Return to Sender British child sex offenders abroad-why more must be done

In August 2006 ECPAT UK published a landmark report called ‘The End of The Line for Child Exploitation’ which exposed gaps in UK legislation and policy on the sexual abuse of children by British nationals who travel abroad. Now, in 2008, we revisit some of these issues to see whether children are any safer today than they were two years ago. As this report will show, the UK law enforcement response to child sex tourism falls well short of our expectations. Britain has an
excellent international reputation for its robust approach to child protection but when we turn our eyes to the abuse of children by British nationals who travel abroad the story is quite different and the UK compares poorly against other countries with similar legal frameworks such as Australia and the United States.