Whilst the value of human integrity within the laws of individual states and the documents of international human rights is being increasingly consolidated and will become, sooner or later, the primary concern of the law, severe breaches of this value are indeed still widespread. In particular the sexual exploitation of children constitutes one of the most serious questions of national, regional, transnational and international law. According to international records, every fifteen seconds a child is raped in Africa alone. Almost half of the cases heard by the ICTY concern the sexual exploitation of women and children during armed conflict. More or less similar conclusions may be reached regarding the ICTR or the SCSL. In Rwanda alone, 500,000 females were raped. Almost 200,000 females and children have been the victims of cruel forms of sexual violence during the conflicts in Congo. Sexual abuse of children by priests cannot any longer be concealed in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Germany, France, Ireland, Mexico, the United Kingdom, and the United States, although it is ignored in most Islamic countries. The sexual exploitation of children is also widely practised in many other countries. Regrettably, 79% of all world trafficking is for sexual exploitation.
The principal subject matter of this book is the legal etymology of sexual exploitation governing minors. The aim is to identify and analyse jus cogens and obligation erga omnes in relation to the sexual exploitation of children and to evaluate the international responsibility of states in relation to the elimination or prevention of the crime, and the prosecution and punishment of offenders.