1. Tackling the Demand for Sexual Exploitation of Children Toward a preventive strategy
Palais des Nations,
Geneva, Switzerland
7 March 2016
Eliana Riggio
ECPAT International

2. Tackling the demand to tackle the causes of SEC
Approaching the SEC market from the perspective of demand re-orients both the analysis and the solution of the problem toward a preventive, rather than a curative, point of view
Shifting focus on the factors that prompt perpetrators to sexually abuse children helps identify means to stop them before harm is done

3. Toward building a comprehensive prevention framework to tackle SEC
Need for a conceptual shift toward adopting a comprehensive policy and programming framework
Addressing recovery of victims and prosecution (and possibly rehabilitation) of perpetrators
while
Seeking to protect all children from SEC and prevent everyone from potentially turning into a predator
Only a prevention framework to SEC can ensure a comprehensive and systematic roadmap to achieve a more organic solution of the problem

4. Shifting towards a human rights-based approach
Recognise that averting an abusive act from occurring ensures that children’s rights are protected before being infringed, as opposed to being invoked after the offence – and the life-long trauma – have been caused Adoption of a proactive rather than a reparatory methodology in human rights implementation, as promoted in international law

5. Learning from the Public Health experience
Re-orient current SEC-related policies and replace a clinical with an epidemiological philosophy No longer targeting only the individual victim or offender but also creating shields aimed at defending entire groups potentially at risk

6. From a Primary Health Care to a Primary Protection model
Promote a Protection for All initiative based on the progress made by the Primary Healthcare movement in promoting Health for All over four decades
A Primary Protection model distinguishing between three levels of intervention:
Primary Prevention aiming to prevent demand for SEC before it occurs
Secondary Prevention aiming to prevent demand for SEC in high-risk groups
Tertiary Prevention aiming to prevent further SEC offences through interventions targeting child victims and offenders

7. crossing the three layers of the SEC Demand Tree
Levels of prevention
crossing the three layers of the SEC Demand Tree
 The Demand Tree. Layers of Causality
Pre-Primary
Primary
Secondary
Tertiary
Direct offenders
Facilitators /Intermediaries
Underlying factors

8. Learning from successful strategies to prevent SEC by tackling demand

9. Eradicating the demand tree from its roots
ECPAT engagement in preventing demand for SEC across its global network:
Raising awareness and spreading information and education
Supporting gender transformative processes
Promoting rights-sensitive norms and practices
Targeting hot-spots – child abusive groups and high prevalence geographical areas
Leveraging the Internet to protect children
Developing comprehensive strategies with and for children
Strengthening legal measures through advocacy
Engaging young people and listening to victims’ voices

10. Creating new awareness on SEC by focusing on demand

11. Activities to raise awareness help strengthen defence mechanisms while discouraging demand
Prevention campaigns, through mass media, the Internet and social mobilisation effectively adopted to contrast SEC
ECPAT USA, in parallel to Shared Hope International - well known experiences in the United States to mobilise national-level efforts and adopt multi-pronged strategies to raise awareness of commercial sexual exploitation and sex trafficking of children
- Prevention campaigns, through mass media, the Internet and social mobilisation

12. Fostering gender-transformative processes &
Re-educating men

13. Boys and men as a cross-cutting priority in awareness, education and capacity generation prevention initiatives to change perceptions of masculinity and foster gender-transformative processes
The Man to Man campaign launched by Beyond Borders/ ECPAT Canada projects high-profile Canadian men taking a stand against commercial sexual exploitation of children
Involves men who represent healthy examples of masculinity to propose positive role models for male children

14. Leveraging the Internet
to prevent demand

15. ICTs - a double edged sword in child protection
Boundless opportunities for empowering and protecting young users
ICTs can be turned to the advantage of children and used to connect them to each other offering mechanisms that can protect them
The Make IT Safe campaign, a global initiative spearheaded by ECPAT International - empowering young people to approach the Internet safely, educating ICT teachers and orienting Internet café owners among others

16. Engaging children in making their environments safe

17. A powerful role by young people - re-shaping the environment where they live to make it safe
Mobilising their families, schools and local leaders, raising awareness, helping monitor activities by local traffickers, online predators and other offenders, and supporting at-risk peers
In Latin America, through the Youth Partnership Project programme established by ECPAT Guatemala, ECPAT Mexico and PAICABI (Chile), young stakeholders involved in research, programming, monitoring and advocacy to prevent demand for SEC

18. Thank you for your attention. Merci pour votre attention.