Protect Thai Children from Online Sex Trafficking

Report: Hug Projects' Prevention Program For Victims of Sexual Abuse and Human Trafficking

Summary

Last year was a heavy year for the Thailand Internet Crimes Against Children Taskforce. The Taskforce reduced and protected 433 girls as well as 78 boys who were victims of sexual abuse, online sexual abuse, and human trafficking. This number has remained high, prompting our team to adjust its plans to prioritize the development of effective prevention programs.

The HUG Projects Impact: 

This year, The Hug Project has partnered with the Juvenile and Family Court Phuket, the Local administration of Phuket Province, TICAC, the Anti-Trafficking Unit, and the Royal Thai Police to train as many students as possible. In June, this program has trained over 2300 students from Phuket and Northern Thailand to teach about sexual abuse and raise awareness towards the issue. The police officers were able to teach kids the importance of staying safe online, as well as teaching different strategies to tackle sexual abuse through sharing real cases with kids, which taught them the different offender strategies. Furthermore, the program has helped children be more aware of the situations they are in as well as provided them with the right tools to help. In closer view, our children were trained on several topics such as: 

1. What is grooming, in person and online?
2. What does grooming look like?
3. The three magic words to get out of a situation, no, go, and tell. 
4. The “Take it down” campaign if kids who are victimized online.
5. How to collect digital evidence.
6. Where and who to report to when you are victimized. 

Although this year we have gotten some government funding, your support has assisted us in uniting police bands to make the prevention program the best it could be, more engaging and fun. We are committed to preventing children from sexual abuse, assault, and trafficking, as we believe that prevention is vital to tackling this issue. We would like you thank you for being a part of our team and for your continued support. Please enjoy the photos and videos from our training. 

Best, 

The Hug Project Thailand.