PROTECTION OF CHILDREN FROM SEXUAL EXPLOITATION IN TOURISM

VATICAN CITY, MAR 12, 2002 (VIS) - Msgr. Piero Monni, Holy See permanent observer to the World Tourism Organization (WTO), will speak on March 16 in Berlin, Germany, during the 10th meeting of the task force to protect children from sexual exploitation in tourism.

According to a communique of the WTO, the present state of tourism in the world will be examined in the meeting. In addition, a strategic plan of action will be developed by the WTO task force to protect children from the sexual exploitation associated with the tourism industry. The issues already examined in the second World Congress against Sexual Exploitation of Children (Yokohama, Japan, December 2000) will be revisited.

The problem of pederasty and of sexual tourism will also be addressed during the presentation of a book written by Msgr. Monni, entitled "L'Archipelago della Vergogna. Turismo sessuale e Pedofilia" (The Archipelago of Shame. Sexual Tourism and Pedophilia). The permanent observer expressed his belief that "the root of this unseemly trade and of all forms of exploitation is always and everywhere the same: a deviated perception of another as an inferior being. Where there is destitution and a lack of respect for the dignity of the person, the forms of exploitation increase."

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