Good touch, bad touch! That's the playful phrase parents and teachers use when talking to kids about sexual abuse. Well, that is the theme of the "My Body is precious" animation film that was launched today at the Bliss. The "My Body is precious" book was launched in April 2013 and this is the animated film version of that book. Special Envoy for Women and Children Kim Simplis Barrow told us how the short will make teaching and learning about sexual abuse a more open discussion.

Kim Simplis Barrow - Special Envoy for Women and Children

"Well in 2013, we launched my body is precious book. And really the book, the essence of the book is to teach young children about good touch, bad touch. We know that talking about sexual abuse is not the easiest of things, not for parents and not for teachers. Therefore we made this book into a very child friendly book but also book that would make it comfortable for parents and teachers to share with their students and their children. We contacted the different schools and we had the principal select students from the different schools to voice, Lisa, Dee Dee and the other child for the animation. These students of course played a major major role because they spoke in Garifuna for the Garifuna animation and they spoke in Maya for the Maya animation. So we're really really happy with the schools and their participation. Today we had over 500 students from over the country here, especially the Garifuna speaking children and the Maya speaking children. We are working with the ministry of education to get it into the schools. Keep in mind that these books were given to school children throughout the country. Again, this book was something we did a consultation with the ministry of education to make sure it was child appropriate, to make sure it well within the curriculum of the ministry of education. So yes indeed we will be working in ensuring these animations will be shown at the schools, especially our southern schools."

3 students were chosen from different schools to voice the animation. The schools include Garden City primary school in Belmopan, Gulisi Community Primary School in Dangriga and Cux-lin Ha School in PG. The animated short film is available on the Special Envoy Belize facebook page and it is in three languages.