We conducted in-depth research into WCST, then created Sweetie to catch online predators and raise awareness about the problem. On November4th, we held an international press conference that journalists who could not attend viewed live-streamed online. There, we showed our campaign film and handed over the identities of the 1,000 predators to Interpol, creating a massive international PR event. That day, our campaign film went live on a designated Terre des Hommes YouTube channel and we launched an online petition with Avaaz.org that viewers of our film were asked to sign, calling on all governments to take action against WCST.

Over 1 billion people saw the campaign. We proved that our solution is effective in stopping predators everywhere. Our petition has already gotten over half a million signatures and will be used in the coming months to pressure governments to do more. WCST is on the world agenda and governments are already taking action:

The Philippines Police announced that WCST is the country’s #1 crime. Argentina increased penalties for perpetrators of WCST. Police in the UK, US, Canada, Australia, Ireland, Belgium, and South Africa arrested predators based on evidence we collected. Dozens of children have been rescued in the Philippines.

Webcam Child Sex Tourism (WCST) is a new phenomenon that’s spreading like an epidemic: Men from rich countries pay children in poor countries to perform sexual acts in front of webcams. Terre des Hommes works to rescue victims, but there are too many. To raise international awareness and pressure governments to act, we found a revolutionary solution based on our own in-depth research into WCST.

Insight: We found that these crimes happen tens of thousands of times a day, but only 6 men have ever been convicted because child victims don't report them.

Our solution: Police must actively patrol the websites where WCST happens.

Idea: To prove our point, we set an online trap to catch child predators. We created "Sweetie," an interactive 3D model that looks and moves like a 10-year-old Filipino girl. Then we went online and caught 1,000 predators in the act. Sweetie instantly became world news.