Australia is presenting new legislation to halt child sex tourism abroad.
According to the NGO EPCAT, which is crusading against child sex tourism, there are approximately 24 countries where pedophilic tourism is commonplace, with the highest concentrations located in South America and Southeast Asia.
Southeast Asia in particular is a low-cost travel destination for Australian pedophiles to exploit young children, but new legislation is being presented to halt the number of assault cases in these countries.
The bill would specifically target people on the national child offender registry by prohibiting them from traveling “to vulnerable countries where they are out of sight and reach of Australian law,” according to a statement by the Australian government.
Justice Minister Michael Keenan said, “This is the strongest crackdown on child sex tourism ever. No country has ever taken such decisive and strong action to stop its citizens from going overseas, often to vulnerable countries, to abuse kids.”
The push for this comes after several high profile cases of child exploitation overseas, including the story of Australian Robert Ellis, who faced conviction for the abuse of 11 Indonesian girls while on the island of Bali.
Other contributing factors include the number of registered Australians who traveled overseas which stood at about 800 in 2016, a third of which traveled without the permission of authorities. With the new legislation government officials believe that old loopholes will be addressed and these numbers will drop significantly.
When asked about specifics, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said registered offenders with lifetime reporting requirements would be denied passports for life. This part of the bill would impact around 3,200 offenders. She also discussed temporary travel documents for offenders with limited reporting obligations, who needed to apply for travel for legitimate reasons.
Bishop told news outlets “Australia is leading the way when it comes to protecting vulnerable children overseas.”
Members of the government, like Senator Derryn Hinch, expressed their fondness for these new measures. Hinch, a longtime campaigner for this kind of legislation, said he was “over the moon” and defended the move, saying, "People say what about their civil rights? Well when you rape a child, you lose some of your civil rights, from my point of view."
UNICEF calculates that roughly 2 million children worldwide are the victims of sexual exploitation every year and the child sex trade industry amounts to around $20 billion annually.
As this legislation is reviewed many countries affected by the child sex industry can breathe a bit easier knowing that Australia is taking a hardline stance against the vile cases of pedophilia that have plagued them for so many years. The success of Australia's new laws may lead the start of a new wave of legislation to target and eliminate child exploitation in underdeveloped countries. Australians and people all over the world have their fingers crossed that this will make a significant difference in protecting the rights and bodies of children living in these vulnerable parts of the world.