Brazil, a country stained with poverty and economic drought at the local level, is home to the quadrennial international men's football tournament, the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

For the first time since 1978, the games will take place on South American soil, and the 32 teams hailing from 32 nations will have the pleasure of competing in 12 newly constructed and/or renovated infrastructures, fashioned solely for the sporting competition; including the second most expensive stadium in the world, Estádio Nacional Mané Garrincha in Brasilia.

The Brazilian government spent an initial $14 billion on the World Cup; an additional $3.6 billion on stadium works, and an added $1.3 billion on infrastructure works and projects -- sparking community outrage. But, a slightly more concerning matter: as many as 5,000,000 underage Brazilian girls and boys are being forced to street corners by family members and pimps, in order to proposition the oncoming millions of foreign futbol fans with sex, earning a meager 10 Brazilian real, equivalent to $4.37, less than a carton of cigarettes.

The prostitutes are as young as 10 or 11 years old, and some became familiar with sex work as early as 7 years old. They walk the streets with their faces caked in make-up and clad in attire that's meant to accentuate nonexistent curves. They ingest a variety of drugs, including sniffing glue, nicknamed "cola"; using the narcotics to numb them to the danger, the violence, and the hunger that they encounter daily while working on the streets. Witnessed and ignored by police, child prostitution entices locals, tourists and taxi drivers, their young and abused bodies collide with dozens of men each day, not even making enough to properly feed them.

The World Cup means more customers and more money, which goes to further finance severe crack and "cola" addictions, and will line the pockets of pimps. Foreign customers flood the city, and sex tourism becomes a choice enterprise. While child prostitution is illegal and the government frowns upon it, police do nothing to regulate the issue -- and many even plead ignorance to the existence of deadly adolescent sex traffic.

Police Commander Major Angelo from a police department in Brasilia told a Daily Mirror reporter that he failed to remember the last time that the department had handled a case that dealt with children selling themselves for sex or being sold for sex by an adult.

"We are taking the issue of fans looking for sex with children very seriously. We have set up a helpline and will respond to any calls and look for evidence," Major Angelo added.

The government has attempted to crack down on that the issue by creating awareness through popular telenovelas, and they've advertised that the exploitation of children and juveniles is a crime; that message reiterated as visitors board their planes, enter airports, visit bus and train terminals, and as they check-in at their hotels.

Politicians and activists looking to protect young women against trafficking have warned the government that this summer's World Cup will ignite a new epidemic of child prostitution in a country that's lurid with sex tourism. Brothels and street corners will be littered with exploited juveniles. Charities have pointed out that, by welcoming the World Cup, the government has undermined their own campaign, drawing in hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of potential customers for the underage prostitutes.

"While the World Cup is a joyful time, it also exposes vulnerable young children and adolescents to violence and sexual exploitation," said Anette Trompeter of Plan International. "Unfortunately tourism is often linked with the sexual exploitation of children, due to an increasingly permissive atmosphere and the use of hotels at this time."

Happy Child, a foundation developed to care for children who've become pregnant during sex work, launched a campaign to deter World Cup fans and protect vulnerable youth. The campaign includes wristbands for the kids, which will proclaim "It's a Penalty." Happy Child is just one of many organizations looking to stem the sexual exploitation of children, but what is most needed is for authorities to recognize the danger that the onslaught of tourism poses. During the World Cup, and the 2016 Rio Olympics in two years' time, the child prostitution market will begin to soar.

Social protesters and rioters have actively protested the World Cup, particularly due to the high cost of lives and money that's gone into stadiums and tournaments. Six in 10 people believe that hosting the World Cup will be bad for Brazil, according to an NBC poll. Brazilians are enduring poor hospitals, schools and public transportation while $3.6 billion of their tax dollars have gone into stadiums. Also, because the county tops the world with soccer-related fatalities, Brazil has committed 170,000 officers to stand guard across the 12 host cities to keep the peace.

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