(1930-2014)
Exactly.
Crusades to rescue child prostitutes are not about suffering girls. Crusades to rescue child prostitutes are about adding meaning to the lives of the crusaders.
The crusaders are fanatic Christians and feminists from the richest Western countries. They have everything else. Now they want a genuine purpose in life.
Sympathy for those who suffer and taking action to help them, whether humans or animals, is a noble character trait. This is even more true if those who act out of sympathy forego modern comforts and put their own lives in danger. Help for those who suffer can add a lot of meaning to a life.
But to claim such noble altruism, the worst suffering, not pet issues, ought to be the priority.
For example, the deaths of millions of African children every year from malnutrition and easily preventable diseases. Or the suffering in countries ravaged by civil war. Or the suffering in dictatorships where the police abduct, rape, and torture at will.
Whether a priest and a feminist hop on a plane to Manila or Phnom Penh to protect street children from sex tourists, or whether they board a flight to Khartoum or Kinshasa to help children from the poorest families with basic nutritional and medical care, or demonstrate publicly against disappearances, or work to help prisoners, tells a lot about their motivation. It reveals whether sympathy for those who suffer is the true motivation, or whether it is about fighting sex, settling scores, or playing games to give one’s own life some meaning without putting oneself at risk.
Few people are willing to dedicate their lives to those who genuinely suffer, or even to just forgo modern amenities.
For those who want to feel as if they are dedicating their lives to a noble cause but nevertheless want to avoid danger and discomfort, it is a strategic choice to join crusaders like ECPAT, who target Western men who travel to developing countries for sexual relationships and may have them with someone below the age of 18.
Targeting can be done from home or comfortable hotel rooms, and those targeted—Western men in developing countries—are largely defenseless and not violent toward those who target them. That traditional media worldwide will give this a lot of coverage and portray the crusaders as heroes is an additional benefit. Even a UN stage is possible.
That is why groups such as ECPAT have so much appeal. They now define their acronym as End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography, and the Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes, sometimes also as End Child Prostitution and Trafficking.
Originally, ECPAT stood for End Child Prostitution in Asian Tourism.
Fighting Western men who travel to Asia to seek sexual relationships, and may have them with women under the age of 18, is an ideal "give-meaning-to-your-life" agenda for fanatic Christians with a deep-seated fear of sexuality and sex-negative feminists.
Public support for these crusaders comes from Western women who understand that their own sexual market value increases when competition from females in developing countries is limited.
Campaigners against Western men seeking sexual relationships in developing countries, and possibly having them with females younger than 18, do not act to diminish suffering in the world.
If all the energy and funds directed at tracking down and fighting Western men who have sex in developing countries with someone below the age of 18 were put to use protecting young children in poor countries from malaria and diarrhea, tens of thousands of young children would not die every year.
More than a thousand people are murdered worldwide every day. Many of them are murdered gruesomely—strangulated, drowned, burned alive, or tortured to death, not just killed. Most are men. ECPAT activists might reply: "Yeah, sorry, but that is not the issue of our concern."
In developing countries or traditional societies, almost all sexual violence against women or females below the age of 18 (or much younger) is perpetrated NOT by male tourists from Western countries. The percentage is almost negligible. In developing countries or traditional societies, almost all sexual violence against women, females below the age of 18, or young children is perpetrated by local men. ECPAT activists might reply: "Yeah, very sad indeed; something should be done, but it’s not within our scope."
Christian fanatics and feminists could try Yemen or Pakistan, gang-dominated countries in Latin America, or nations like Uganda or Zimbabwe. There is a lot of severe violence by local men against local women and children everywhere. Domestic and sexual violence is so commonplace that dealing with it as a crime is a luxury the legal systems of poor countries cannot afford. ECPAT activists won’t go. It is too dangerous to confront local men, whether they are part of extremist groups or organized crime.
The purpose of organizations such as ECPAT isn’t the welfare of children or women. The purpose is to target Western men and entangle them in judicial proceedings, having them convicted to lengthy sentences and ruined for life. That is why the ECPAT acronym originally stood for End Child Prostitution in Asian Tourism.
To this day, as a Google search for “ECPAT extraterritorial laws” shows, the main lobbying of ECPAT is for extraterritorial legislation in Western countries so that men traveling to developing countries for sexual relationships and having contact with females under the age of 18 can be convicted in courts at home.
If ECPAT activists truly wanted to help women in developing countries who suffer, instead of seeking a comfortable but nevertheless exciting purpose in life for themselves, they could campaign to have their countries’ restrictive immigration policies changed.
Canadians, Scandinavians, and Australians occupy a huge chunk of the world’s best land, rich in natural resources and largely free of climate-dependent diseases. Share!
They should let an unlimited number of African families with children in danger of starvation, or daughters in danger of sexual violence, migrate into their beautiful lands.
They won’t. In fact, while they are willing to sometimes make handouts so they themselves feel good, they don’t want to share.
Hypocrites on an ego trip to add meaning to their lives.