Budiey
PUTTING AN END TO CHILD SEX TRAFFICKING
Inspired by our founder Dame Anita Roddick and her commitment and passion for justice, The Body Shop is proud to continue her fight against human trafficking, bringing awareness of this modern-day slave trade to world leaders and the general public.
Every year more than 1.8 million children and young people are trafficked making human trafficking the third-largest and fastest-growing criminal industry in the world.
These children and young people are then abused, raped, beaten and repeatedly sold. While we may choose to ignore this pressing problem, it is crucial for us to know that this problem is not just happening in our neighbouring countries but is very real here in our very own shores as well.
Here in Malaysia, TENAGANITA estimates that 90 children go missing every month. Malaysia remains not just a destination but also a source and transit point for young people who are trafficked.
As such, the whole nation has a duty to play in putting an end to this predicament. While we do have an Anti-Trafficking Act in place, the specific awareness on the trafficking of children for sexual purposes is lacking.
Since 2007 The Body Shop has been involved in this issue and have been working closely with ECPAT (End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and the Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes) to raise awareness of the scale of the issue, raise funding for vulnerable children and young people, and inspire those with decision-making power to effect change.
In line with the governments National Action Plan Against Trafficking in Persons, The Body Shop is continuing the initiative of drawing awareness to this problem, while adopting a multi-sector approach between government agencies, NGOs, international organisations and community groups in the hopes that we obtain a positive and collective response and action to the situation.
With the Home Ministry lending us support The Body Shop is holding hands with GLAM Magazine this year, together with NGO partners Tenaganita, PS The Children and Nursalam, to beget awareness to the Stop Child Sex Trafficking campaign, this time around in a fashionable and funky manner.
Where: Pavilion Crystal Fountain, Jalan Bukit Bintang
Participation : Log on to www.hooha.asia and register
Fee : RM30
[All proceeds will be given to TENAGANITA, NURSALAM & PS THE CHILDREN]
Dress Code : Glamourous
All participants will be entitled to a goodie bag, with products from The Body Shop, Permanis and Glam, worth RM100.
Participants are urged to dress up and glam – walk with us in high heels and create a fabulous look that turns our heads, and the three who get noticed by us will walk away with prizes from The Body Shop worth RM300 each.
Five lucky walkers will also stand a chance to be featured in post-coverage of the event in Glam.
Globally, celebrity involvement to the project has helped garner more publicity to the issue at hand. Amongst the tinsel town folk who have lent their hands for this cause include Robert Pattinson, Matt Le Blanc, Naomi Campbell, Rob Lowe, Sir Ben Kingsley as well as Yoko Ono amongst many others. 61-year-old Anuradha Koirala who has been fighting for more than 16 years to rescue and rehabilitate thousands of Nepal’s sex trafficking victims with her group Maiti Nepal was recognized as one of the top ten CNN Heroes of 2010.
Walking alongside with us to make a difference are our very own celebrities like Dynas, Gambit, Juliana Evans and Amber Chia, to name a few. In accordance to this, Glam organized for their corporate clients to offer their support by sponsoring a celeb. Contributors have donated RM1000 per celeb in the fight to end child sex trafficking.
Performances
The optional protocol is a new international legal instrument which has been created by the United Nations to complement the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) which will increase the level of protection of children against all forms of sexual exploitation. Malaysia is the remaining of three countries in South Each Asia, who has yet to ratify this document.
We hope the quality protection and rehabilitation of young people who are trafficked will be in keeping with the international standard of human rights at every level regardless of colour and creed.
We hope that you, our media partners, will together join forces with us and partake in this awareness programme to highlight this problem in the hopes that one day our children will not have to live in fear of being trafficked.
We thank you in advance for your continuous support of a cause we strongly believe in. At The Body Shop, we do this not because it is fashionable but because to us it is the only way!
