed 12 April 2007).

289 South Africa acceded in 2003 to the Council of Europe's 1957 Convention on Extradition and its two additional protocols of 1975 and 1978: (2003) 28 SAYIL at 386–87. South Africa is a party to bilateral treaties with a wide range of states, including Australia, France, Nigeria and the United States of America, and in 2003 ratified the Southern African Development Community's 2002 Protocol on Extradition which has not yet entered into force; see van Heerden, HBExtradition treaties negotiated since 1994” (2005) 30 SAYIL 173 at 183Google Scholar.

290 Act no 65 of 1996, available at: <http://www.info.gov.za/gazette/acts/1996/a65-96.pdf> (last accessed 12 April 2007). This act was amended by the Films and Publications Amendment Act 1999 (act no 34 of 1999), available at: <http://www.info.gov.za/gazette/acts/1999/a34-99.pdf> (last accessed 12 April 2007) to bring internet material within its ambit.

291 Id, secs 28(1) and 27(1), as amended by sec 11(a) of the Films and Publications Amendment Act 2004 (act no 18 of 2004), available at: <http://www.info.gov.za/gazette/acts/2004/a18-04.pdf> (last accessed 12 April 2007).

292 Id, sec 27A(1)(b).

293 Id, sec 27A(2).

294 Bill no B27 of 2006, available at: <http://www.info.gov.za/gazette/bills/2006/b27-06.pdf> (last accessed 12 April 2007).

295 Id, sec 2.

296 Id, sec 13, inserting a sec 15A in the act.

297 Act no 25 of 2002, available at: <http://www.info.gov.za/gazette/acts/2002/a25-02.pdf> (last accessed 12 April 2007).

298 Id, sec 15(1).

299 Id, secs 80–84.

300 Bill no B9 of 2006, available at: <http://www.info.gov.za/gazette/bills/2006/b9-06.pdf> (last accessed 12 April 2007).

301 Id, sec 40.

302 Act no 75 of 1997, available at: <http://www.info.gov.za/gazette/acts/1997/a75-97.pdf> (last accessed 12 April 2007).

303 Id, sec 48(1).

304 Id, sec 43.

305 Id, sec 43.