Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children in Java: Viewpoint of Universalist and Relativist

The tension between “universalizing” (‘globalizing’) and “relativizing” (‘localizing’) principles has been quite broadly discussed in the context of international conventions on human rights and children’s rights. The cultural relativism view in relation to child work and exploitation issues raised many debates on universal children’s rights and universal norms or standards, in the sense that how to defend the principle of universality in international conventions and debates, while at the same time promoting “openness, flexibility and sensitivity” to different culture in the implementation of its standards.
The case of commercial sexual exploitation of children in Java, Indonesia is a good example of this discussion. The area has a lot of specific characteristics and cultural backgrounds which different from other parts of the world, particularly from “the West”, where the notion of universalism emerged. This paper will describe the importance of moral/cultural consideration in the case of child prostitution phenomenon in Java, based on the relativism viewpoint, and will discuss the way to negotiate the existing contradictions between relativism and universalism in the community development point of view.