(Click poster for full size)

This quilt captures the many ethno-cultural voices of youth, youth workers and international civil society organization representatives on the issues associated with the sexual exploitation of children and youth. It represents the innovative and practical application of meaning making, which developed as a result of an international learning exchange held in Vancouver, Canada in 2001. The outcome of this learning exchange was an unusual, but effective way of offering and documenting multicultural solutions to the complex topic of sexual exploitation of children and youth.

The exchange utilized a visual medium of quilting with participants representing fourteen countries. Participants were asked to individually create canvas squares which would answer the question "what does sexual exploitation mean to you?" Many quilt squares were created, each expressing vividly, without the barriers of language, and across cultures, the impact sexual exploitation has on our global communities.

Subsequently, the squares were transformed into a quilt, visually depicting the stories and experiences of participants as well as creating dialogue about the issue with other groups, including youth and local communities. The quilt was made into posters and continues to raise awareness and discussion about the issues of sexual exploitation as a form of child abuse and slavery.

The learning outcomes for the presentation were:

1. To exchange learning and practical solutions around the prevention of sexual exploitation.

2. To demonstrate how a simple visual medium can incorporate a multicultural perspective.

3. To create heightened awareness on the issue of sexual exploitation, both locally and globally.

Written by: Elaine Halsall and Sharon Ali