It is estimated that in Asian alone, over 1 million children
are being sexually and commercially exploited in bars, brothels
and on the streets for the purpose of prostitution, trafficking
for sexual purposes and pornography, (The Global Fund for Children,
2002). Thailand's growing infrastructure and integration into
the world economy has helped establish the country as a major
destination for sending and transiting trafficked persons. Networks
traffic children and young women to many countries in Asia, Europe,
America, Australia and South Africa. Rapid economic and social
changes in Thailand have also resulted in the breakdown of family
relations and social norms. This has placed many poor children
at risk and makes them vulnerable to sexual exploitation as they
migrate to the cities in search of material wealth.
Child sex tourism is a thriving and lucrative industry in Chiangmai
and Chiangrai as it is in other major tourist areas in Thailand.
In an effort to provide an income for their families, children
sell flowers at bars and sex related venues. It is especially
at these places that certain tourists lure children into providing
sexual services for large sums of money. People looking for child
sex are also know to take on the role of voluntary teacher or
they financially sponsor a child's education to get access to
vulnerable children. Many children lacking the knowledge of the
consequences and driven by the motivation to help their families,
consent to having sex with these sad individuals. Some of these
children are then circulated within paedophile networks.
The devastating side effects of children working in the sex
industry and on the streets are the increasing rate of HIV/AIDS,
sexually transmitted diseases, health problems and drug and substance
use amongst these children. The situation is further exacerbated
for ethnic minority and migrant children who do not possess Thai
identity cards. They not only risk police arrests but are also
deprived of subsidised medical treatment and are reluctantly
accepted into schools. Furthermore, these children requiring
love, education, knowledge and opportunities are often neglected
by their families and mainstream society in Thailand.
In 1997, with the help of UNICEF, four individuals who had previous
experience working with street children founded the VCDF. VCDF
was established in response to the growing number of children
who are forced to live and work on the streets where they are
most vulnerable to sexual and commercial exploitation. VCDF is
a non-governmental agency which provides information and help
to both Thai and ethnic minority street children in order to
improve their quality of life. Along with providing the targeted
children with information, counselling and life skills training,
VCDF also gives emergency assistance to homeless children by
taking sick children to the hospital. Abandoned and homeless
children can have temporary shelter at the centre for up to seven
days and are referred to other appropriate government and non-government
child welfare agencies. VCDF operates two drop-in centres and
two homes in Chiangmai and Chiangrai in northern Thailand.
VCDF is a member of the Chiangmai Coordination Centre for Protection
of Child Rights (CCPCR) which coordinates various government
and non-government childcare agencies in order to improve the
assistance, protection and rehabilitation of child abuse victims.
VCDF is also a member of the NGO AIDS Network for Northern Thailand.
VCDF lobbies at a national level for the implementation of government
commitment to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of
the Child. The statistics and participatory research findings
on street children that are collated by VCDF are used by government
welfare agencies to develop and implement strategies to better
assist and protect street children. Furthermore, VCDF distributes
leaflets and information at bars and other sex entertainment
venues on the laws that protect children, and the strict penalties
and imprisonment that child sex offenders face.
Supporting agencies
UNICEF Thailand, ECPAT Foundation, The Asia Foundation, USAID
VCDF's objectives
- To reduce the vulnerability and risk behaviour of street
children through education and information.
- To help street children access the services that are available
for them.
- To help prevent street children from entry into sex work.
- To coordinate with other government and non government agencies,
in order to assist street children in understanding and accessing
their rights as enshrined in the United Nations Convention
on the Rights of the Child.
- To develop a higher quality of life for street children.
- To increase public awareness on child abuse and inform the
public on the action that can be taken to protect child rights.
