You may recall from our earlier post last week that we are partners with a local Thai organization called the Hug Project, and that we have close ties with its founder Boom Bean. We’d like to tell you more about this project, which has been a fabulous advocate for children in the fight against child exploitation.

HUG was founded in 2012 as a non-profit to protect children from violence, exploitation and abuse. Based in Chiang Mai, Thailand, HUG works in prevention because they, like The SOLD Project, want to stop the exploitation before it begins. Instead of waiting until a child is exploited before coming to their rescue, the goal is to help them today.

HUG has been instrumental in strengthening the child protection system in Thailand. They have worked in close concert with local law enforcement to bring pedophiles and traffickers to justice. Their work includes training for the children, one on one counseling, art therapy, and referring child abuse, neglect, and family violation cases to the appropriate government agencies. HUG has grown and has also been able to support and serve Thai people by hiring two full-time Thai volunteers.

As we mentioned in our earlier post, their focus this year is to “continue to prevent, protect and restore human trafficking and child abuse victims. Their protection team will shift their response to support law enforcement in conducting fact finding for ‘Internet Crimes Against Children’ in response to the Thailand first Child Possession Pornography law which was enforced on December 7th, 2016.”

HUG is passionate about protecting all children. SOLD partners with them not only because we believe in the work they do, but because we see the importance of building a network to fight child exploitation in Northern Thailand. Check out HUG’s website for more information on the incredible work they do.