The report warns that police crackdowns and a prohibition on public solicitation has driven the industry underground in recent years β from the streets to less visible places such as private apartments. This development has made it easier for those who would harm children. As with trends seen globally, victims in Czechia are getting younger. In , there were three known cases of children sexually exploited in prostitution who were below the age of three.
A total of 23 cases were reported in , an increase from 15 in Of the 23 cases, 19 were of girls, and four were boys. Sexual harassment also continues to be a problem, including for children.
Girls as young as 13 are often reportedly propositioned and harassed in public. At the same time, the new report says that according to the police, the majority of children trafficked to the country ended up being sexually exploited β either through prostitution or in the production of child sexual abuse material.
Between and , children comprised more than half the identified victims of sex trafficking. Humanitarian crises like the conflict in Syria have increased the number of unaccompanied refugee children passing through Czechia. This group, along with those running away from residential care, are at particularly high risk of sexual exploitation says the report. Offenders are always on the lookout for vulnerable children, and these children are easy targets.
Czechia has also seen an unprecedented increase in tourists, receiving more than 20 million visitors in While there is a clear need for protecting children from travelling child sex offenders, no action has yet been taken by the government. Although the Czech government made some efforts to raise awareness about the trafficking and online sexual abuse of children, the report says that there have been no official measures to protect children from travelling sex offenders or prostitution.
