CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE IN TOURISM AND THE LEGAL SYSTEM: LESSONS FOR CHILD PROTECTION PROFESSIONALS

Abstract

Almost everywhere around the globe children are subjected to maltreatment. Serious actions are required at all levels to end it with urgency. All children are entitled to full protection from all forms of abuse. This is reaffirmed by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) in which all nations are obligated to protect children from all forms of abuse and promote the physical and psychological recovery and social reintegration of sexual abuse survivors. The objective of the review was to examine the gaps in child abuse prevention legal systems in order to share knowledge to better protect the children.

Thus, a systematic review of the literatures using data from different sources was actuated. Different search engines were used to search for these articles. Only peer-reviewed scholarly publications published after 2000 were selected except extracts perceived to be critical. The review demonstrates that the protection of children against abuse through the existing legal systems is constrained by inadequacy of legislations, poor enforcement mechanisms, poverty and corruption, lack of rehabilitation programmes, negative attitudes, ineffective judiciary system, lack of training, inadequate multidisciplinary collaboration, lack of child friendly courts, threatening defense lawyers, lengthy and intimidating court procedures, inconsistent age of consent, lack of mandatory reporting of abuse, non-recognition of institutional crime, wee statute of limitation, insufficient funding, discriminatory laws, lack of cooperation and support, lack of birth registration; and lack of national sex offenders register. To conclude if the safety of the children is to be ensured, the challenges highlighted in the legal system must be addressed with urgency.

Key words: Child Abuse, Legislations, Child Friendly, Courts, System.