Up to one million children have been kidnapped for the sex market. The sex tour industry and the presence of military bases in developing countries has lead to an enormous increase of child prostitution which aggravates kidnapping. Children from Latin American, Asian and African slums are kidnapped and sold to rich clients in the north to be used privately or in brothels.
In the UK the number of child abductions increased from 40 in 1987 to 263 in 1993.