We all know the stereotype: white, male, middle-aged, prone to creeping around beach bars and strip clubs of Southeast Asia's tourist playgrounds, often seen in the company of those who are much younger. This is the sort of person who comes to mind whenever stories of foreign paedophiles or child sex tourism come around, and they are the sort targeted by NGOs who are determined to save the children.
A story from Cambodia last week provided a typical example: Seeing a Caucasian man playing a ukulele for two children in the streets near Siem Reap's red light district was reason enough for an investigator from Action Pour Les Enfants to call an agent. "It's difficult," the informant told the AFP news agency. "He could be a completely innocent and good person. But that's the kind of interaction we must look out for and follow up."
Stopping paedophiles from preying on and raping children in Thailand and other Southeast Asian tourism hotspots is important and valuable work. Such efforts -- provided the NGOs are working within the law, with law enforcement and catch the right people based on evidence rather than vigilantism -- are to be commended.
But the emphasis on Western tourists in notorious nightspots threatens to overshadow other risks for children. Bangkok-based Ecpat International tried to shed light on the scale and complexity of the problem last week with the release of its Global Study on Sexual Exploitation of Children in Travel and Tourism. Along with a global report, which explained how the rise of cheap travel and the spread of the internet in the past 20 years had led to greater threats in more places, it also offered regional analyses. What comes across most clearly is the need to think beyond the stereotype.
Thailand remains a "global magnet" and "veritable hub" for child sex abuse, but the greater vigilance of NGOs and a series of high-profile arrests has meant offenders are increasingly seeking places like Hat Yai and Chiang Mai rather than Bangkok and Pattaya, even venturing into Myanmar and Laos.
"Local NGOs suggest that whilst it is still possible to detect the presence of children for the purposes of sexual exploitation in places such as Bangkok, children are becoming less visible and are a more risky prospect for foreign sex offenders and thus, perpetrators are venturing to more isolated locations both within Thailand and in neighbouring countries."
Thailand has taken positive steps, but is a long way from being out of the business of child sex abuse. "The vast majority of child sex offenders frequenting Southeast Asia are men and whilst child sex offenders are most likely to be nationals, foreign or transnational child sex offenders from a range of countries are also known to be exploiting vulnerable children in the region. Anecdotal evidence suggests that men of Asian origin are more likely than others to seek to sexually exploit virgin girls."
It added, "Perpetrator nationalities tend to mirror the nationalities of tourism arrivals with Japan, China, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, South Korea, Australia, the US, the UK and other European nations highly represented."
It is worth remembering that Ecpat International's report is limited in its scope to travel and tourism. Naturally, an organisation dedicated to eliminating the abuse of children through prostitution, pornography and trafficking will focus on those issues -- it is important, difficult work. But society more broadly has to realise these abuses, while grievous, constitute the minority of sex crimes against children.
In Thailand, like everywhere else in the world, the biggest risks for children come from those closest to them: family members, close family friends and those in positions of power like teachers are far more likely to commit sexual assault. The vast majority of abuses also go unreported as children are often scared into silence, disbelieved by adults or made to feel guilty; again, Thailand is far from unique in this regard.
The cases that do get national attention are horrifying, almost numbingly so. The latest example came on Tuesday morning in Trang when an eight-year-old girl was given a drink laced with methamphetamine and raped, later dying from her injuries. The prime suspect was the girl's neighbour, but police said late last week they were hunting four other men who they believe were involved.
Sex crimes often have deadly consequences, and young victims are especially vulnerable. The Trang case is another tragic example of a life cut short. Survivors of child sexual abuse are often left traumatised, physically or psychologically or both -- at the very least they have been through an ordeal no one should ever have to endure.
While stranger danger is real, and the threat of travelling paedophiles cannot be downplayed or ignored, we cannot afford to lose sight of the dangers close to home.