Transat A.T. Inc. and Beyond Borders, a Canadian organization for the defence of children's rights and the representative of ECPAT International in Canada, are joining forces to fight child sex tourism.
Transat wants to contribute to the elimination of this global scourge that involves international travellers, notably through awareness raising programs. Beyond Borders will provide expertise and training resources to Transat.
The sexual exploitation of children occurs in every society in every nation of the world. It affects not only children living in countries devastated by poverty and war, but also those in wealthy, peaceful nations such as Canada. An estimated two million of the world's children are victims of commercial sexual exploitation.
"Beyond Borders has unique expertise in Canada in the protection of children from sexual abuse and will support our efforts to raise awareness of this most important social issue for our industry," says Jean-Marc Eustache, President and Chief Executive Officer of Transat. "In the weeks ahead, we will roll out an awareness and internal communications program as a first step in a process in which we will sensitize our customers and our destination partners."
Rosalind Prober, President of Beyond Borders, and an expert and activist in the fight against child sexual exploitation, explains: "Our role is to give victims of sexual abuse a voice by appealing for better laws and greater social awareness, and also to support effective actions for prevention and intervention. Travel and tourism companies hold a strategic position to support the fight against this worldwide crime perpetrated by adults of all types at every level of society. We are delighted about this new relationship with Transat."
The fact that individuals go to foreign countries to engage in sexual acts with children is not only socially unacceptable but also criminal. As a result, governments in tourism's major source countries have adopted extraterritorial laws that allow prosecution of offenders either in the country where they occurred or in the offender's home country.
Transat adopted a strong position condemning the sexual exploitation of children when it developed its sustainable tourism policy in 2008.
Open Jaw and sister company TakeOffeh.com have been supporting ACTA's partnership with Beyond Borders for the past few months with complimentary placement of their "Stop Child Sex Tourism" campaign on both sites.
