Don't let violence take the field!

"To invite society to be alert and take citizen actions aiming to protect children and adolescents from any situations of violence, mistreatment and violation of rights, especially in relation to sexual abuse and exploitation". This is the objective of the campaign "Don't let violence enter the field" that the Escola Bahiana de Medicina e Saúde Pública has been working since May, as explained by the institution's social worker, Lucy Luz, who created the initiative. "I have participated in training on the subject since 2011, as a volunteer with the Bola na Rede Movement, and then, with a view to passing on knowledge to colleagues, we gave lectures on the subject at the Scientific Exhibition of Bahiana, in 2012, generating a lot of interest from employees in the subject. We therefore suggest that we carry out this campaign in the period close to the World Cup, in order to raise awareness among more people about the need to be actively involved in a campaign against abuse."

According to Lucy, the campaign is extremely relevant, as Salvador already has high rates of violence against children and adolescents. "We heard from the president of the State Committee to Combat Sexual Violence against Children and Adolescents, during the Seminar 18 de Maio, promoted by the Public Ministry of Bahia, to address this issue, that of the 30 most violent municipalities in Brazil, Simões Filho, a neighboring city Salvador is in first place. And there are 12 municipalities in Bahia among the 30 mentioned, including Salvador. In other words, almost half of the most violent cities with children in all of Brazil are in Bahia." 

The moment of the World Cup, when the country receives many tourists, it is more than opportune to alert society to this situation. "Sexual exploitation in tourism is an obvious risk. Society needs to be alert and denounce in case of suspicion and protect children and adolescents from exposure to this type of violence", signals the social worker.

Bahiana launched the campaign "Don't let violence enter the field", participating in the disclosure of the Disque 100 denunciation number. In addition, it placed billboards and posters in academic units, a digital banner on the website, as well as printing five thousand educational pamphlets warning about the theme that were distributed in the waiting rooms of the Teaching-Care Clinic and also by members of the Bola na Rede Movement.