Washington, DC (May 12, 2020) – The National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) has launched a UK-based subsidiary, the International Centre on Sexual Exploitation (ICOSE), to confront sexual exploitation.
“Sexual abuse and exploitation know no boundaries. Global governing bodies and corporations make decisions that cause ripple effects around the world, for better or worse. There are countless cases where international and global institutions are facilitating and escalating abuse and sexual harm. This is why we are expanding our efforts to confront sexual exploitation in all of its forms by launching the International Centre on Sexual Exploitation,” said Dawn Hawkins, senior vice president and executive director of the National Center on Sexual Exploitation.
The International Centre on Sexual Exploitation will be led by Director Haley McNamara, who continues to serve as vice president of advocacy and outreach for the National Center on Sexual Exploitation.
“Using the National Center on Sexual Exploitation’s decades of expertise, we will be expanding our efforts to connect the dots between all forms of sexual exploitation and abuse, and to guide unified coalition-based action to improve private and public policies,” McNamara said.
“We know that pornography is being normalized and promoted through mainstream multinational corporations and is being funneled into developing countries through technology giveaways,” she said.
“Pro-prostitution lobbyists are working around the world and in global bodies of power like the United Nations to either legalize or fully decriminalize prostitution, which research shows would result in increased sexual exploitation and sex trafficking, and they are funded by mega-donor organizations.
“And tragically, even when one sex trafficking victim is rescued, two more take their place in exploitation, because there has been no international plan to combat and prevent the root cause of the sex trafficking marketplace: sex buying. We are eager to confront these societal ills and defend human dignity,” McNamara added.
The International Centre on Sexual Exploitation has already started mobilizing efforts in the following areas:
- The Coalition to End Sexual Exploitation Summit to be held online from July 18-28, 2020, has speakers from 29 countries and thousands of attendees registered from 58 countries.
- The joint international campaign #WakeUpInstagramhas pushed Instagram to make significant changes towards a safer platform especially during COVID-19 while many kids are online.
- Child safety and anti-sexual exploitation advocates and organizations from 13 countries sent a joint letter to major credit card and payment processing companies requesting them to stop processing payments for the hardcore pornography industry – marking the first international effort to do so. Read the joint international letter here.
Learn more about the new International Centre on Sexual Exploitation: https://endsexualexploitation.org/icose/.
About International Centre on Sexual Exploitation (ICOSE)
Utilizing cutting edge tactics for private and public policy advocacy and building on a decade of coalition-building experience, the International Centre on Sexual Exploitation (ICOSE) works to bolster the global abolitionist movement.