The Body Shop Foundation comments….
Here at The Body Shop Foundation, we are thrilled to support the company’s campaign, which works hand in hand with ECPAT (End Child Prostitution and Trafficking) internationally to stop child trafficking.
We have been keen supporters – both to the issue and financially through grants – for the past seven years of ECPAT and indeed were a member of the ECPAT UK coalition for the past four years.
We’re incredibly pleased to see that this issue has now become a company stance and that The Body Shop International has produced one its most vital campaign to date – raising awareness of the issue of sex trafficking of women and children to the high street audience.
With our knowledge of the issue and ECPAT as an organisation, we’d encourage all our supporters, donors and volunteers to get on board and join this campaign to make a real positive change and offer hope to those in the most vulnerable situations. Our support for ECPAT groups around world has included funding to Defence for Children International in the Netherlands, Childwise in Australia and ECPAT USA in addition to our support for ECPAT UK. Check out these grants and others in our library focusing on the issue of child trafficking – these are truly inspirational groups.
There are two types of people who will tell you that you cannot make a difference – those who are afraid to try themselves and those who are afraid you will succeed. Get involved, sign the petition and join the on-line groups and stretch a supporting hand to those who need our help most.
“In the 4 years that The Body Shop Foundation was privileged to be a coalition member of ECPAT UK, I learnt so much about this extremely complex issue – nothing is black and white and there is still so much to address, both in terms of legislation and direct services in the UK and around the world to protect the child victims of these horrendous crimes. We all need to take responsibility for finding out the facts so that we can share them with everyone else – there is no excuse for being ignorant about trafficking, its causes and its consequences. Do whatever you can for this campaign because it will impact on thousands of lives for many years to come. Debbie Osborne, Grants Manager, The Body Shop Foundation
