A/HRC/31/58 40. The link between organized crime and human trafficking is clearly established and both are often involved in supplying children for sexual exploitation. Any of the facilitators outlined above can be affiliated or controlled by such criminal networks. Additionally, criminal networks have a particular interest in the production and sale of child abuse material, which is increasingly lucrative. Moreover, organized crime groups have used child sexual abuse material to extort money and steal identities. 3. Underlying level 41. The underlying level of the demand factor relates to the social, cultural, gender and institutional constructs that foster the conditions in which the sexual exploitation of children is either ignored, tolerated or even accepted. Those factors sustain the market for child sexual exploitation by allowing offenders and facilitators to act. 42. A major enabler of demand is the perception of youth, consent and virginity. Indeed, the attraction of preferential offenders who are not paedophiles to adolescents often stems from social and cultural constructs. The obsession with virginity owing to notions of purity and health is, for example, a source of demand for the sexual exploitation of children. There are thus in several regions of the world those who specifically seek to have intercourse with virgins.36 Concurrently, a child who has lost his or her virginity is considered in negative terms and devalued, thus being more vulnerable to sexual exploitation. Besides, the definition of a child, although set at any person under 18 in international law, varies from one culture to another and is strongly related to his or her sexual maturity. There is further confusion as a result of the varying ages of sexual consent across the world. Preferential and situational offenders will thus justify their actions by affirming, based on their personal belief or on the degree of social tolerance, that their victim was not a child or consented to his or her exploitation. 43. The sexual exploitation of girls, who constitute the majority of victims, is rooted in gender discrimination. Patriarchal structures that promote male sexual domination and do not condemn the commercialization of girls and women are a fundamental underlying level of the demand factor. Culturally imposed feminine gender stereotypes also contribute to the sexual exploitation of women and girls by placing them in the role of serving males, negating women’s and girls’ ability to make decisions regarding their own sexual and reproductive life and making them prime targets for sexual violence.37 Likewise, the commodification of the female body reinforces the notion of its consumption, which can be extended to girls by offenders. Gender stereotypes around masculinity also adversely affect boys, with little attention given to their possible vulnerability to sexual exploitation. Boys who are victims of sexual exploitation are consequently much less likely to be able to report a rights violation and to receive care. 44. Gender discrimination is further compounded by the inherent power imbalance between children and adults. Children are often not considered as rights holders and can even be viewed as property. In addition, their right to be heard is generally flaunted, which prevents them from voicing their concerns or experiences. This objectification of the child helps to comfort offenders in their actions. 38 45. Racism and discrimination play a central part in certain forms of demand for the sexual exploitation of children. Some offenders, in particular in the context of travel and 36 37 38 E/CN.4/2006/67, para. 40, and information provided by UNODC Regional Office for South-East Asia and the Pacific. See A/70/222, para. 30. Richard Estes and Neil Weiner, “Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children in the U.S., Canada and Mexico”, University of Pennsylvania, 2001, p. 4. 11