World Congress Against Sexual Exploitation: A call to action
Hundreds of officials and activists gathered in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in November for the World Congress III Against the Sexual Exploitation of Children & Adolescents. But for Judi Fairholm, it was the youth participants from around the globe who consistently nailed the most important message.
“They were saying the typical things that kids say all the time, everywhere: ‘When are you going to stop talking and start acting?’” Fairholm recalls.
Fairholm, an expert in creating safe environments for young people, has led the Canadian Red Cross RespectED program since its inception 24 years ago, and is now its national technical director. RespectED is active on the international scene, helping other countries develop comprehensive prevention programming.
At the World Congress, she says child trafficking was repeatedly likened to modern day slavery. While that traffic often sees young people moved across borders, trafficking within countries is, in fact, much more common. And it’s on the rise.
“There are an increased number of laws to protect children, but there are also more children being sexually exploited,” Fairholm notes. “We have built the legal framework to protect children, but we have to make sure that laws and policies are implemented.”
Another hot topic at the Congress was consumer mentality, which is driving child sexual exploitation. “The new faces in the child sex tourist trade are the opportunists – any age, any gender, any class – who take advantage of being away to buy sex with kids, something they wouldn’t do at home,” Fairholm notes, adding this group is much more prevalent than pedophiles.
The largest growth area for child and youth exploitation remains the Internet. Online, there are an estimated one million images representing half-a-million children being abused.
There has, however, been progress since the last World Congress, which took place in Japan in 2001. In Brazil, Fairholm attended presentations on the travel and tourism industry, where major industry players have begun taking action. A code of conduct has been developed (www.thecode.org), and some are beginning to train all employees in issues and prevention.
While it will be some time before formal recommendations are released as a result of this World Congress, general calls to action included the need for social change and awareness at all levels. More corporate social responsibility – among IT and travel/tourism industries, but also companies that send workers away from home – is also needed, as well as enforced, monitored codes of conduct.
Whether in Canada or abroad, Fairholm believes the message is the same: the abuse and exploitation of young people is not inevitable, and should never be accepted.
“Education is the key to stopping this ongoing tragedy,” Fairholm says. And youth participants at the World Congress conveyed an equally important message: “It’s not just about the kids of the future, it’s about the kids of today.”
To learn more about the sexual exploitation of children and youth and Canadian Red Cross efforts to prevent it, read the new issue of Prevention Nexus online.
