Fox News Latino reports that the Brazilian government has allocated $3.3 million to implement new laws and program to combat child prostitution in the World Cup’s host cities.
Although prostitution is in fact legal in Brazil, it is apparently considered as having the worst levels of child prostitution outside of Thailand, with between 250,000 and 500,000 children involved in the trade – most of whom are forced into the business.
We dispute the claim made by Fox News Latino that Thailand is the worst country worldwide for child prostitution. Although we accept that child prostitution has not been entirely eradicated from Thailand, the Thai government is working very hard towards this goal.
Thailand rigorously prosecutes pedophiles and also cooperates with international organization and foreign government in arresting and extraditing foreign pedophiles. Christopher “Swirl face” Neil was the subject of Interpol’s largest international manhunt at the time of his arrest in 2007 and ultimately imprisoned for five years in Thailand.
Under Thailand criminal law section 282 of the Thai Penal Code criminalizes luring, procuring,or trafficking persons for the purpose of sexual gratification and specifies heightened penalties for children under 18 years old, with up to 20 years imprisonment for children under 15. The 1997 Thai Penal Code Amendment Act clarifies that consent of the victim is no defense for children under 18. In terms of long term prevention, in 2000 Thailand enacted a law providing that all children must undergo nine years of compulsory education
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