By TAMARA McKENZIE, Guardian Political Editor

tamara@nasguard.com

School girls below the age of consent are having "sweetheart" relationships with older men. There are prostitution rings in some high schools, and a number of high school girls are posing for nude photographs in exchange for money and food.

These and other shocking claims were made by Minister of Youth, Sports & Housing Neville Wisdom on Wednesday, as he gave his parliamentary colleagues an update on the 2002 International Labour Organisation (ILO) Rapid Assessment Report on children and child labour in The Bahamas. His comments came in relation to a Bill for an Act to provide for the care and protection of children. A segment of the Bill focuses on the harmful employment of children.

According to Mr Wisdom, the ILO Report found that there were 189 reports of working children, of which 109 were in vending, trade services, or were assisting with family businesses. He added that 52 children were associated with the worst forms of child labour.

"Of these 52, thirty-five children were involved in activities associated with sexual exploitation through prostitution and pornography," Mr Wisdom revealed. "There were also reports of young girls performing sex on beaches and in school bathrooms for money, high levels of teenage pregnancy for older partners and schoolgirls involved in exotic dancing and strip clubs," informed the Youth Minister.

"There were [a[ few reports of young males and females in homosexual relationships with adults, and nine children were associated with illicit activities such as selling drugs in schools and on the street and working as lookouts to warn when the police are coming."

The Youth Minister informed his colleagues that reproductive health was a serious concern for young people in The Bahamas and that the initiation of sexual activity began early. "Statistics revealed that the average age for first intercourse was 12 years for boys and 14 years for girls," Mr Wisdom said. He added that approximately 45 percent of sexually active adolescent girls reported that their first sexual encounter was pressured or forced.

Mr Wisdom said while young people should be encouraged to be enterprising and responsible, children 12 years and younger should be protected from those who do not have their best interest at heart.

The Youth and Sports Minister also revealed that sexual abuse in The Bahamas has increased over the past 15 years and sexual abuse cases against children have escalated to record proportions and have exceeded those against adults.

"Of the 1,500 rapes reported between 2000 and 2004, over 952 were perpetrated against children," Mr Wisdom said. He noted that it is against this backdrop that the government must become proactive in the provision of services and solutions to the life threatening circumstances that confront children and families.

"The children are the inheritors of this nation, and we must be able to provide a safe, secure and free environment for them," Mr Wisdom said. "Laws must be enforced and persons must be punished for their illegal and unlawful behaviour against our children."