This the The Body Shop Philippines Promotional banner (photo by thebodyshop.com.ph)
FACTS ON TRAFFICKING
- Human trafficking is the third largest criminal industry in the world.
- In the Philippines, 60,000 to 100,000 children are trafficked annually (through both cross-border and international trafficking), and most of them are sexually exploited.
- The Philippines ranks fourth in the world in terms of countries with the highest number of prostituted children.
- 1.2 million children and young people under the age of 18 are trafficked every year for sexual exploitation and cheap labor, although this figure is thought to be much higher due to the underground dealings of the traffickers.
- Reports show that sexual exploitation is the most likely purpose of trafficking.
- Profits from this horrendous trade reach US$27.8 per year.
- The recent economic crisis has increased children and young people's vulnerability to trafficking and the numbers are on the increase.
- The Body Shop customers have already raised $1.5 million for their campaign partners in North America.
"Once a child has been trafficked, the child has lost their protective environment and has fallen into the hands of those that will compromise his/her dignity, violate her rights and shatter his trust.
Change is only possible when the world wakes up to the fact that trafficking and sexual exploitation of children is happening all around us, in every country of the world and that we all have a part to play to stop it.
We have launched this campaign with The Body Shop because it will make a real difference, raising awareness, inspiring and mobilising those with decision-making power to effect change with due urgency.”
In support of this campaign, individuals and other groups/organizations who want to fight against sex trafficking can participate by reproducing or photocopying the blank petition form, and by distributing copies to other interested individuals and organizations who want to make their names be counted by signing in the blank form downloadable at http://www.ecpat.net/tbs/ecpat-tbs.html or at http://www. thebodyshop.com.ph/stopsextraffickingpetition. The accomplished form will be sent back to the ECPAT at 143 Anonas Road Ext., Sikatuna Village, Diliman 1101, Quezon City or through e-mail address: stop_trafficking@yahoo.com on or before July 15, 2011.
The campaign specifically calls on the government to urgently focus on the following specific areas:
- Development of community-based awareness raising activities on child trafficking, particularly targeting the most vulnerable children;
- Raising awareness of trafficking in schools by providing appropriate training to teachers;
- Improving law enforcement systems in particular by conducting training and raising awareness among law enforcement officials; and
- Capacity building of professionals and the allocation of further resources for organizations that provided recovery and reintegration services to child victims of trafficking for sexual purposes.
For more information, contact ECPAT at telephone no.: (02) 920-8151; fax no.: (02) 441-5108; e-mail address: stop_trafficking@yahoo.com or website address: http:/ /www.ecpat.net/tbs/ecpat-tbs.html. - https://www.affordablecebu.com/