Cosmetics store The Body Shop and ECPAT International — the charitable organisation that aims to eliminate sexual exploitation of children — have joined forces in the campaign “Stop sexual exploitation of children and teenagers.” The campaign is supported by actresses Uma Thurman, Audrey Tatou and Sienna Miller, actor Robert Pattinson, fashion designer Stella McCartney, models Naomi Campbell and Eva Herzigova, the writer Sophia Kinsella and others. Among those supporting the campaign in Russia are actor, director and producer Dmitrii Orlov, theatre and film actor Mikhail Vladimirov, the actress Maria Shukshina and State Duma deputy Anton Belyakov.

To raise awareness of the problem, popular Russian actors teamed up with actors from the Children’s Musical Theatre and took part in a themed photography session. The campaign was launched at the Body Shop on 23 August. Each customer can sign a petition and get their hand stamped to show their support for the campaign, which calls for an end to violence against minors across the world. So far, over 6,500 signatures have been collected.

Information

Approximately 1.2 million children and teenagers become victims of sexual exploitation each year. The sex trade is the third most profitable criminal industry – 1st and 2nd are the weapons industry and the drugs trade respectively. This problem is real not only for the world’s poorest countries, but also for the developed and civilised world.

Translated by Lina Numan

Nataliya Seregina telephone: (495) 785-22-55

e-mail: Natalia.Seregina@edelman.com

http://www.asi.org.ru/ASI3/rws_asi.nsf/va_WebPages/7C5F66F403572178C32577DA002E6A9DRus