Cheryl Perera (born 1986) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

children's rights activist. As a teenager, she founded OneChild, a

non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

which seeks to eliminate the

commercial sexual exploitation of children Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC) defines the "umbrella" of Sexual crimes, crimes and activities that involve inflicting sexual abuse on to a child as a financial or personal opportunity. Commercial Sexual Exploitation consists of ...

abroad. For her work, and in particular her achievements at a young age, Perera has received several accolades.

Advocacy

Perera first became involved in children's rights advocacy work after researching child sexual exploitation and

sex tourism Sex tourism is the practice of traveling to foreign countries, often on a different continent, with the intention of engaging in sexual activity or relationships, in exchange providing money or lifestyle support. This practice predominantly oper ...

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

for a high school class project. In 2002, at 17, she took three-and-a-half months off from school to continue her research in her parents' home country,

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

. Shocked at the ease with which children could be exploited, she met with a Sri Lankan Presidential Advisor and the National Child Protection Authority to discuss the problems she saw. The meeting led her to serve as bait herself in a sting operation to catch a sexual predator. Perera met with a man who had posted a solicitation for a 15-year-old girl on the Internet. After leading him to talk about his intentions on tape, they went to a nearby hotel where police were waiting to make the arrest. Sri Lankan government invited her to serve as an adviser on child protection, but then she declined. Perera returned to Canada, caught up on homework, graduated and enrolled at the University of Toronto. In 2005, she founded OneChild, a youth-driven and youth-run

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

, in 2005. She was successful in lobbying the Canadian Tourism Board and the travel industry to take measures against child sexual tourism abroad, like showing a video about child sex tourism on some

Air Canada Air Canada is the flag carrier and the largest airline of Canada, by size and passengers carried. Air Canada is headquartered in the borough of Saint-Laurent in the city of Montreal. The airline, founded in 1937, provides scheduled and cha ...

flights. Perera has taken her advocacy to several countries struggling with

and

human trafficking Human trafficking is the act of recruiting, transporting, transferring, harboring, or receiving individuals through force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of exploitation. This exploitation may include forced labor, sexual slavery, or oth ...

. In 2006 she went with a group to the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

to meet with the People's Recovery, Empowerment and Development Assistance Foundation (PREDA), an organization which provides support for former sex workers, and to provide monetary support for the creation of a rehabilitation center for rescued children. In 2010 she traveled to

Pattaya, Thailand Pattaya is a city in Eastern Thailand, the second-largest city in Chonburi province and the eighth-largest city in Thailand. It is on the east coast of the Gulf of Thailand, about southeast of Bangkok, and has a population of 328,961 as of 2 ...

and other sex tourism destinations in Thailand and Southeast Asia, meeting with agencies to learn more about local issues, efforts, and where help is needed. For her activism and role in the law enforcement operation, Perera was given the title "President's Nominee on Child Protection", a permanent placement in the Presidential Secretariat. Perera has been recognized as one of "Canada's Top 20 Under 20", received the 2005 Impact Entrepreneur of the Year award, and was named a BRICK Award Winner in 2007. In 2016 the

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental organization, international advocacy non-governmental organization and think tank, based in Cologny, Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German ...

named Perera one of its

Young Global Leaders Forum of Young Global Leaders, or Young Global Leaders (YGL), is a non-profit organization. The organization was created by Klaus Schwab, founder of the World Economic Forum and is managed from Geneva, Switzerland, under the supervision of the Sw ...

. In April 2017, Perera was among 10 Canadian women recognized by L'Oreal Paris "Women of Worth" program. In December 2018, she participated in the UN-sponsored The Global Compact on Migration conference in Marrakesh.

References

External links

OneChild
{{DEFAULTSORT:Perera, Cheryl Prostitution in Canada Members of the Order of Ontario Canadian activists Living people Sexual abuse victim advocates Canadian people of Sri Lankan descent 1986 births

Advocacy

See also

References

External links