GENEVA - The Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, Reem Alsalem, today welcomed the 6 May 2026 decision by Colombia's Supreme Court of Justice to uphold a 20-year prison sentence against a man convicted of offering and providing money in exchange for sexual acts involving young children.
"The judgement importantly recognises that the sexual exploitation of children must not be viewed in isolation, but as part of a wider system of violence in which demand, expressed particularly through solicitation and payment for sexual acts, is a determining factor and the first link in the chain of exploitation," Alsalem said.
The Court observed that the economic valuation of women's and girls' bodies contributes to normalising the commodification of femininity, perpetuating sexist views of gender roles, and undermining the development of sexual relations based on equality, free consent and human dignity. It further recognised that such systems reinforce social pressures towards the hyper sexualisation of women and girls and standards of value linked to physical appearance and sexual availability.
"The Court rightly concluded that persons are not commodities for sexual consumption, and that those who create demand are not passive participants in an illicit market, but direct exploiters," the Special Rapporteur said.
The Court also acknowledged the severe emotional and psychological harm suffered by the three girls and one boy aged between 11 and 13 and confirmed that the offences constituted both the crime of demanding the commercial sexual exploitation of persons under 18 years of age, and abusive sexual acts against children under 14. It confirmed that the sentence was necessary, proportionate and reasonable.
The ruling highlighted that sexual exploitation does not arise solely from organised criminal networks engaged in prostitution or trafficking, but can also occur within social, family or everyday contexts. This approach is consistent with the human rights framework advanced in Alsalem's 2024 report on prostitution and violence against women and girls. Referencing the Special Rapporteur's report, the court noted that prostitution "cannot be understood as a neutral or voluntary activity in abstract terms. On the contrary, it is a system of inequality and discrimination based on sex that reproduces historically unequal power relations and constitutes a form of violence."
"The ruling highlights that we cannot recognise sexual exploitation as violence and a crime when it affects a child, yet consider it voluntary, consensual or even desirable when that person becomes an adult," the expert said, noting that many adult women in prostitution have histories of sexual abuse and were induced into prostitution during childhood.
The Special Rapporteur stressed the significance of the judgment in light of recent policy developments in Colombia, including the creation of a Directorate for "Paid Sexual Activities" within the Ministry of Equality, as well as ongoing efforts to regulate prostitution as "sex work" through the Ministry of Labour. She reiterated her concerns regarding these steps and call to end the normalisation of payment for sexual acts, including through the online webcam industry, and for the adoption of legislative approaches consistent with international human rights law, including those relating to the equality, dignity and safety of women and girls
"The judgment invites a reconsideration of evidence concerning exploitation and violence not only against children, but also against adult women and men in prostitution," Alsalem said.
