Aussie battles child sex, slave trade

An Australian man battling child sexual exploitation and slavery in Asia is now extending his fight to the Caribbean - and he needs your help.

Former electrician and Cairns native Tony Kirwan is embarking on a fundraising speaking tour of Australia for his charity, Destiny Rescue.

Mr Kirwan says Destiny Rescue has helped 1400 children since it began in Thailand in 2001, working undercover to assist police with raids and arrests.

It operates in Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, the Philippines and India, and is launching this month in the Dominican Republic.

It has fundraising arms in Australia, New Zealand and the US.

The charity has established 13 safe houses across southeast Asia to educate and rehabilitate victims of the child sex and child slave trade.

Mr Kirwan and his family left Queensland for Thailand, and sold their business and their possessions to rescue children.

He and members of his 300-strong team have been threatened with death and assaulted.

"It's been a journey," he told AAP. "Not all of it has been fun.

"But Thailand is not a hard place to live; our girls loved growing up there and we love the work that we do."

Mr Kirwan, 47, says he was inspired by the story of an American man in Bangkok who was offered girls for sale at US$400 for his permanent sexual gratification.

He looked at his own daughters and knew he had to act.

"It's definitely embarrassing being a man sometimes when you see these places and you see the way these guys behave," he said.

"But, at the same time, once you know it's happening, you can't just ignore it. You can't just let it happen, no matter how uncomfortable it makes you."

He says Australian men are among those facilitating the trade.

The youngest girl saved by Destiny Rescue was just seven years old. She had been trafficked to Phuket for slavery. She sold flowers and was tortured if she did not sell enough.

She is one of 1.2 million children a year enslaved or used in the child sex trade.

To find out more about Destiny Rescue, visit: www.destinyrescue.org.