Child sexual exploitation is a fundamental violation of the rights of the child. A child is victim of sexual exploitation when he is forced to engage in sexual activities in return for compensation (or the promise of compensation) which can be pecuniary or not (a good mark, a service etc).

The first question asked when they talk about child sexual exploitation is the number of victims, the data. Unfortunately, they do not have any. The phenomenon is hidden, and if they find that situations of exploitation are more numerous, if they know that all the children, boys and girls, young and older, are exposed to exploitation, they also notice that there are too few reports and that the identified cases are still rare

Founded in 1997, ECPAT France is a French NGO, member of the ECPAT International network whose mandate is to fight, in France and internationally, against the sexual exploitation of children. The aim of the association is also to promote the rights of the child and to combat all forms of violence and exploitation of children and young people under the age of 25, including trafficking whatever the form of exploitation.