Tackling the demand for the sexual exploitation of children 2016, para. 42
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- A major enabler of demand is the perception of youth, consent and virginity. Indeed, the attraction of preferential offenders who are not paedophiles to adolescents often stems from social and cultural constructs. The obsession with virginity owing to notions of purity and health is, for example, a source of demand for the sexual exploitation of children. There are thus in several regions of the world those who specifically seek to have intercourse with virgins. Concurrently, a child who has lost his or her virginity is considered in negative terms and devalued, thus being more vulnerable to sexual exploitation. Besides, the definition of a child, although set at any person under 18 in international law, varies from one culture to another and is strongly related to his or her sexual maturity. There is further confusion as a result of the varying ages of sexual consent across the world. Preferential and situational offenders will thus justify their actions by affirming, based on their personal belief or on the degree of social tolerance, that their victim was not a child or consented to his or her exploitation.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Health
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Children
- Youth
- Year
- 2016
- Paragraph type
- Other
- Paragraph number
- 42
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