How You Can Help Stop Child Sex Slavery

Hard to believe, but in some parts of the world, girls as young as 5 are being sold into the sex trade, being forced to service dozens of men a day. (I told the life story of one such victim — a young Cambodian woman named Sreypov Chan — in Marie Claire last fall.) But the problem exists in this country too. In fact, human trafficking is a $32 billion global business, but one that exists in the shadows. Now The Body Shop is doing something about it. With a new petition called “Stop Sex Trafficking of Children and Young People,” the company is calling on every state in the U.S. to introduce laws that would protect children from being exploited in the sex trade. Go to your local shop or go online to learn more and sign the petition. You can also help raise funds for two organizations working to end child sex trafficking — The Somaly Mam Foundation and ECPAT USA — by purchasing a special tote or hand cream. Somaly Mam, pictured here with Susan Sarandon and the new petition, is a survivor of childhood sexual slavery herself, and now helps rescue girls across the world through her foundation.