Sexual abuse of children by foreigners turns into phenomenon

The International Center for Women Rights Protection and Promotion “La Strada” draws attention to the sexual abuse of children by foreigners in Moldova that is a new, rather uncovered phenomenon. The analyses made by the International Center “La Strada” confirm the earlier signals about this phenomenon that is also called sexual tourism involving children, Info-Prim Neo reports. “The children are sexually abused by foreign citizens who come to Moldova namely for this purpose. The boys aged between 12 and 15 are exposed to the greatest risks. They may be from different regions. Though some of the children have parents, they lack parental care, do not feel at ease at home and become vulnerable. The abusers manipulate these children,” said Ana Revenko, head of the International Center “La Strada”. According to Ana Revenko, the abusers are usually ordinary tourists who aim to have sexual relations with children. There are cases when the abusers are experts of foreign agencies or protagonists of charity events who pretend to be caring about the well-being of the Moldovan children. The children are recruited through the Internet or through the agency of trustworthy persons. When the children 'communicate' with the abuser, they are encouraged to persuade other boys to come. There have been identified eight Moldovan children who had been victims of child abuse. But there are signs that the number of victims is higher. There were arrested five foreigners. Another five persons are investigated as suspects. Ana Revenko said the arrested persons come from Italy, Norway and Greece. Among them was a European Union adviser who worked in Moldova. He was allowed to leave the country.