Representatives of ECPAT France and Serbia, Guillemette Vuillard and Jelena Hrnjak, met in New York and discussed the improvement of cooperation between the members of ECPAT – a global network working to end the sexual exploitation of children.
ECPAT network currently coordinates research, advocacy and activities to end sexual exploitation of children together with 124 civil society organizations, members from 103 countries around the world. ECPAT is guided by the principle of cooperation that it promotes at all levels of work, considering strong partnerships a necessity to protect children from sexual exploitation at national, regional and global levels.
Sexual exploitation of children in Serbia is on the rise, especially in cyberspace, and it is accompanied by fewer chances of discovering the perpetrators. Also, official statistics support the fact that the largest number of victims of human trafficking in Serbia are sexually exploited children and youth, which emphasizes how important it is to work on this topic, create a greater number of aid programs, and strengthen mechanisms to protect children from sexual exploitation.
The Network of Organizations for Children of Serbia (MODS) became a full member of the ECPAT network in 2019 and since then, as ECPAT Serbia, it has been carrying out activities within this network that are dedicated to protecting children from sexual exploitation. In this venture, MODS Network is represented by Jelena Hrnjak, a long-time activist of Citizens’ Association Atina.