Cheryl Perera

{{short description|Canadian children's rights activist}} {{redirect|OneChild||One child (disambiguation)}} {{Infobox person | name = Cheryl Perera | occupation = Children's rights activist }} '''Cheryl Perera''' (born 1986) is a Canadian children's rights activist. As a teenager, she founded '''OneChild''', a non-governmental organization which seeks to eliminate the commercial sexual exploitation of children abroad. For her work, and in particular her achievements at a young age, Perera has received several accolades.

==Advocacy== Perera first became involved in children's rights advocacy work after researching child sexual exploitation and sex tourism in Thailand for a high school class project.<ref name=generationnext/><ref name=samaritanmag>{{cite web|website=SamaritanMag|url=http://www.samaritanmag.com/936/cheryl-perera%E2%80%99s-onechild-seeks-break-chains-child-sex-slavery|last=McLean|first=Steve|date=6 December 2011|title=Cheryl Perera's OneChild Seeks To Break The Chains Of Child Sex Slavery}}</ref> In 2002, at 17, she took three-and-a-half months off from school to continue her research in her parents' home country, Sri Lanka.<ref name=generationnext/><ref name=samaritanmag/><ref name=one80>{{cite web|website=One80|title=Innocence Lost|url=http://www.oneeighty.ca/newspaper/departments/justice/article.php?id=19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724190944/http://www.oneeighty.ca/newspaper/departments/justice/article.php?id=19|archive-date=24 July 2011|last=Basit|first=Tasnia}}</ref> Shocked at the ease with which children could be exploited, she met with a Sri Lankan Presidential Advisor and the National Child Protection Authority to discuss the problems she saw.<ref name=one80/><ref name=canada>{{cite web|website=Canada.com|date=4 January 2008|title=Global National's Everyday Hero|url=http://www.canada.com/globaltv/national/features/everyday_hero/story.html?id=c30f6073-691e-45d1-9727-7b14fed51331|access-date=2015-11-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117064155/http://www.canada.com/globaltv/national/features/everyday_hero/story.html?id=c30f6073-691e-45d1-9727-7b14fed51331|archive-date=2015-11-17|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The meeting led her to serve as bait herself in a sting operation to catch a sexual predator.<ref name=generationnext>{{cite web|website=South Asian GenerationNext|date=11 November 2009|title=He is not going to hurt another child:Cheryl Perera – Founder and President of One Child|url=http://www.sagennext.com/2009/11/11/he-is-not-going-to-hurt-another-childcheryl-perera-founder-and-president-of-one-child/|last=Singh|first=Manjeet}}</ref><ref name=macdonald>{{cite web|website=The Globe and Mail|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/giving/giving-news/starting-a-charity-at-8-meet-the-generation-taking-action/article2289201/|last=MacDonald|first=Gayle|title=Starting a charity at 8? Meet the generation taking action|date=2 January 2012}}</ref> Perera met with a man who had posted a solicitation for a 15-year-old girl on the Internet. After leading him to talk about his intentions on tape, they went to a nearby hotel where police were waiting to make the arrest.<ref name=dailynews>{{cite web|website=New York Daily News|title=Agony of the stars|date=5 June 2008|url=http://archives.dailynews.lk/2008/06/05/fea08.asp}}</ref><ref name="wsj">{{Cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-young-fighter-against-child-prostitution-1461335831|title=A Young Fighter Against Child Prostitution|last=Bloch|first=Hannah|date=2016-04-22|work=The Wall Street Journal|access-date=2019-03-03|language=en-US|issn=0099-9660}}</ref>

Sri Lankan government invited her to serve as an adviser on child protection, but then she declined.<ref name=wsj/> Perera returned to Canada, caught up on homework, graduated and enrolled at the University of Toronto. In 2005, she founded OneChild, a youth-driven and youth-run non-profit organization, in 2005.<ref name=samaritanmag/><ref name=weiss>{{cite web|url=https://www.thestar.com/Article/179191|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120926121149/http://www.thestar.com/Article/179191|archive-date=26 September 2012|date=7 February 2007|title=Rescued sex worker 'an inspiration'|last=Weiss|first=Jordana|website=Toronto Star }}</ref> She was successful in lobbying the Canadian Tourism Board and the travel industry to take measures against child sexual tourism abroad, like showing a video about child sex tourism on some Air Canada flights.<ref name=canada/><ref name=dailynews/><ref name="wsj" />

Perera has taken her advocacy to several countries struggling with sex tourism and human trafficking. In 2006 she went with a group to the Philippines to meet with the People's Recovery, Empowerment and Development Assistance Foundation (PREDA), an organization which provides support for former sex workers, and to provide monetary support for the creation of a rehabilitation center for rescued children.<ref name=one80/><ref name=weiss/> In 2010 she traveled to Pattaya, Thailand and other sex tourism destinations in Thailand and Southeast Asia, meeting with agencies to learn more about local issues, efforts, and where help is needed.<ref name=utoronto>{{cite web|url=http://magazine.utoronto.ca/all-about-alumni/katie-palmer-onechild-protecting-youth-from-sex-tourism/|date=2011|title=Warnings from the Red-Light Districts|website=UofTMagazine}}</ref>

For her activism and role in the law enforcement operation, Perera was given the title "President's Nominee on Child Protection", a permanent placement in the Presidential Secretariat.<ref name=one80/> Perera has been recognized as one of "Canada's Top 20 Under 20",<ref name=top20>{{cite web|url=http://www.blackcanada.com/news_190.htm|title=Two of Canada's Top 20 Under 20 award recipients talk to school children in Toronto on Thursday, May 25}}</ref> received the 2005 Impact Entrepreneur of the Year award,<ref name=impact>{{cite web|url=http://www.impact.org/page.php?id=46|title=Impact - Awards|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070630093521/http://www.impact.org/page.php?id=46|archive-date=30 June 2007|website=Impact}}</ref> and was named a BRICK Award Winner in 2007.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://people.howstuffworks.com/do-something-brick-awards-winner-cheryl-perera.htm |title=BRICK Award Winner: Cheryl Perera|website=HowStuffWorks|date=22 February 2007 |accessdate=10 November 2015}}</ref>

In 2016 the World Economic Forum named Perera one of its Young Global Leaders. In April 2017, Perera was among 10 Canadian women recognized by L'Oreal Paris "Women of Worth" program.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.pointsoflight.org/programs/recognition/dpol/awards/5973|title=Cheryl Perera|date=2017-04-06|website=Points of Light|access-date=2019-03-03}}</ref> In December 2018, she participated in the UN-sponsored The Global Compact on Migration conference in Marrakesh.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://northafricapost.com/26688-world-leaders-welcome-marrakech-global-migration-deal.html|title=World Leaders Welcome Marrakech Global Migration Deal {{!}} The North Africa Post|date=2018-12-11|work=The North Africa Post|access-date=2019-03-03|language=en-US}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * [http://www.one-child.ca OneChild]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perera, Cheryl}} Category:Prostitution in Canada Category:Members of the Order of Ontario Category:Canadian activists Category:Living people Category:Sexual abuse victim advocates Category:Canadian people of Sri Lankan descent Category:1986 births