WeProtect Global Alliance

What happens when voices from across Europe come together around one message? It becomes much harder for children to disappear from the conversation. Throughout Europe, policymakers, public figures, experts, advocates and other supporters are joining ECLAG's #ChooseToSeeThem campaign. They come from different countries, backgrounds and perspectives. But they share one conviction: protecting children from sexual abuse and exploitation must remain a political priority. On behalf of ECLAG: thank you to all the National Champions for lending their voices to this campaign, including our Executive Director Iain Drennan, our Chair Ernie Allen OBE and our Board Member Cornelius Williams. And to decision-makers across Europe: Choose to see them. Focus on the children. #ChooseToSeeThem #FocusOnTheChildren #ProtectChildrenOnline

WeProtect Global Alliance welcomes the adoption of this Council of Europe Committee of Ministers Recommendation and its recognition of comprehensive sexuality education as an important element of protecting children from violence. As risks to children increasingly span online and offline environments, education must equip children and young people to understand and navigate these threats, including technology-facilitated child sexual exploitation and abuse. This Recommendation represents an important step towards strengthening prevention and protection for children across Europe.

Thank you to our speakers and attendees who joined us for the third webinar in our Global Threat Assessment 2025 series, focused on age restrictions in legislation. Our thanks to Natascha Gerlach CIPP/E from the Centre for Information Policy Leadership (CIPL), Professor Amanda Third from the Young and Resilient Research Centre at Western Sydney University, and Ricardo Lins Horta from the Brazilian Ministry of Justice and Public Safety for bringing valuable policy, research and government perspectives to the discussion. As approaches to age restrictions continue to develop across different jurisdictions, informed dialogue between experts and stakeholders is vital to understanding how legislation can protect children effectively online. The webinar recording is available here: https://lnkd.in/eYfQgjH5. #GlobalThreatAssessment #OnlineSafety #ChildProtection

New technologies are becoming part of how the youngest generation learns, creates and communicates, and AI is no exception. The World Economic Forum’s latest report titled "Child Well-being with AI: Best Practices and Incentives" sets out a practical framework for creating AI environments that protect children from foreseeable harm. Responsibility for preventing harmful content, manipulation and other risks cannot rest primarily with children and parents. Stakeholders must work together to address risks and shape the opportunities associated with AI. Child-safe AI must become routine, which means making responsible practice measurable, affordable and visible, while ensuring that it delivers meaningful improvements in children’s lives. Read the full report here: https://lnkd.in/e_6twaQV. #WEF #DigitalSafety

Today marks World Mental Health Day, and this year's theme is 'Lived experiences heard: real voices, real change'. We would like to take this opportunity to recognise the work of thousands of digital frontline responders countering child sexual abuse on a day-to-day basis - removing horrific images, investigating cases and supporting victims. Our 2025 'Health and wellbeing of frontline responders' research paper highlights the clear duty of care for employers to recognise the trauma these professionals may experience as a result of their work and ensure their needs are met. The full report is available here: https://lnkd.in/ep9rjYTw. The powerful quotes in the graphic below demonstrate the impact that this type of work has on the mental health of these dedicated responders, as well as how important it is to have a strong support system. #WMHD2026

It was a real pleasure and privilege to chair the inspiring panel on Understanding Digital Pathways to Sexual Violence: Evidence for Prevention at #SVRIForum2026 in Bangkok. A fascinating session exploring how sexual violence and child sexual exploitation and abuse are enabled and sustained in digital spaces, and where we can intervene to prevent harm. Six excellent speakers brought different but interconnected perspectives: 🔹 Soma Sara MBE – Survivor testimony as a driver of accountability and systemic change. 🔹 Andrea Varrella – How stigma and shame enable and sustain technology-facilitated child sexual exploitation and abuse. 🔹 Lea Kamitz – Digital offending trajectories and deterrence on the Dark Web. 🔹 Dr Jennifer Johnson– Pornography's relationship to gender-based violence and perpetrator behaviours. 🔹 Anna Ovaska – How the digital ecosystem shapes perpetration of child sexual abuse material. Huge congratulations to Anna on winning the SVRI Forum 2026 - Best Young Oral Presenter Award! 👏The common thread? Understanding survivor experiences, stigma and shame, perpetrator behaviours and the systems that enable harm is critical to intervening earlier and more effectively. This strongly resonates with our work at WeProtect Global Alliance where prevention is central to our latest Global Threat Assessment and Prevention Framework. Do take a look: https://lnkd.in/emUpf7Yx A huge thank you to our brilliant speakers and everyone who contributed to the discussion, and especially to the Sexual Violence Research Initiative (SVRI) and #Safe FuturesHub teams for such a wonderful Forum. A fantastic week of learning, reconnecting and making new connections! Technology-facilitated Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse is preventable, not inevitable. Now to turn evidence into action. #SVRIForum2026 #ChildProtection #WeProtectGlobalAlliance

Many digital environments do not adequately protect children from the risks they face online. Age restrictions are important, but they are just one part of creating an online world where children can find joy, grow, learn and connect without fear of being harmed. The Strategy Team at WeProtect Global Alliance outlined the pros and cons of five current approaches to social media age restrictions in legislation in their latest blog: https://lnkd.in/ee3UQFtU. Interested in learning even more? Register for our upcoming 'Age Restrictions in Legislation' webinar taking place on Wednesday 14 October at 12pm BST to hear from our expert speakers: https://lnkd.in/eAcwsTuW. #GTA2025 #OnlineSafety

It’s wonderful to reconnect with colleagues at SVRI Forum 2026 in Bangkok! I’ll be presenting the Prevention Framework for addressing technology-facilitated child sexual exploitation and abuse, co-created with youth, survivors, and cross-sector experts representing 16 countries.

📣The #SafeFuturesHub and Department of Social Policy and Intervention, University of Oxford just launched the first living dashboard on solutions to prevent childhood sexual violence at #SVRIForum2026! 💡Unlike a traditional systematic review, the living systematic review is designed to grow and evolve as new research becomes available. 🎯It gives practitioners, policymakers and funders a clearer picture of where the evidence is strong, where gaps remain and where we need to invest next to prevent sexual violence against children at scale. Learn more and explore the dashboard 👉 https://bit.ly/4iPyzbk 👈 The Safe Futures Hub is a joint initiative between Sexual Violence Research Initiative (SVRI), WeProtect Global Alliance and Together for Girls to find solutions to #EndChildhoodSexualViolence. #ViolenceIsPreventable

WeProtect Global Alliance Head of Development Bally Sappal will be attending the Sexual Violence Research Initiative (SVRI) Forum taking place in Bangkok next week. This flagship biennial event brings together attendees from around the globe to co-create solutions for a world free from violence. #SVRIForum2026