Stop Sex Trafficking of Children and Young People
Thank you. An incredible 735,889 of you signed our petition calling for greater protection of child victims of human trafficking. And in May, we marched to 10 Downing Street to hand the petition over to our government – the largest ever petition to be received by them.
You join over 6.7 MILLION people, in over 50 countries around the world who have signed The Body Shop and ECPAT petitions calling for legislative changes to stop the sex trafficking of children and young people.
Celebrity supporter, Martine McCutcheon joined our march saying “Hundreds of vulnerable children are trafficked into the UK from over 52 countries.[i] Even those who are identified are often left without proper care and support. Three years ago it was reported more than 60% of identified children go missing from local authority care and are never found[ii] and still nothing has been done to protect them! Like the 735,889 Britons who have signed the petition, I believe this is unacceptable and join them in urging David Cameron and the Government to implement the legislative changes that The Body Shop and ECPAT UK petition demands. In doing so we can end this dreadful abuse of children.”
As well as a fantastic media response, the campaign has attracted other high profile supporters including JLS, Pixie Lott, Cherie Blair, Jamie Oliver, Robert Pattinson, Sienna Miller, Uma Thurman, Nicole Kidman, Rob Lowe, Lily Cole, Mark Ronson, Kim Cattrall, Sir Ben Kingsley, Diane Abbot MP, Caroline Lucas MP and Robert Buckland MP to name but a few.
Whilst we wait for the UK government to act, your signature has already inspired 9 governments to take action and deliver long-term change to protect and support children and young people around the world. And we still have many more countries to present their petitions to their national governments.
Then we’ll be presenting the global petition to the Human Rights Council at the UN at the end of September. Stay tuned – You’re changing the world! Find out all the details.
[i] CEOP Strategic Threat Assessment on Child. April 2009