Poverty is usually the first answer to this question.

Poverty may be a principal catalyst, but it cannot adequately explain commercial sexual exploitation of children.

Many children from poor families do not enter the sex trade, while many children whose families are not impoverished do enter the sex trade. The sexual exploitation of children takes place in both 'developing' and 'developed' countries.

When considering what makes children vulnerable to commercial sexual exploitation other factors should be taken into account. For example:

Domestic Abuse of Children and Neglect
It is believed that approximately 80% of the children exploited in the commercial sex industry suffer from psychological or physical abuse within their families, and most have suffered from some form of sexual aggression by a family member or friend.

Some children who attended the 1998 International Summit of Sexually Exploited Youth reported that they entered the sex trade when one or both of their parents made it clear that they were unwanted mistakes. Some explained their entry into prostitution as a cry for help and a wish for love.

Armed Conflict
Children are often separated from their parents in the chaos of conflict, escape and displacement; still others are left as orphans. Unaccompanied children are especially vulnerable and at risk of sexual abuse or exploitation. Escalating incidence of armed conflicts around the world have left ever growing numbers of children easy prey to exploiters.

Disappearances have been reported from refugee camps in Kosovo, as well as in Africa. Children have been trafficked from conflict situations to work in brothels in relatively safer countries, from Myanmar (Burma) to Thailand, for example, and from Georgia to Turkey.

In Colombia there have been reports of girls as young as twelve who engage in sexual activity with paramilitary forces as a means of protection. In Mexico, two girls from Guatemala, aged ten and twelve, were found prostituting themselves for soldiers in the military barracks of one frontier town.

Consumerism
In many developed countries young people are being pushed into prostitution, not as members of the underclass trying to escape grinding poverty but as members of the middle class who desire greater disposable income. They enter the sex trade because they are overwhelmed by the prospect of earning a lot of money quickly. They are enticed by peer pressure or powerful advertising, as well as the value that society places on expensive brand name products or luxury goods and services.

In Fiji, for example, there are reports of increased numbers of children prostituting themselves around Christmas to earn money for gifts.

AIDS Orphans
By the end of the year 2000, Unicef estimates that 10.4 million African children under the age of 15 will have lost their mothers or both parents to AIDS. Terre des Hommes estimates that Asia will soon overtake Africa in terms of absolute numbers of persons infected, and it is anticipated that heads of households are more likely to be children in the future.

Orphans or children burdened with the responsibility of younger siblings to care for can be vulnerable to sexual exploitation and abuse.

Living and Working in the Streets
Street children can be found in most cities in Central and South America. They often prostitute themselves in order to survive, and compared to other forms of prostitution the earnings are very low.

In Ciudad Juarez, a border town in Mexico, street children - generally boys aged 12 to 17- occasionally work in the commercial sex trade in order to subsist and to pay for their addictions. They may work through middlemen, and while the middlemen receive $200 (US), the boys are paid $20. At times, they are paid with drugs or asked to do additional work related to pornography.

Similar situations can be found throughout Eastern Europe. In Belarus, for example, children who have run away from home are picked up at train stations and sold to local brothels. In Romania, it is estimated that 5% of homeless children are victims of commercial sexual exploitation.

Discrimination / Ethnicity
In a recent ECPAT commissioned study of child prostitution in Northern Thailand, 'hilltribe' children were identified as one of the groups most at risk of entering the sex trade. This is due primarily to the fact that they are denied Thai citizenship which limits their access to education and fair employment.

In a study conducted in 2000 by the Ministry of Women, Family Welfare and Child Development in Mauritius on the commercial sexual exploitation of children, it was noted that the majority of children involved in prostitution were from slum (squat) communities. These areas are predominantly inhabited by the minority 'creole'.

A report by Save the Children Canada, released at the end of 2000, showed that while aboriginal youth make up only 3-5% of the general population, in many places they form the majority of those working in the sex industry. In some communities they make up 90% of these workers. The report cites widespread racism, fragmentation of the aboriginal culture and families, as well as poverty and limited access to education as factors which drive youth into this work.

Irresponsible Sexual Behaviour
Many men value the experience of taking a girl's virginity, whether through the social mechanism of marriage or not. In addition, there are several popular misconceptions or myths surrounding sex with a virgin or child. In many countries in Asia, for example, some men believe that having sex with young girls (who are presumably virgins or have had few partners) will protect them from contracting HIV/AIDS. Some believe it will cure AIDS. Others believe that sex with a virgin renews youthfulness, increases virility, and brings good health, longevity, luck and success in business.

Many of the same misconceptions and myths are reportedly held in some African countries as well.

Harmful Traditions or Customs
In addition to the practice of early, forced or temporary child marriages mentioned in an earlier section, there are other traditions and customs that make children vulnerable to sexual exploitation.

For example, in some countries prostitutes' daughters become prostitutes themselves. This may occur through formal structures such as the caste system which can be found in South Asia. Or it may occur more informally through social stigmatisation. In Tapachula, Mexico, a town bordering Guatemala, there are Guatemalan girls who work in the commercial sex trade, following the way of living their mothers have had in the area for some time. Whether this occurs formally or informally, the result is almost always the same: children of prostitutes rarely have viable alternatives.

In some countries, sexual exploitation of children is thinly disguised as religious practice. In Ghana young girls, usually under the age of 10, are given to the local fetish shrine to atone for offenses allegedly committed by a member of the girl's family. In this traditional practice, known as Trokosi, a girl becomes the property of the fetish priest and must provide sexual services as well as other labour for him. The Ghanian Parliament criminalised this practice in 1998 (Section 314A of the Criminal Code). However, it is estimated that there are still 4,500 girls bound to various shrines by this practice.