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Five Key Factors Contributing to Child Trafficking in Bali

She Is Safe (SIS) #saveforgottengirls

Restoring the lives of abused & exploited women and girls in high-risk places, equipping them to live in freedom.

发布日期: 2022年3月9日

What could possibly drive a parent to sell their daughter into sexual slavery? What could take a girl from the comfort of her home into a dangerous nightlife full of sex, drugs and alcohol? Not every story is the same, but one common thread we see in Bali is poverty. Families in rural parts of Indonesia may be unable to afford school fees which results in pulling their daughters out of school. It may be a necessity that she works in the fields alongside her family to help put food on the table. To these families, Bali is a place of opportunity. Tourism brings more money there than they could ever dream of. Wealthy people come to enjoy the island’s hotels, restaurants, beaches, night clubs and bars. Daughters are sent to Bali in hopes of profitable work only to end up in sexual slavery. But to say the factors driving child sex trafficking there are purely financial is an oversimplification.?

There are approximately 70 to 80,000 victims of child sex trafficking annually in Indonesia, (Department of State Trafficking in Persons Report) and many of them find their way to Bali. End Child Prostitution in Asian Tourism (ECPAT) estimates that 43% of trafficking victims in Indonesia are between 14 and 17, so clearly this is not a trend of adult migration to Bali, but exploitation of children. Jobs in the service industry abound there, and tourism brings income levels and business opportunities that most parts of the country never see. But the sad reality is those opportunities also come with a great deal of danger. I want to explore here some of the major factors creating this tragic environment where child sex trafficking is taking place.

Economic Opportunity: The Global Slavery Index estimates there are currently over 1.2 million Indonesians enslaved today. Poverty puts strain on families who are often highly dependent on agriculture for their income, and so when crops fail or crop prices drop, paying someone who promises a job to their daughter may seem like an answer to prayer which turns into a nightmare. COVID has only exacerbated the problem as a massive blow to the economy of Bali, where tourism constitutes an estimated 60% of the island’s economy.?Yohana Agustina Pandhi, a lawyer who once led the Bali police unit for the protection of women and children said in a recent LA Times article, “With the economy worsening, more people, including many minors, are going to be lured into prostitution and trapped in human trafficking.”

Exploitation via Technology: The digital age has added another layer to the problem of child trafficking. In Bali, the technological boom put a cell phone in everyone’s hand which has opened the door to new types of prostitution that did not exist previously. Social media allows relationships to be built with anyone and, for those who are looking to do harm, is an easy means of communication to create a boyfriend pimp scenario. These predators may foster a romantic relationship with a girl and then turn it into a means for profit. Selling her pictures or video, coercing her into online exploitation, or even pimping out the girl are all ways technology contributes to child trafficking in Indonesia and around the world.?

Apps have become an everyday means of purchasing services, especially in the bustling economy of Bali. Unsurprisingly, when COVID forced brothels to close, this pushed women and girls to adapt to survive as their means of income was taken away. Fears of COVID meant domestic and international customers for brothels dropped off drastically, but for some the most logical step was simply to move to selling their services online. Underage girls might create profiles and solicit offers via apps working out of hotels and homes, resulting in prostitution continuing during COVID in a way the police force was unaccustomed to. The ability to find the solicitation online, the girls and the customers can be a moving target more time intensive and nuanced than a raid on a brothel.

Police Intervention: I write this from a Western perspective with almost all my time spent in the context of the U.S. legal system. I freely admit when my coworkers doing anti-trafficking work in Bali drove down a local street to point out three brothels operating openly, it struck me that law enforcement must be different in Bali than what I was accustomed to. The ability for such businesses to exist shows a lack of rapid police intervention. There’s room for discussion as to where girls with no options might go otherwise and whether the police force is too small or requires more training, but if the result is businesses where a girl could easily be trafficked operating freely, then police intervention is failing to put sufficient pressure on brothels in their communities.

Prosecution: One of the deterrents to trafficking is prosecution (Hodgson, 1994). The intent of the legal system should be to create penalties that make perpetuating sexual slavery too great of a risk. Prosecutors need to be aware of the most current anti-trafficking laws in Bali and ensure traffickers are not charged on lesser counts than they deserve. Evidence indicates much of the problem in Indonesia is a lack of prosecution in general (Hodgson, 1994), and thus the recommendation would be to identify the factors creating an environment where so few cases are prosecuted and addressing them immediately. Otherwise, the financial incentives for traffickers will far outweigh the slim chance of prosecution, and the anti-trafficking laws intended to protect the children of Bali pose little threat those who might seek to profit from trafficking children.?

Demand: This part of the equation is growing in interest in the anti-trafficking community, but some quick Google searches will show you the focus is almost always on women and girls. Understandably, they need protection, and prosecution of those who might exploit them. Customers unable to find any girls or women providing services would mean there would be no market in Bali. But the fact that Bali has become known as a site for child sex trafficking (2021 Trafficking in Persons Report) unfortunately means there is both supply available as well as domestic and international demand. But who is creating the demand that results in a market for the sexual exploitation of children? While international demand is the subject of much discussion, there is risk of prosecution in their home countries under laws such as the Child Sexual Abuse Prevention It is the domestic customers who can provide a steady source of income to a trafficker which can sustain the work even in a time of COVID lockdowns. Whether international or domestic, we need to seek to decrease demand. In Indonesia, this means an identification and effective prosecution of all those who visit brothels where child sex trafficking exists. The prevalence of child trafficking across Indonesia’s clubs, bars and even the Internet means there is a demand which organizations like She Is Safe must constantly be fighting against. Government deterrents, such as Australia not permitting convicted pedophiles to get visas to enter Indonesia, have become more common in recent years. Balinese people will need to speak out strongly against child trafficking in their city if they want demand to change, and they cannot contribute to the demand. Complacency or silence in this area cannot be expected to create change.

The problem of child sex trafficking requires a holistic and multifaceted approach. And, while daunting, the truth is we can make an impact. She Is Safe goes into the Red-Light District in Bali to try and bring a chance at new life to those trapped in sexual slavery. Working with local police, we can find victims of child trafficking and we can walk alongside them, so they can be rescued, recovered, and restored. Girls are brought to our Safe House where we help with them with school enrollment so they can receive an education. They can find restoration and healing in trauma therapy and counseling, and community with trained staff and other girls like them. When they are old enough, we teach them how they can start a small business and, in time, our hope is that they will know that they were made for a life of dignity and purpose. The early chapters of their life might have been dark and unloving, but we hope that God’s love will shine through us, and they might see that they are loved – that there is still light even in the darkest places.