“It is important to be careful if you’re going to Rio in order to support the Team Belgium”. This is the message sent by the Belgian Olympic Committee which supports the “I say STOP!” campaign.
If you witness sexual abuse of children, report on www.isaystop.com.
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Copyright ECPAT Belgique « Stop à l’exploitation sexuelle commerciale des enfants »
On the 13th of July 2016, Ariane COUVREUR has been interviewed by RTL TVi to present the main points of the study about extraterritorial legislation in Belgium.
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During the press conference with Ministers Reynders and Geens, ECPAT Belgium has presented the study “Fighting impunity of transnational child sex offenders. What is the impact of the Belgian extraterritorial legislation?”.
The recommendations made in the study have been positively received by the Ministers who announced that they will take the necessary measures. One more step for the protection of children!
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After two years of research, ECPAT International publishes the first Global Study on the sexual exploitation of children in travel and tourism, focusing on a phenomenon in constant evolution. Since 20 years, the number of victims has increased, despite the measures taken by the international community. Regarding the offenders, the western, caucasian, rich and aged male is no longer the typical delinquent. To break down false representations that still exist on this tragic reality, immerse yourself in the study!
Copyright ECPAT Belgique « Stop à l’exploitation sexuelle commerciale des enfants »
What kind of protection is offered to children against commercial sexual exploitation in Belgium? What are the possible improvements of the system?
ECPAT Belgium’s assessment of the situation in Belgium, is now available in Dutch.
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On the 13th and 14th of October, ECPAT Belgium attended the Don’t Look Away project’s final conference organized by ECPAT France. Around 100 experts from child rights NGO’s, the tourism sector and law enforcement agencies gathered in Paris to discuss how to better protect children from sexual exploitation in travel and tourism.
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3,000 to 3,500 unaccompanied foreign minors (UFM) entered the Belgian territory in 2015. In 2014, they were 1,700. An estimate given during the press conference of the Platform Minors in exile on the 21th of October. “The UFM tend to be younger and younger” explained Katja Fournier, coordinator of the Platform Minors in exile. These children, coming mainly from Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq and Somalia, are often exploited and tortured along their road to Europe. However, on the 9th of October, only 16 places remained in Fedasil reception centers. The Platform estimates that 120 to 150 new places by month are needed by the end of 2015 to take care of these children. The need for political actions is urgent, regarding the risk of exposing these children to new exploitations: forced labour, mendacity, prostitution, etc.
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Eurostat published the 2015 edition of the report on statistics on human trafficking in the European Union, covering the period 2010-2012. Where do the identified victims of trafficking come from? And the traffickers? What form of exploitation are the most common? 19% of identified victims are children. 55% of identified victims are under 24 and 69% are sexually exploited. Belgium is no exception, being in the top five of the EU countries where the traffickers come from.
These figures show the urgent need of better protection for children against trafficking. At the occasion of the EU Anti-trafficking day (18th of October), the Council of Europe recalled that governments must act to prevent and combat child trafficking.
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Danielle Van Kerckhoven, administrator and founder of ECPAT Belgique (left) & Caro van Eekelen, Chief Operating Officer à ACCOR Hotel Services BeNeLux (right)
ECPAT Belgium is pleased to announce the signing by ACCOR Belgium of the « Code of Conduct for the protection of children against the sexual commercial exploitation in tourism », an important step on the day before the 25th anniversary of the International Convention for the Rights of the Child. Belgium is therefore to become the 37th country in which the hotel group makes this commitment.
The fight against commercial sexual exploitation of children requires the engagement of all sectors in contact with the victims or the potential abusers. The ACCOR Group is a major actor of the tourism industry with 3600 hotels all around the world. Working alongside ECPAT International since many years through this Code, ACCOR has decided to enhance its commitment by signing the Code at the Belgian level.
This signature marks the beginning of the implementation of the 6 criteria of the Code in Belgium. Concretely, this symbolic act commits the hotel Group to set up clear procedures to fight sexual commercial exploitation of children and to train its staff on the issue in order to prevent and report the abuse.
From January on and in close collaboration with ECPAT Belgium, all staff will be trained to react when facing a suspicious situation of a case of sexual exploitation of children. « No one should let a child being abused, and it is important that every staff member knows what to do in case of a suspicious situation » has explained Katlijn Declercq, Vice-Chair of ECPAT International. ACCOR Belgium will also have to provide travelers with information on the possibilities to alert on suspicious cases. The group will raise awareness among its customers to the new I say STOP ! website and disseminate ECPAT’s documentation so that they know what to do when a suspicious situation is occurring.
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