What is it?

• A national, bilingual, volunteer organization advancing the rights of children everywhere to be free from sexual abuse and exploitation.
• Registered Canadian charity with no political or religious affiliation.
• Canadian representative of ECPAT International, a global network of more than 80 groups in 75 countries.
• ECPAT stands for End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography, and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes. It is based in Bangkok, Thailand.

Founded

1996

Acquired ECPAT affiliate status in 1999

Co-founders

Rosalind Prober, BA – Winnipeg

Mark Eric Hecht, BA, DIA, LL.B. – Ottawa

Activities

• Raise awareness
• Advocate for improved legislation
• Monitor court cases for human rights violations
• Promote/support effective prevention and intervention initiatives
• Intervene in court cases to provide a voice for victims
• Provide training and education

Key Successes

• Lobbied successfully to broaden the law to combat child sex tourism. Now, Canadians who sexually abuse children or engage in child pornography in foreign jurisdictions can be held accountable in Canada under Canadian law (called the “Prober Amendment”).

• Founding partner with the Canadian Centre for Child Protection in the creation of Cybertip.ca, Canada’s tipline for reporting online child sexual exploitation.

See successes page for more.

Beyond Borders Media Awards

National, bilingual media awards program recognizing excellence in electronic and print journalism covering the issue of child sexual exploitation. Annual event with professional and student categories.

See media awards page for more.