They say every journey starts with the first step, and perhaps the steps taken by the 200-strong crowd would be the start to the journey by various child rights NGOs in the country: The fight against the trafficking of children for sexual purposes.

Say NO! to sex trafficking of children!" And with that one sentence, over 200 people bore the blazing Saturday sun to march for the Body Shop 'Stop Sex Trafficking of Children and Young People' campaign, but even  the honking cars on the busiest street in Kuala Lumpur could not drown out the cries of NO to the trafficking of children for sexual purposes.

Together with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) such as End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes (ECPAT), Nur Salam and P.S. The Children, students from Inti College University marched their way down Jalan Bukit Bintang, convinced in their cause to put an end to child sex trafficking, once and for all. Not only that, they handed out flyers, leaflets, car stickers and encouraged the public to join their march.

Supported by the Home Ministry and the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry, the campaign aims to raise the awareness of this issue and urge the public as well as the media to support and advocate for the ratification of the Convention of the Right of the Child (CRC) to include the Optional Protocols, which specifically pertain to the issue of trafficking of children for sex purposes. It also aims to call for those with the decision-making power to focus all their collective efforts to solve this problem.

With the shocking statistics of 1.8 million trafficked children and youth every year, it is imperative that this issue be tackled. Worse yet, Malaysia has been identified as a transit, destination and source country: Every month, an estimated 90 children go missing in our country.

Keeping that in mind, the Body Shop started their advocacy in 2007, and has been tirelessly working with their NGO partners to educate and sensitise the public and authorities alike. Also, the Body Shop is donating a large portion of their proceeds from the sale of their 'Soft Hands, Kind Hearts' handcream to raise funds for their NGO partners.

Currently, they are urging people to sign their petition for the inclusion of the Optional Protocol in the CRC. Log on to  www.thebodyshop.com.my and sign the online petition or visit any Body Shop outlets across the country