With 2014’s Brazilian World Cup at front of mind, the ICSS and UNICEF decided to work together to investigate ways to protect the country’s children and adolescents from exploitation during this mega event.

Sensitizing people to violence in all forms including physical, psychological and sexual abuse, torture, discrimination, trafficking, abandonment and neglect, the partnership set out to make it easier for locals and tourists to be eyes and ears on the ground, as champions for children’s rights.

By the end of the tournament, the “Proteja Brasil” app had received over 50,000 downloads, with nearly 4,000 calls made to the Disque 100 hotline in the first month alone – an encouraging development in advancing the fight against the violation of children’s rights.

The insights behind the campaign were that Brazil has over 67 million mobile phones in circulation, and that an estimated 3 million girls and boys are in vulnerable situations. The app was an intelligent way to engage with as large a part of Brazilian society as possible, with the wider campaign working to highlight that overt and covert violence targeting children and youth is very much a question of legality, not just morality.


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