{"id":789,"date":"2023-01-21T23:16:09","date_gmt":"2023-01-21T23:16:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/divesanews.com\/?p=789"},"modified":"2023-01-22T23:20:39","modified_gmt":"2023-01-22T23:20:39","slug":"the-tragic-growth-of-child-sex-tourism-in-sri-lanka","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/divesanews.com\/index.php\/2023\/01\/21\/the-tragic-growth-of-child-sex-tourism-in-sri-lanka\/","title":{"rendered":"<strong>The Tragic Growth of Child Sex Tourism in Sri Lanka<\/strong>"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The hotel manager proceeds to list the various tourist attractions and activities available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The tourist discreetly pushes a wad of cash towards the manager, saying he\u2019s interested in \u2018other\u2019 extracurricular activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The hotel manager immediately understands where the foreigner\u2019s interests lay and reaches for the cash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The tourist says that he isn\u2019t interested in boys over the age of sixteen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The hotel manager simply says he can arrange for it by evening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The tourist releases his grip on the cash as the deal is finalized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>This is what Sri Lanka\u2019s tourism industry has come to. Child Sex Tourism.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/divesanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/children-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-779\" srcset=\"https:\/\/divesanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/children-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/divesanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/children-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/divesanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/children-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/divesanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/children-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/divesanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/children.jpg 1140w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>While the tourism industry is one of the greatest income sources for our country, it has contributed to the emergence of Child Sex Tourism (CST). Child Sex Tourism refers to the sexual abuse and exploitation of children by foreign or local tourists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In Sri Lanka, traffickers exploit children in coastal areas for commercial sex in hotels, beaches and during annual festivals. It\u2019s been alleged that hotels allow tourists to book \u2018services\u2019 at the reception. Managers take cash and arrange for a child, male or female, to be sent to the tourist\u2019s room. It has also been alleged that state-run orphanages, in collaboration with tuk-tuk drivers, exploit children for CST purposes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"900\" height=\"526\" src=\"https:\/\/divesanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image_6a47d6e607.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-784\" srcset=\"https:\/\/divesanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image_6a47d6e607.jpg 900w, https:\/\/divesanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image_6a47d6e607-300x175.jpg 300w, https:\/\/divesanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image_6a47d6e607-768x449.jpg 768w, https:\/\/divesanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image_6a47d6e607-600x351.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>While we may be quick to blame foreign tourists from Germany, Russia, India and China, there is a significant local demand for child sex tourism. Although this may come as a shock, upon reviewing Sri Lanka\u2019s history of child rape and murder, it\u2019s not surprising such pedophiles continue to exist in our community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"684\" src=\"https:\/\/divesanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Intrepid-Travel-sri-lanka_unawatuna_traveller_tuk-tuk_2_0-1024x684.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-785\" srcset=\"https:\/\/divesanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Intrepid-Travel-sri-lanka_unawatuna_traveller_tuk-tuk_2_0-1024x684.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/divesanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Intrepid-Travel-sri-lanka_unawatuna_traveller_tuk-tuk_2_0-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/divesanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Intrepid-Travel-sri-lanka_unawatuna_traveller_tuk-tuk_2_0-768x513.jpg 768w, https:\/\/divesanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Intrepid-Travel-sri-lanka_unawatuna_traveller_tuk-tuk_2_0-600x401.jpg 600w, https:\/\/divesanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Intrepid-Travel-sri-lanka_unawatuna_traveller_tuk-tuk_2_0.jpg 1100w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The root causes of CST in Sri Lanka are monetary poverty and a lack of education. Most children are forced into the commercial sex industry due to their low socio-economic backgrounds. Children are made to work instead of going to school to support their families. Most of the children trapped in the child sex trade in Sri Lanka are from extremely poor families. Parents don\u2019t ask questions when their child goes missing for days and returns with some cash. Some parents even sell their children to Sri Lankan organized crime rings for illegal adoption and\/or trafficking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Even with the current laws in place, children barely out of their nappies are being raped, assaulted, and left for dead. Such sadistic crimes against our children will only continue to grow as tourism booms in Sri Lanka. <strong>So, the next time you see an ad promoting Sri Lankan tourism or hotel deals, I hope you\u2019ll remember the real price being paid by our innocent children.