The Children of the Street Society is asking parents and educators not to let kids dress up in costumes that glamourize the gang life and the sex trade.
According to the Coquitlam-based agency, costumes for kids are being sexualized at the same time that sexual exploitation of children and youth is increasing, particularly online.
The group states in a letter to School District 43 educators that one in five youth have been sexually solicited online while 75% did not tell a parent, and child pornography offenses in Canada have increased by 900%.
"Dressing up in costumes that glamorize sexual exploitation or sexualizes young people only creates social acceptability and desensitization of this disturbing issue," the letter states.
