Programa Na Mão Certa
Brazilian scenario
A remarkable evolution made by the first and the third sectors has been noticed.
Coping with child and adolescent sexual exploitation includes the involvement of 14 Ministries. Noteworthy among the governmental initiatives is the implantation of the National Telephone Hotline to report events, which is accessed by dialing 100 from any part of the country and the Centro de Referência Especializado de Assistência Social (CREAS) [Specialized Social Assistance Reference Center].
Pertaining to the Federal Special Human Rights Department, the toll free National Telephone Hotline – 100 is an important tool in becoming aware of events that were kept in opportune or fearful secrecy before.
Created within the realm of the Ministry of Social Development and the Fight Against Hunger, the Specialized Social Assistance Reference Center, which integrates the Sistema Único Assistência Social (SUAS) [Unified Social Assistance System], is a public state entity. It is in charge of offering specialized support, orientation and follow-up assistance to individuals and families that have one or more members in a situation of having their rights threatened or violated. Its purpose:
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To empower social networks that support families;
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To contribute to the fight against stigmas and prejudice;
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To ensure prompt social protection and interdisciplinary service to people at risk of violence and to protect their physical, mental, and social integrity;
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To prevent abandonment and institutionalization;
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To strengthen family bonds and the family protective capacity.
Target audience
Children, adolescents, youngsters, women, the elderly, and people with special needs, and their families, who are in a situation of having their rights threatened and violated due to abandonment; physical, psychological or sexual violence; commercial sexual exploitation, street threats, child labor and other forms of submission and situations that cause damage, harm their living condition and keep them from having autonomy and enjoying well-being.
It is unquestionable that income transfer programs, such as the Bolsa-Família (Family Allowance), combined with other child protection programs like the Programa de Erradicação do Trabalho Infantil (Peti) [Eradication of Child Labor Program], have greatly contributed to improving the scenario in Brazil.
In this process, non-governmental organizations have played a crucial role. From creating diagnostic studies on the subject, to defending child and adolescent rights and creating programs to protect them, by supporting human development and fostering entrepreneurism and social reintegration, in addition to providing services to children and adolescents and their families or even by caring for them based on prevention programs, NGOs have been making a decisive contribution to the fight against commercial sexual exploitation of children and adolescents.
Thanks to the autonomous and entrepreneuring manner in which they conduct their activities, they are capable of creating innovative models that serve as inspiration to public policies. The only reason the impact of their actions is not even more encompassing is that they have to cope with restricted structures and resources. As they are small and their activity only spans over local communities, they cannot make significant scale changes and the benefits of their actions do not reach society as whole.
A problem so complex as child and adolescent sexual exploitation, permeated by so many social, economic and cultural factors, demands solid, consistent and cooperative action. Uniting efforts and gathering resources and competencies from the three sectors is the only manner to overcome it.