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>~ Tharika Surandi ~<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"792\" height=\"584\" src=\"https:\/\/divesanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image_ff5d7b81b2.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-781\" srcset=\"https:\/\/divesanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image_ff5d7b81b2.jpg 792w, https:\/\/divesanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image_ff5d7b81b2-300x221.jpg 300w, https:\/\/divesanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image_ff5d7b81b2-768x566.jpg 768w, https:\/\/divesanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image_ff5d7b81b2-600x442.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 792px) 100vw, 792px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Don&#8217;t have any records after 2019&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/divesanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Screenshot-2023-01-22-092944.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-776\" width=\"753\" height=\"410\" srcset=\"https:\/\/divesanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Screenshot-2023-01-22-092944.png 753w, https:\/\/divesanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Screenshot-2023-01-22-092944-300x163.png 300w, https:\/\/divesanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Screenshot-2023-01-22-092944-600x327.png 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 753px) 100vw, 753px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-\u0daf\u0dd2\u0dc0\u0dd0\u0dc3-\u0db4\u0dd4\u0dc0\u0dad\u0dca wp-block-embed-\u0daf\u0dd2\u0dc0\u0dd0\u0dc3-\u0db4\u0dd4\u0dc0\u0dad\u0dca\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"YbVxjjYx55\"><a href=\"https:\/\/divesanews.com\/index.php\/2023\/01\/21\/child-sex\/\">\u0dbd\u0d82\u0d9a\u0dcf \u0dc3\u0d82\u0da0\u0dcf\u0dbb\u0d9a \u0dc0\u0dca\u200d\u0dba\u0dcf\u0db4\u0dcf\u0dbb\u0dba\u0dda \u0d85\u0daf\u0dd8\u0dc1\u0dca\u200d\u0dba\u0db8\u0dcf\u0db1 \u0dc3\u0dcf\u0db4\u0dbb\u0dcf\u0db0\u0dd3 \u0db7\u0dcf\u0dc0\u0dd2\u0dad\u0dcf\u0dc0 &#8211;\u00a0 \u0d87\u0dc3\u0dd2 \u0daf\u0dd4\u0da7\u0dd4 \u0dc3\u0dd2\u0daf\u0dca\u0db0\u0dd2\u0dba\u0d9a\u0dca \u0d87\u0dc3\u0dd4\u0dbb\u0dd2\u0db1\u0dd2<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; clip: rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px);\" title=\"&#8220;&lt;strong&gt;\u0dbd\u0d82\u0d9a\u0dcf \u0dc3\u0d82\u0da0\u0dcf\u0dbb\u0d9a \u0dc0\u0dca\u200d\u0dba\u0dcf\u0db4\u0dcf\u0dbb\u0dba\u0dda \u0d85\u0daf\u0dd8\u0dc1\u0dca\u200d\u0dba\u0db8\u0dcf\u0db1 \u0dc3\u0dcf\u0db4\u0dbb\u0dcf\u0db0\u0dd3 \u0db7\u0dcf\u0dc0\u0dd2\u0dad\u0dcf\u0dc0 &#8211;\u00a0 \u0d87\u0dc3\u0dd2 \u0daf\u0dd4\u0da7\u0dd4 \u0dc3\u0dd2\u0daf\u0dca\u0db0\u0dd2\u0dba\u0d9a\u0dca \u0d87\u0dc3\u0dd4\u0dbb\u0dd2\u0db1\u0dd2&lt;\/strong&gt;&#8221; &#8212; \u0daf\u0dd2\u0dc0\u0dd0\u0dc3 \u0db4\u0dd4\u0dc0\u0dad\u0dca\" src=\"https:\/\/divesanews.com\/index.php\/2023\/01\/21\/child-sex\/embed\/#?secret=Cg2jaxT7bQ#?secret=YbVxjjYx55\" data-secret=\"YbVxjjYx55\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The hotel manager proceeds to list the various tourist attractions and activities available. The tourist discreetly pushes a wad of cash towards the manager, saying he\u2019s interested in \u2018other\u2019 extracurricular activities. The hotel manager immediately understands where the foreigner\u2019s interests lay and reaches for the cash. The tourist says that&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":783,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[73,97],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-789","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-review","category-country"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/divesanews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/789","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/divesanews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/divesanews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/divesanews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/divesanews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=789"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/divesanews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/789\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":824,"href":"https:\/\/divesanews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/789\/revisions\/824"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/divesanews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/783"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/divesanews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=789"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/divesanews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=789"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/divesanews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}