Child Helplines: Empowering & Protecting Children

1. Child Helplines: Empowering & Protecting Children AfroozKaviani Johnson Regional Technical Director Project Childhood Prevention Pillar Hanoi, Vietnam - 26 November 2013

2. An initiative of the Australian Government • A program to protect children from sexual exploitation in tourism • Project Childhood • Implemented by World Vision (Prevention) and UNODC / INTERPOL (Protection) • Operating in Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand and Vietnam

3. Key areas of work • Building community resilience • Enhancing national information and communication mechanisms • Supporting the tourism sector to build a child safe environment • Technical assistance to government • Coordination, cooperation, research and communications

4. Our approach

7. Child sexual abuse – the facts • Child sexual abuse is a global problem. • Girls and boys can be victims of abuse. • Children usually know their abuser. • Abusers can befriend victims and their families. • Children don’t always speak up about abuse. • Child sexual abuse is against the law. • All children have the right to protection.

8. Findings from communities • Limited understanding about ‘sexual abuse’ (penetrative rape only) • Limited understanding about who is an offender (strangers and outsiders, foreigners) • Overemphasis on girls’ virginity / insufficient protection of boys

9. Findings from communities • Limited formal education / peers and media have huge influence (risk of incorrect information) • Parental resistance to sex education / limited understanding of risks and participation in prevention efforts • Significant use of ICT / anonymity

10. Educating girls and boys

11. Educating parents and carers

12. Educating community duty bearers

13. Strengthening national helplines

14. The role of Child Helplines in preventing child sexual abuse

15. Who are the victims? Children: • Girls and boys. • Aged between 0-18 years old. • Any economic bracket – although frequently poor. • Any education level – although often little schooling. • Often victims of other forms of abuse and exploitation.

16. Who are the victims? Cases studies and reports of victims of sexual exploitation have often reported suffering from a lack of support and guidance, which can push them to run away from home or migrate unsafely (often to tourism destinations) and become vulnerable to exploitation

17. The importance of helplines • Children can reach out directly, before, during or after abuse and access confidential advice and information • Helplines provides the specific intervention to a specific child at the moment when she or he is most receptive

18. Partnerships with Child Helplines • Child Helpline Vietnam • Child Helpline Cambodia • Vientiane Youth Centre for Health and Development (Lao PDR)

19. Email: Afrooz.Kaviani@worldvision.com.au Website: www.childsafetourism.org Facebook: www.facebook.com/childsafetourism twitter: @childsafetravel For more information: