A young, Southeast Asian girl welcomes the viewer and asks his well-being in many different languages. At first, we’re led to believe she’s really well educated. Eventually, the things she says starts to hint at something more sinister. It’s finally revealed that she mastered all these different languages not in school, but through the men she’s been forced to sleep with. She’s a victim of child sex tourism.

ECPAT wants to eradicate the practice of child sex tourism. Child sex tourism occurs when an individual travels, either within their own country or internationally, and engages in sexual acts with a child. Some offenders engage in sexual acts with children out of experimentation often fuelled by opportunity or a feeling of anonymity as a result of being away from their home.

To that end, this campaign targets tourists, visitors and residents in Southeast Asia. By creating a film, the campaign can be aired online (targeted YouTube buys, social media sharing and PR pushes), conveyed through tourism-centric vehicles (in-flight advertising, MRT and bus screens) as well as mass media (cinema).

The strategy is to highlight the issue, creating awareness and generating alertness to activities in our targets’ surroundings; and provide a portal for education and reporting should any suspicious activity be observed.

While ECPAT’s vision is a world where children live free from commercial sexual exploitation, the reality is the majority of offenders (>72%) are male, and the majority of the victims are (>80%) female—that’s why our communications is skewed towards the protection of young girls aged 7-14.

The main YouTube clip itself received over 60,000 views in just over a month, with its many replicates continuing to generate more views and attention. The idea was featured in dozens of articles, features and mentions by rights activists as well as creative blogs.

It helps to propel the previously little-heard-of ECPAT name into public consciousness.

We hope the ensuing articles, conversations and social tsunami of support for the cause can change the general perception that child sexual exploitation is not to be accepted as “part of life” or tolerated as it is today, and that more people will actively campaign against this heinous crime.

And while the issue at hand chiefly concerns children, we must acknowledge the fact that the majority of these children are girls, which makes it a crime against women.