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Executive SummarySince the First and Second World Congresses against Commercial Sexual Exploitation ofChildren (CSEC), new methods for holding the private sector accountable for violationsof children’s rights in the context of sexual exploitation have emerged. Internal and externalcorporate social responsibility (CSR) tools have increased in popularity, in turn placinggreater pressure upon intergovernmental organisations, international agencies and worldstates to acknowledge the abuses and develop regimes towards ensuring prevention,protection and punitive consequences for multinational corporations (MNCs) that harmchildren.Although there are many best practice examples in the literature, global standards andnorms (often referred to as international “soft” law) have been criticised as being ineffectivedue to their voluntary and self-policing nature. A new trend has been noted: attemptingto hold the private sector accountable by treating alleged violations of international“hard” law (including the Convention on the Rights of the Child - CRC and its OptionalProtocols) as actionable, in the same way that human rights violations committed by a stateare actionable in some domestic courts of law. Legal mechanisms that offer a vehicle fordomestic application of international “hard” law, such as the United States’ Alien TortsClaim Act, may offer the possibility of successfully ensuring human rights accountability ofmultinational corporations, albeit in a narrow set of circumstances and with many obstaclesto overcome, most notably jurisdictional issues.Within the private sector, the travel and tourism sub-sector has clearly taken the leadtowards eliminating CSEC. Codes of conduct have become the main instruments forregulating the travel and tourism industry in its interface with children’s rights. The mostcomprehensive code of conduct for tour operators is the Code of Conduct for the Protectionof Children from Sexual Commercial Exploitation in Travel and Tourism, which requires“compliance contracts” to be signed by participating companies. As of October 2008, thereare 989 companies, from 34 countries, implementing the Code in 53 countries. Umbrellaorganisations such as the International Federation of Tour Operators, the InternationalHotel and Restaurant Association, and many others have also adopted industry-specificcodes of conduct.A UN Special Rapporteur on children’s rights has recognised that, “media are the mostpowerful tool of mass communication nationally and internationally, and their potential toprotect children from sexual abuse and exploitation should be explored thoroughly.” ThePrivate Sector Accountability in Combating the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children|1