BANGKOK - The sexual exploitation of children, often couched in socially acceptable practices such as child marriage, he has reached alarming levels in Asia and other parts of the world, a new study by an international advocacy group suggested.

Bangkok-based advocates ECPAT (End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking) warned underaged male prostitution was on the rise in South Asia, child marriages are rampant in Asia and Africa and teenage domestic laborers in Latin America face an overwhelming threat of sexual abuse.

"We have looked into the hidden forms of commercial sexual exploitation of children which are not receiving such attention, particularly those abuses that are couched in socially acceptably practices," ECPAT International's executive director Carmen Madrinan told AFP.

The ECPAT report based on data collected in 73 countries was released last Monday in the Thai capital, focusing in a glaring spotlight on practices long considered acceptable behavior in some communities.

"The incidence of commercial sexual exploitation of children is growing enormous proportions around the world," ECPAT said in a statement accompanying the Report on the Implementation of the Agenda for Action Against the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children.

According to conservative estimates, of the $20 billion generated annually by prostitution worldwide, more than $5 billion comes from selling children in the sex trade.

Some of ECPAT"s harshest criticism was leveled at child marriages, in which "girls may be married to men who are possibly 40 years their senior and are able to pay adequate dowries," the report said.

Early marriage rates were highest in sub-Saharan African nations such as Mali, Niger and Uganda and in South Asia's Nepal and Bangladesh, where roughly half of all girls aged 15 - 19 were married.

Madrinan noted the Himalayan kingdom of Nepal as an example, where 40% of girls are married by the age of 15 and 7% by the age of 10.

In South Asia - Pakistan in particular - prostitution involving young boys as rife, the report said.

"The practice of hiring boy victims of prostitution thrives in the communities of many provinces of Pakistan including streets, markets, bus terminals, hotels and restaurants and in a variety of establishments," the report said.

In the country's north west frontier province, wealthy older men routinely hire young boys to live with them for their sexual pleasure. The practice is so common that 80% of regional respondents to a survey said they were aware of a member of their community engaged in such a relationship.

The report also noted long-standing African rituals that involve the trafficking of children, which Madrinan said leave "devastating" psychological effects on youths and their families.

Communal exploitation of children is common across Latin America, where 90% of all domestic of all domestic servants are teenage girls who face severe threats of sexual abuse from their employers, Madrinan said.

"Whatever happens in the household is hidden from the public realm," Madrinan said. "It's rife for abuse."

ECPAT took governments to task for their poor performance in eradicating child exploitation.

While 159 governments have adopted the Yokohama Global Commitment affirmed in Japan in 2001, to date just 23% of them have formulated national plans for action.

Southeast Asia, in particular, has made some progress, strengthening legal frameworks and outlining steps to protect children.

"But overall it has been a very dismal performance," Madrinan said.

Published last January 24-25, 2003 in the Weekender.