A collaboration to raise awareness and stop all forms of child abuse
Beirut, Lebanon- 2023: himaya announced its collaboration with actress Maguy Bou Ghosn as their newly appointed Media Ambassador at a Press Club conference. Under the title “Together to Protect the Children of Lebanon”, the conference was held on July 20, and featured many representatives of the organization, the himaya team, and numerous media reporters and social media figures.
This collaboration aims to shed light on the epidemic of violence against children. Accordingly, himaya will launch a series of initiatives and campaigns to raise awareness on both local and international scales. Social awareness of violence against children allows for an early recognition of abuse cases and normalizes reporting such incidents, that are often kept secret, to authorities.
Commenting on the collaboration, the actress stated:
”I am honored to collaborate with himaya as a media ambassador to further raise awareness of this issue and encourage our community to report cases of child abuse.
Unfortunately, we have recently witnessed extreme cases of child abuse that should to be criminalized. Hence it is an essential part of our social responsibility to partner up and collaborate on all levels and platforms to provide our children with a safe and secure environment.
We cannot stand idly by, as protecting the innocent is our duty and a shared responsibility. We are all concerned with these cases and the most recent abuse incidents attest to that”.
She followed by saying:
”The scene in the video was staged to create a shock and inspire controversy and engagement. However, for some, that act is a dreaded reality that is repeated behind closed doors.
We hope that the media and all concerned parties, authorities and individuals, will break the barrier of silence and stand together to contain this worsening phenomenon in Lebanon by reporting to the organization’s hotlines. We can be proactive witnesses rather than viewers and make a positive impact on our society”.
From his side, the Executive Director of himaya, Mr. Serge Saad, thanked Maguy Bou Ghosn for agreeing to join the organization as Media Ambassador. He also addressed the attendees by saying:
“We appreciate and thank you for your presence with us today to shed light on this phenomenon that particularly endangers our children and generally threatens our community. We are joined here to announce our collaboration that will be followed by initiatives to protect our children and make a positive impact on our community.
We have witnessed shocking cases of child abuse in places that are supposed to be the safest for them. This alerts us to call for immediate action so these tragedies, that threaten our children’s lives, are not repeated.
There are many other similar incidents kept private that we do not know of. It is our duty to uncover them and your duty as reporters to shed light on such harmful practices while respecting the privacy of the children and their families”.
This collaboration was previously announced on the wide-spread video that featured the actress defending an abused child, to then state it is a staged scene meant to raise awareness about this phenomenon; especially that physical abuse of children has increased by 6% between 2021 and 2022.