Uruguay against child sexual exploitation

In March of this year, 50 young volunteers gathered in Paysandú, Uruguay during Tourism Week to foster support and awareness for the campaign “Uruguay against child sexual exploitation”.

The volunteers experienced a two-day training led by leaders of the campaign and by experts in the prevention of child sexual exploitation. They utilized true testimonies of Uruguayan survivors of sexual exploitation written in the bookCuidame que yo te cuidaré (Care for me, and I will care for you) by Susette Kok to understand diverse situations of exploitation. They also learned how to interact with tourists, business owners, and community members to encourage them to help fight child sexual exploitation by reporting suspicious situations.

The volunteers raised awareness in downtown Paysandú, at the Tourism fair, and at the hot springs in Paysandú and in Salto, a nearby department of Uruguay. Because the public interventions in form of dance were a success in Maldonado, Uruguay back in December, the volunteers again performed learned choreographies to attract attention to the campaign. By promoting the national hotline to call and report child maltreatment, the youth volunteers invited the public to be part of the campaign and help eradicate child sexual exploitation.

Paysandú lays on the border of Uruguay and Argentina and features the week long fair to celebrate the holiday known as Holy Week, Tourism Week, Beer Week, and many other names. People come from all over Uruguay and also neighboring countries to see music shows, buy artisanal crafts, eat delicious food, and of course, drink beer from the barrel. Paysandú has a population of 76,500 people, and the fair attracts 200,000 every year.

The campaign “Uruguay against child sexual exploitation” invites and fosters youth promoters to take a lead in a societal problem that directly affects them. They reach out to adults and tourists, asking them to commit to act responsibly and speak up if they see something. It is necessary that everyone participate in this movement to eradicate child sexual exploitation.

Will you join us?

Links:

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qdhmO9ukGw

Last December, over 50 young volunteers gathered in Punta del Este to promote the awareness campaign: “Uruguay against child sexual exploitation”.

After a two-day training, in which they learned how to raise awareness among tourists, shop owners and the local community on the prevention of child sexual exploitation, campaign volunteers dispersed throughout the city and visited strategic places. They talked to tourists and shop owners about the campaign, and delivered brochures with information on how to protect children and adolescents from sexual exploitation.

As part of the training youth promoters learned some dancing techniques, which then helped them to attract tourists with choreographies in public places.

Punta del Este is one of the most popular cities in Uruguay for Tourism. Although it has a year-round population of 12.000, the summer tourist boom adds to this a very large number of non-residents, reaching more than 1.5 million tourists in one season.

Through the campaign “Uruguay against child sexual exploitation”, youth promoters are taking the lead in exposing the problem of sexual exploitation to society. It’s necessary that both tourists and the local community acknowledge the existence of this problem in order to act.

Will you join us?