Engaging Sexually Exploited Youth in Combatting Exploitation

Rabinovitch JS¹, Kingsley C¹*

1. International Centre to Combat the Exploitation of Children (ICCEC), Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

This presentation will present the work of the International Centre to Combat the Exploitation of Children (ICCEC- www.iccec.ca) which is based in Canada. At ICCEC, we take a rights-based approach; survivors of commercial sexual exploitation direct the work of the Centre. People who have experienced sexual exploitation as children know the reality. We need their expert knowledge to develop lasting solutions. ICCEC is a bridge between these survivors, and all those who can help put an end to sexual exploitation––individuals, communities, and governments.

ICCEC is guided by the Declaration and Agenda created by participants at the first international summit of exploited youth, held in Victoria, Canada in 1998. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child leads the way. It says that every child has the right to a life with dignity, free from exploitation and abuse.

ICCEC is a bridge between survivors and those who can help end the commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC). Our work includes advocacy, coalition building, curriculum development, speaking engagements and research. We link sexually exploited youth with professionals (front line workers, policy makers and others) to increase the effectiveness of strategies and solutions to combat CSEC. ICCEC has recently helped to build BC regional and Canadian national coalitions of experiential women to provide a forum for women with a history of commercial sexual exploitation to advocate and lobby on their own behalf. Almost all of the members of each coalition entered sex work as children or youth.