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Child Trafficking
The Factbook on Global Sexual Exploitation
  About the Factbook
  Contents
      Asia
      Europe
      Oceania
      Africa
      Middle East
      Central America
          & the Caribbean
      South America
      North America
About the Factbook
The Factbook on Global Sexual Exploitation was compiled from media, non-governmental organization and government reports. It is an initial effort to collect facts, statistics and known cases on global sexual exploitation. Information is organized into four categories:
  - Trafficking,
  - Prostitution,
  - Pornography, and
  - Organized and Institutionalized
    Sexual Exploitation
    and Violence.

Sources were not contacted to verify information. Close examination will reveal that there are contradictions in information depending on the sources of information (ex: how many women are in prostitution in Thailand). All statistics are reported with no attempt to evaluate which numbers are more likely to be accurate. In fact, the exact numbers in many cases are not known and estimates come from different sources which use different methods to determine what they report.

We hope these facts will assist people to recognize the harm caused throughout the world by sexual violence and exploitation and catalyze action against this violence agianst women.

This project was made possible with the support of the College of Arts and Sciences, University of Rhode Island and the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD), Norway.

If you use this information in your work, please reference this factbook-- The Factbook on Global Sexual Exploitation, Donna M. Hughes, Laura Joy Sporcic, Nadine Z. Mendelsohn, Vanessa Chirgwin, Coalition Against Trafficking in Women, 1999.


Recognized by Independent Charities of America

Egypt
ORGANIZED AND INSTITUTIONALIZED
SEXUAL EXPLOITATION AND VIOLENCE

Policy and Law

Law290, article 291 of the penal code says if a rapist marries the woman he rapes, he is not subject to any penalty. Osama Abdel Fatah Abdel Latif, who raped and then married his current wife, later raped another girl at knifepoint, offered to marry her as well. The girl refused to marry him, and so he will be formerly charged and sentenced. (Soha Abdel Kader, "Hypocrisy and sex crimes," Middle East Times, 30 March 1997)

Official Response and Action

Although the penalty for kidnapping for the purposes of rape is death, nine men arrested on charges of kidnapping and gang raping a 14-year-old were punished by sentences ranging from only a few years to life in prison. (Soha Abdel Kader, "Hypocrisy and sex crimes," Middle East Times, 30 March 1997)

Two doctors have been charged with illegally circumcising three young girls, one of whom died during the operation from an antibiotic allergy. If found guilty, the two doctors, face up to three years in prison. ("Charges made in circumcision case," Associated Press, 21 July 1998)

Health Minister Ismail Sallam announced a ban on female circumcision in July 1996 following a campaign by human rights and women's groups. In December 1997, a court upheld the ban, ending a long battle by Islamic fundamentalists to overturn it. ("Charges made in circumcision case," Associated Press, 21 July 1998)

Honor Killings

Marzouk Ahmed Abdel-Rahim killed his daughter, chopped off her head and carried it through the neighborhood to punish her and regain his family honor after she eloped. Daughters are seen as money-earners because in traditional Islamic marriages, a groom gives his in-laws a dowry, the amount depending on their social status. Marriage is viewed as a business transaction, and the goods are the women - to be bought and sold by the father. A daughter who eloped deprives her family of dowry income. (Tarkek el Tablawy, Associated Press, 1998)



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