Prostitution in Goa?

I came across these rather disturbing articles.... This certainly isn't the hippie laid back - rave scene I've been reading about...

http://gopelalwani2.sulekha.com/blog...ion-in-goa.htm

http://goadourado.sulekha.com/blog/p...morjim-goa.htm

http://ipc498a.wordpress.com/2008/03...the-ncw-doing/

Does anyone have any comments, I was just surprised when I read them...

Hi
We have been going to Goa for the past 10 years, and we had never seen any evidence of this. However before we went to Goa we did go to Kerela and here we did see fat old men on the beach with young children. It wasn't nice to watch as it was obvious what was happening but it was also our first experience in India and wasn't sure how the law lay on such things. The last time we were in Goa was 2 years ago and we noticed for the first time, on the beaches and at the markets there were people handing out flyer's and they had stalls were they were making tourists aware of what was going on which was great. I still have one of the leaflets its Rights for the Little People, Children's Rights in Goa, a campaign of children's rights in Goa to stop tourism related pedophilia. I have no idea if this organisation is still up and running, but any one who wants to know more the address on the leaflet is:

Children's Right's in Goa
F-5 Meera Building
Near Gomantak Bhavan,
St. Inez
Panaji, Goa 403 001
Tel: 2420141 / 2426518
Mobile: 9822983336
e-mail: crg@sancharnet.in

Hi,
I also visited Goa several times but never seen or think about those scenes. It is very shamefull to all of us.

I have not evidence of this either but do know the UN set up a special unit to fight this in Goa last year. See also: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6230957.stm

Comments... well, about prostitution, I would comment that it must be hard to find a place in the world where it does not exist, but much of the subject matter of the links is not simply about prostitution, it is about trading in children for prostitution.

My attitude to prostitution, if entered into of a woman's free will, which makes it rather theoretical, as it probably seldom is, is; fine, leave it alone and it won't come near you.

To child prostitution, on the other hand, well this is surely one of the nastiest and most evil forms of abuse that exist.

(and, sadly, it may be that it exists in far more places in the world than we would like to admit, too)

I suspect that it will be visible to the people who are meant to see it.

I completely agree, if entered into by adult women of their own free will, and in some cases needs must and all that, then its their choice. But when its children that's involved then its awful. Unfortunately its a sick world we live in with some very sick people in it.

If you go to Calangute steps at night thats where it all happens . Its the out of state women selling their children. The prostitutes are coming from out of state. There were so many high class Russian prostitutes in Goa 2 seasons ago but not so many now .They were charging £500 a night and getting it from the rich Indians .

Unfortunately in India, the rights of the poor and disadvantaged are non-existent. Politicians do not gain anything by bringing such trends to the notice of the public at large, or by doing anything about it. And in general I think people prefer that such things not be brought to their notice.

How true is that !! And how sad.

Goa's involvement in the sex trade isn't exactly a secret. There have been high-profile busts of European traffickers for more than decade, though the furor quickly dies down. Nothing should surprise you in India.

...especially if there is money in it

On a semi-related note, I was in a scruffy old colonial-era hotel in Mombasa, Kenya, a few years ago, a lovely sunny spot near the Indian Ocean. At breakfast every morning, the clientele consisted solely of me and a half-dozen middle-aged white men, pink from the sun, sitting alone at different tables and staring mournfully into their scrambled eggs. It was not the tourist season, and these men were not the standard hardy types that come to Africa.

Googling "Mombasa" and "sex trade" told me all I needed to know,

Apparently, as governments crack down on places like Thailand and Cambodia, the practice spreads to other poor places with lax oversight, a weak economy, and a reputation for being friendly to tourists.

Also, India's (and Kenya's) conservative sexual mores make addressing the problem even more difficult.

Goa makes an ideal spot for global sex tourism, unfortunately.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6230957.stm

Firstly they strike me as just blogs. While they certainly speak of some truths, phrases such as "the paedophile bus has rolled into Goa. And turned the picture-postcard tourism destination into an arena of perversity and of horrors." and "This expose is a startling revelation of Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar's passive connivance" leads me to suspect that this is not exactly cutting edge investigative journalism.

Secondly, although it appears from those articles that child prositution may be more visible in Goa, it happens in your country too, and mine.

The only difference is that the more effective the authorities are percieved to be, the further it is pushed underground.

At least in Goa, everyone is a step further from the hugely damaging position of being in complete denial about the problem even existing.

We would all rightly be disgusted if we saw a Western tourist leading a 13 year old away to a hotel, but chances are we'd notice this whilst sitting outside a cheap cafe being served by a 10 year old.

1 year after the anti-child labour laws were passed in India, only a handful of people had been charged.

So will people consider this when next at the polling stations.....no chance.