Clients should be held responsible for knowing sex workers’ ages: Survey
People who want to engage in paid sexual activity should do everything in their power to verify that the sex worker is above the legal age of consent. Residents of the Netherlands believe that customers have the responsibility to be certain about this, according to an opinion poll of more than 1,300 people commissioned by the Center Against Child Trafficking and Human Trafficking (CKM).
About nine in ten respondents believe that clients should ask sex workers for proof of identity in order to determine whether someone is of age. Almost all surveyed, 94 percent, believe paid sex should not take place if the sex worker’s age cannot be determined with certainty.
Almost three-quarters of those surveyed say that more legal attention must be paid to customers who take part in paid sex with minors. Seventy-seven percent of residents think that measures to prevent sexual exploitation deserve a prominent place in the coalition agreement.
The CKM estimates that the annual number of child victims of sexual exploitation in the Netherlands is 1,300. Each victim has paid sex with an average of twenty customers.
This opinion poll was commissioned by the research institute Markteffect.
Reporting by ANP