International Women's Day

Baroness Gibson of Market Rasen Excerpts

Thursday 3rd March 2011 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Gibson of Market Rasen]

My Lords, I, too, thank my noble friend Lady Gould for this debate today. She really is an inspiration to us all.

I want to speak about the global challenge faced by one woman in particular. She is one of the most remarkable people it has been my privilege to meet. Her name is Sarah de Carvalho and she is the key founder of Happy Child International, an organisation that was established in 1993 to help street children in Brazil. Its aim is to rescue, restore and reintegrate these children into their families and society and to save them from dangerous and violent street life, especially child prostitution.

Sarah began her work by establishing a mission in Belo Horizonte, which is in the south of Brazil. After 18 years of operations, this mission is now completely self-funding and has a local team of 60 staff. The mission has so far rescued more than 8,000 street children. The model of Belo Horizonte is now being replicated in Recife in north-east Brazil where girls as young as 10 are engaging in prostitution for the price of a meal—approximately £1.50 in our terms. Many of their clients are from Europe, and political recognition of this fact is needed to really tackle the global problem of child prostitution, which sadly is on the rise.

I witnessed the phenomenon of child prostitution when I visited north-east Brazil a few years ago. The sight of these young vulnerable children being used by their pimps to entice men who had arrived on the rich tourist cruise ships is one that I have never forgotten. This memory is just one of the reasons why I have become the proud patron of Happy Child International. Currently there are no projects to help the young girls who inevitably have their babies in the street. That is why the plans for the Recife mission include a maternity unit.

Another major reason why I am patron of Happy Child International is Sarah herself. I said earlier that Sarah is remarkable, which is a great understatement. She is totally dedicated to her work raising money for her projects to house homeless girls and teach them how to form proper relationships with other human beings. She works with individuals and organisations to do this. Sarah and her team have brought hope and happiness to children who have had little other happiness in their young lives. It is more than 200 years since slavery was abolished in the UK, yet children are still enslaved in Brazil to enforced prostitution, violent gangs and abuse by adults. Happy Child International believes that there are 12 major evils facing a Brazilian street child: violence, poverty, prostitution, fear, criminal gangs, abuse, drugs, exploitation, abandonment, loneliness, despair, and finally death.

Despite efforts of the Lula Government and the current Government, Brazil still contains far too many street children. In the run-up to two important future events in Brazil—the World Cup in 2014 and the Olympic Games in 2016—the prospect of more young girls becoming prostitutes is high. That is why Happy Child International is determined to continue its work in Recife. It is also planning to open a third city mission in Africa, which links in with the fact that most of the Brazilian street children today are the descendents of African slaves, mainly from Angola and Mozambique.

About the future, Sarah says:

“Our work in Brazil and Africa over the years ahead will be tough and the challenges many, but nothing compares with seeing a life transformed from the hopelessness of the streets to a life of stability, love and opportunity”.

On International Women’s Day, let us celebrate this woman and this organisation, which are making a difference in a difficult world.