Gambia: Rising poverty breeds sexual exploitation of children by Sugar Daddies

The sexual abuse of children in the Gambia is increasing as a result of rising poverty in the small West African country and Gambian men rather than European tourists are mainly responsible for the phenomenon, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said in new report published this week. Gambia has long been linked with sex tourism, but the UNICEF study, published on Wednesday, found that the main abusers of local children were male Gambian "Sugar Daddies." “The Sugar Daddy Syndrome,” explained Cheryl Faye, head of UNICEF in Gambia, “is the abuse of young girls lured by money or other gifts - perhaps some shoes or a mobile phone - into sex.”