We created a disturbing online tool called 'Put a Price on your Precious' (Schat je schatje/Estimez votre trésor). As we all know, parents like to share pictures of their kids on Facebook. This tool lets them calculate the price criminals would pay for a child like their own. The estimation - based on appalling but real data - results in a price tag on a picture of their own child or an anonymous look-a-like.

By sharing this picture they bring the shocking problem very close to home for all their Facebookfriends.

The calculator was developed to function cross platform with a very straightforward UX design. Making it very easy to use and encouraging people to share the result. The calculator even provided an anonymous look-a-like in case you didn’t have a picture of your child. Making sure as many people as possible shared out campaign.

On the 18th of November, European Day against sexual exploitation of children, the campaign was launched. We organized a live press conference on Facebook. At the same moment celebrities started sharing the campaign.

The campaign was supported by famous tv-hosts, CEO's, sportsmen, politicians and even Her Majesty the Queen of Belgium – a mother of 4 herself.

• The price calculator was used more than 170.000 times (In one single day)

• We reached 15.940.818 people (population of Belgium = 11 million),

• got picked up by national tv and radio,

• headlined all newspapers and -sites,

• became the trending topic on social media.

• We got at least € 374.845 earned media.

Without any media budget we got the entire country talking about sexual abuse of minors in Europe. Creating awareness as a crucial step to protection and prevention.

Our target audience - all adults in Belgium, especially (grand)parents - knows sexual exploitation of minors exists. But they think it only happens in exotic countries.

We can counter this false perception head-on by using real data - about the sex trade of minors in Europe. But a 'facts only' approach will not do the job.

To make them feel it could even happen to them, we used social media as our main platform. The perfect tool to directly impact their lives. Because as we all know people like to share pictures of their kids.

The calculator confronts people with the horrifying truth by translating data to their personal lives themselves.

They share our campaign in the same way they already act every day: by sharing pictures of their children with friends and family.

Most Belgians think sexual exploitation and traficking of children only happens in far away countries. They don’t realise it also happens close to home. Where children like their own fall victim to grooming, and loverboys.

Child grooming is befriending and establishing an emotional connection with a child to lower the child's inhibitions for child sexual abuse. Luring them into child prostitution or the production of child pornography.

Loverboys are men that start a relationship with a young girl and provide material support to make her dependent on them, only to later demand repayment through forced prostitution

Child Focus - the Belgian Center for Missing and Sexually Exploited Children - wants to create awareness about this horrifying fact.

Objective: make all adults in Belgium aware of the existence of sexual exploitation of minors close to home

Challenge: no media budget