Bron Beyond Borders
"The work of journalists and documentary filmmakers is key to getting the message to the public that child sexual exploitation must stop," says Rosalind Prober, president of Beyond Borders ECPAT Canada. "These individuals have helped expose the unfortunate situations children all over the world face. With this knowledge, Beyond Borders can help solve the issue and continue our efforts to prevent the problem from occurring any further."
This year's nominees have covered a variety of issues ranging from child sex abuse within the Catholic Church, child brides within polygamous communities, child sex tourism and the human trafficking of children for sexual purposes.
The awards ceremony, taking place on November 21, will feature a keynote address by Beyond Borders, co-founder, Mark Erik Hecht, which underlines how valuable an ally the media is in the fight against child sexual exploitation.
Hecht will tell the incredible story of how in 1995, Catholic priest and convicted pedoph
ile,
Eric Dejaeger, fled Canada to escape new charges for sexually abusing children in Igloolik, Nunavut. He lived freely in his native Belgium for over 15 years until two women, Canadian Sylvia McEachern and Belgian Lieve Halsberghe, teamed up via the Internet to expose the injustice.
"Having met these women and getting them to tell me their story on video, I'm struck by their tenacity in bringing this man to justice," states Hecht. "Through thoughtful investigative work, untiring advocacy and contact with media, they were able to get this man back in Canada to face his crimes. It's really quite remarkable."
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