Recent Activity in CSA Prevention & Role of ACT

ACT Against Child Abuse acknowledges that it is launching within an already growing sector, and the project team is dedicated to staying informed on the latest developments in child sexual abuse and exploitation (CSAE) prevention to ensure our goals are complimentary with other work. With a recent significant surge in new  activities focusing on consolidating information about programs and project progress in the CSAE prevention space, it can be difficult to understand the differences in the projects. ACT supports and engages with emerging platforms while remaining distinct in its core goals.

A snapshot of emerging activities

• Sparks in the Dark (2024) is a community-driven project aimed at compiling the most relevant content from EU-funded projects into a single, accessible place. The primary goal is simplifying the broad landscape connected with CSAE actions, in line with the EU’s strategy for a more effective fight against child sexual abuse. The website focuses on three key pillars: prevention, detection & investigation, and support to victims & survivors. It aims to present the content understandably, enabling the audience to extract vital points even without deep subject knowledge.

• Prevention Global (2024) is a comprehensive research project, developed by the Moore Centre for the Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse at John Hopkins University, that will have a dedicated online resource centre specifically targeting clinicians, researchers, policymakers, educators, funders, and industry. It views child sexual abuse as a preventable public health problem and strives to increase this global understanding. It focuses on identifying and rigorously evaluating child sexual abuse perpetration prevention programs and providing open access to resources through its Global Perpetration Prevention Resource Center.

• The StepTo.Support platform, an initiative of the Prevent & Protect Through Support (2PS) project and set to launch in late 2024, will aim to assist individuals dealing with issues related to sexual behavior or attraction towards children. It aims to promote help seeking and facilitate access to the range of services that are available in Europe. The hope is that this work will enable more of the population to live a positive, harm-free life, make safe choices, and avoid problematic behaviour. There is, unfortunately, a lack of services available in some regions of Europe. This platform will highlight gaps and motivate countries to engage in causer-related prevention. The platform is funded through Horizon Europe, a research fund of the European Commission.

Overall, the growth in this sector is encouraging and a sign of wider adoption of causer-related prevention, but it’s essential to keep the platforms’ target groups and different goals clear to avoid duplication. There is also a need to engage beyond the existing CSAE prevention community to avoid preaching to the choir. Communication and collaboration between the platform administrators will ensure this.

Where does ACT Against Child Abuse fit?

Amongst all of this activity, ACT stands apart from other organisations primarily due to our specialised, practical approach towards the issue. We offer services, provide support, and create networking opportunities for organisations that are endeavouring to implement or are already in the process of implementing initiatives related to the prevention of child sexual abuse. Our objective is to create in international repository of expertise, promote programs that are based on empirical evidence in nations across the globe, support existing programs to scale up, and to ensure that a larger number of individuals who are at a heightened risk of committing sexual offences receive the specialised treatment and services they require.

By doing so, we aim to prevent child sexual abuse before it even has a chance to occur, thereby shielding potential victims from the devastating consequences of such harm.