AMERICA/BRAZIL - Exploitation of children: from the World Cup to the Winter Olympics 2016

Monday, 30 June 2014

Rio de Janeiro (Agenzia Fides) - As has been widely pointed out, in addition to money, job opportunities and economic development, the World Cup currently underway, with about 4 million tourists, increases the risk of sexual and labor exploitation for children under 16 years of age. "There are no figures to assess the seriousness of the problem, but this event brings together factors that lead to the increase in cases of exploitation of boys, girls and adolescents", said an official of the organization Childhood Brasil, engaged for over 15 years in the fight against sexual abuse in the Latin American Country.
The large influx of tourists has increased the phenomenon of seasonal jobs, migration of workers, evictions of entire families, also involving minors, whose human rights are completely violated. A study carried out in 2013 by Brunel University in London, commissioned by Childhood Brasil along with the Oak Foundation, highlighted some of the factors that trigger dangerous situations that determine the increase in cases of violence against boys and girls in the context of major sporting events. In Brazil there is no data to refer to, but there are figures of the "Disque Denuncia Nacional" programme of the Secretariat of Human Rights of the Presidency of the Republic (Disque 100), which reported in 2013 - over 120 thousand complaints of violations of the rights of children and adolescents.
Through the campaign Proteja Brasil against the sexual exploitation of minors, organized by UNICEF and the Brazilian government, aimed at the World Cup, it is possible to denounce attacks against children through an application that can be downloaded free on mobile phones. It is available in Portuguese, English and Spanish. The profile of the victims shows that nearly 50% are female, 60% African descendants, and the average age is between 8 and 14, not to mention that 65% of the aggressors are part of the family. Of the 12 States where matches are held, the complaints have been recorded in São Paulo (17,990), Rio de Janeiro (15,635), Bahia (10,957), Minas Gerais (9,565) and Rio Grande do Sul (6269). In addition to the World Cup, Rio de Janeiro will host the 2016 Winter Olympic Games. The coordinator of Brazil's Save the Dream campaign, a joint initiative of the International Centre for Security in Sport (ICSS) and the Qatar Olympic Committee, has assured that all the facts and figures will be gathered for the 2016 Olympic Games. (AP) (Agenzia Fides 30/06/2014)


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