Journalists launch awareness campaign against child abuse

Saudi Gazette report RIYADH — Six journalists have launched an awareness campaign against child abuse, particularly that of a sexual nature, under the slogan "We Don’t Accept It". The campaign aims to provide important guidance and advice in order to spread awareness, educate society, crack down on child abuse, and push for the enactment of laws against child abuse. Jehad Abo Hashem, one of the campaign organizers, said: “We chose the slogan ‘We Don’t Accept It’ to demonstrate that we would not accept this kind of violation against our sisters or brothers, so why would we accept this type of abuse against others? “The idea of spreading awareness against child abuse was in line with society’s motivation to tackle this problem. The “We Don’t Accept It” campaign aims to emphasize child abuse as a serious social problem, especially after experts in Saudi Arabia claimed that one in every four children is at risk of child abuse of a sexual nature, while Saudi courts said they handled 3,416 cases of child sexual abuse in 2014. As part of the campaign, Abo Hashem wanted to generate debate about this social taboo and facilitate wide discussion, in addition to raising awareness, implementing programs in schools to educate children on how to identify and resist child abuse, and persuade decision makers and opinion leaders to enact child protection laws that carry strong penalties. The campaign was organized by Media MA students at King Saud University, consisting of Abo Hashem, Laith Al-Jasser, Bandar Otaif, Salah Al-Harbi, Nawaf Al-Ghadbani, and Bassam Al-Sayyed. They were supervised by Dr. Ali Dabkal Al-Enezi. For more information, visit the hashtag #ما_نرضاها (#WeDon’tAcceptIt), follow the campaign account on Twitter @manrdaha, or visit the website: manrdaha.ucoz.com