A poster outside a fast food restaurant in the Colombian capital Bogota shows a small boy in tears.

James Reynolds meets the families of kidnap victims

Above his photo are the words: "No More Kidnapping."

This is part of a nationwide campaign to tackle what has become one of the country's most serious problems.

Each year around 2,000 people are abducted for ransom by guerrillas or criminal gangs.

Abduction for ransom has now become Colombia's second biggest illegal industry behind drug trafficking. This year the situation has worsened.

"We have to live with it"

Mass demonstrations against kidnapping have had little effect

In April, guerrillas from the Marxist-inspired National Liberation Army hijacked a plane and took the passengers and crew hostage.

The following month the same rebel group abducted almost 200 worshippers from the La Maria Church in the city of Cali.

These were events which shocked Colombia. Kidnapping was once feared only by the very rich. Now the fear of being abducted has come to affect more and more people.

"In Colombia you are exposed to this, and this is a kind of common thing, but we never thought that it could happen to us - and we just have to say that it happened and we have to live with that," says Ramiro Tafur, whose 20-year-old daughter, Andrea, is the youngest of the church hostages.

These mass abductions have forced many Colombians to face up to the increasing danger posed by kidnapping.

Many will no longer travel long distances by road, for fear of being abducted at guerrilla roadblocks.

Others are now looking to leave the country altogether.

Aggressive tactics

Green ribbons have become anti-abduction symbols

A campaign has now started across Colombia to get people to sign what are called no-ransom documents.

If you've signed one of these documents and you are later kidnapped, your family or your employers will be prevented from paying any ransom demand.

It is hoped this might make kidnapping less worthwhile for guerrillas and criminal gangs.

"It's a very aggressive tactic but I think that people are so fed up that it might be very successful, and if we're successful we will definitely eradicate kidnapping from Colombia," says Francisco Santos, a former kidnap victim and one of the main organisers of the no-ransom campaign.

"The political cost of kidnapping for the guerrillas is growing heavily. They have no popularity.

Andrea Tafur, 20, is the youngest church hostage

"If the citizenship start putting pressure on the guerrillas with marches, with protests, the benefits of getting some money from it will be lower than the political costs," he adds.

People across Colombia have taken to wearing green ribbons pinned to their clothes. These have become anti-abduction and anti-violence symbols.

During the last few weeks, many have attended mass demonstrations in protest at the rise in kidnapping.