Advocating the Rights of Children (ARC) has become a member of ECPAT International, the largest international civil society network working to end the sexual exploitation of children. ECPAT International has 121 members in 103 countries, working to end the sexual exploitation of children for prostitution, trafficking, online and in the travel and tourism sector.
ARC will be the first Maldivian member of ECPAT, opening a new avenue to expand ECPAT’s work into one of the few remaining countries in South Asia where there is no ECPAT presence. ARC’s ECPAT membership also comes at a critical juncture where increased risk factors for sexual exploitation of children such as high internet penetration rate, expanding guesthouse tourism and remoteness of the islands have been observed.
Through this international partnership, ARC hopes to benefit from ECPAT’s experience, expertise and resource hub in its efforts to counter child sexual exploitation in the Maldives and expand its advocacy efforts at national, regional and global levels to end the sexual exploitation of children.
In addition to ECPAT Membership, ARC is also a member of the National Action Coordination Group on Violence Against Children (NACG), a regional civil society network working to end violence against children as well as the International Coalition to Ratify OP3 CRC, an international civil society network lobby to ratify CRC Optional Protocol on Communications Procedure.
Full details are available at the link below:
