Survivors of sexual violence in childhood and adolescence and their allies join forces to call for bold and transformative action from G7 leaders this year.

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1. PRIORITIZE ENDING CHILDHOOD SEXUAL VIOLENCE

G7 leaders should include this issue on their agenda when they meet in June and make concrete and timebound commitments in the leaders communiqué.

G7 Interior and Security Ministers should meet in 2022 to drive forward their ‘Action Plan to Combat Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse’. This work should be informed by the G7 working group that was announced in 2021.

2. DELIVER ON EXISTING G7 COMMITMENTS

New commitments of $1 billion to the End Violence Fund housed at the Global Partnership to End Violence Against Children to scale prevention, healing, and justice programmes in low and middle income countries.

Commit to legislate on child-rights driven end-to-end encryption and end its use in childhood sexual violence.

Publish the agreed G7 plan for coordinated engagement with industry ahead of the June G7 summit.

3. ENGAGE WITH SURVIVORS

The G7 should establish a G7 Survivors Council as an advisory board which should help inform G7 policies and make sure that survivors’ knowledge is included in policy and practice.

4. DEVELOP AND IMPLEMENT NATIONAL ACTION PLANS/STRATEGIES

These should be embedded in existing National Action Plans to End Violence Against Children, and build on the WePROTECT Model National Response, and should include:

• A whole of government approach that is fully funded, and focused on prevention, healing, and justice
• Training of all relevant state employees into how to interact with and support child and adult survivors of childhood sexual violence
• Adequate support services for all survivors and national campaigns to de-stigmatise the use of such services
• The abolition of Statutes of Limitation in cases of childhood sexual violence where that is not already the case
• Community-based child-friendly approaches for responding to child violence and witnesses of child violence
• Research into, and support programmes to overcome, the psychological motivation of perpetrators of childhood sexual violence.

The abhorrent global crisis of childhood sexual violence has been largely invisible, in part due to the devastating stigma and societally induced shame that many survivors experience, which prevents them from coming forward. It occurs in families, schools, places of worship, communities, sports programs, on line and in the context of dating relationships and child marriage. The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the risk of online sexual abuse and exploitation as well as reduced access to prevention, interventions and response services for those who experience abuse.

It doesn’t have to be this way. As survivors and our allies, we demand prevention to protect this and every generation to come; healing for victims, survivors and their families; and justice for wrongdoers, the complicit, and the victimized. We call for bold and transformative action from G7 leaders to End Childhood Sexual Violence.

How the G7 can build on their existing commitments

This is a global crisis which requires a multilateral response as well as a national one. Online abuse crosses borders and is facilitated by technology companies with global reach (many of which are headquartered in G7 countries). Abuse also occurs in organizations with global reach (many of which are headquartered in G7 countries). Trafficking of children and sexual exploitation perpetrated by tourists also require global action. And as the G7 have previously acknowledged, a multinational effort is required to raise funds to support survivors.

The G7 Summit will take place from 26 to 28 June 2022 at the Schloss Elmau castle in the Bavarian Alps hosted by Chancellor Scholz and the Government of Germany. At the summit the G7 should build on and strengthen previous commitments including the G7 Interior and Security ministers 2021 Action plan to combat Child Sexual Exploitation and abuse (CSAE) and the G7 Heads of State 2018 Charleroix committment to ‘End sexual and gender-based violence. abuse. and harrassment in a digital context’. The G7 Heads of States should implement the specific SDG target 16.2 to end all forms of violence against children.

Germany can build on its own platform which gives the country credibility to lead. Over the past 12 years Germany has invested in four critical initiatives: the Independent Commissioner for CSAE, the Survivors Council as a political advisory body, the Independent Inquiry into CSAE, and the German Stakeholder Forum on CSAE. All of these were welcomed by the German Bundestag, and the new German government has committed to doing more.

We are calling for a child rights and protection driven approach to creating a safe internet.

Online childhood sexual violence is a universal, borderless crime. We demand action in every country around the world.

We demand a a safe internet, where children and adolescents are secure, protected and free from all forms of sexual violence online.

APRIL 2023 – support our survivor mobilization urging the EU to protect children from sexual violence!

On Tuesday 25 April 2023 join survivors in Brussels and worldwide urging the EU to pass a crucial set of rules that will allow millions of children to thrive both freely AND safely online.

Survivors of childhood sexual violence and leaders of the global Brave Movement will gather with activists and allies outside the EU Parliament on 25 April 2023 – as EU leaders debate crucial aspects of the proposed EU Regulation to prevent and combat child sexual abuse.

Brave will be joined by EU Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson, leading the process to pass the Regulation. Survivors are uniting to demand EU leaders be brave and act to protect millions of children at risk from the violence and trauma they faced.

We are asking survivors and allies worldwide to stand in solidarity with the team in Brussels by sharing on Twitter & Instagram why you want the EU to #BeBrave and protect children from sexual violence.

You can find everything you need to join this action in our Brave social media toolkit.

As access to the internet has increased globally, reports of online child sexual violence material have grown exponentially. The  number of online sexual exploitation reports rose by 100% from 2019 to 2020.  Despite online child sexual violence being prioritized by many countries, there is still significant work to do to ensure greater protection for children online. While 67% of countries have legislation prohibiting the showing or sending of sexually explicit material to a child online, only 35% of countries have specific legislation targeting online grooming.

Many survivors and allies are already mobilizing around this issue. Citizens across the EU have expressed support (68%) for the EU to implement legislation that will keep children safe online and for the use of automated tools to identify child sexual abuse materials..

There is also a clear political appetite. Interpol’s Secretary-General, Jurgen Stock, told the World Economic Forum in Davos that children are at greater risk of online sexual violence than ever before. The G7 interior ministers’ statement in 2022 included a specific mention of the threat the internet poses to children.

Campaigning for a safer internet presents opportunities to  discuss prevention of childhood sexual violence both online and offline.  Online childhood sexual violence images often depict violence committed by perpetrators in the immediate family circle of the child.

The Brave Movement calls on all technology companies to immediately detect, report, and remove all online childhood sexual violence material.

In too many countries around the world, there are arbitrary, archaic, predator-friendly statutory time limits that prevent survivors from being able to press charges against their perpetrators. They also prevent the public from learning the full truth.

Enough is enough! The Brave Movement calls on all governments to ensure that survivors have effective access to justice. This means urgently passing laws that abolish criminal and civil statutes of limitations (SOLs) to guarantee that survivors can bring perpetrators and complicit institutions to justice.

Brave survivor advocates are campaigning to make these changes a reality. From Latin America, to North America and Europe, we’re seeing the survivor movement mobilize!

In Latin America, campaigner, lawyer, psychologist and survivor – Brisa De Angulo – brought a groundbreaking case before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR). Her first demand was to : “Eliminate the Statute of Limitations for all sexually based offenses.” The outcome of this case, which is expected in the next few months, will have a broad and far-reaching impact for survivors and their ability to effectively bring perpetrators to justice.

In Spain, survivor advocate and child psychiatrist, Miguel Hurtado, delivered a 567,000-signature petition to Parliament. Through his campaigning, Miguel managed to get the Spanish government to amend the criminal code to give survivors of child abuse 17 additional years to press charges. His campaign continues, as he now focuses on retroactively abolishing the civil statutes of limitations so adult survivors can get legal redress and compensation.

In the United States, Prof. Marci Hamilton, founder and CEO of CHILD USA, has led the vibrant movement for SOL reform at the state and federal levels, and provided testimony in Chile and Scotland on the topic. CHILD USA’s research and materials have aided groundbreaking advocates like Miguel. CHILD USA is building the global dashboard that will track SOL laws in every country and has also developed a toolkit for advocates and lawmakers. It sets out the key arguments for campaigners working on statute of limitation reform, and tackles some of the common objections.

Join us in our call for governments around the world to abolish these outdated laws that stand in the way of survivors obtaining justice and the public learning the truth about this ongoing endangerment of our children.

Are you inspired to write to your leaders or local elected official about abolishing the statute of limitations? If so, here is a suggested script for you to use and adapt.

Dear [elected representative/leader],

My name is [INSERT NAME] and I’m a survivor of childhood sexual violence/work for X/am an ally of survivors of childhood sexual violence. I am writing to you on behalf of the Brave Movement/network/organization as a matter of urgency to ask for your support in bringing justice for survivors of childhood sexual violence.

Currently in [INSERT COUNTRY], there is an archaic, predator-friendly statutory time limit that prevents survivors from being able to press charges against their perpetrators. They also prevent the public from learning the full truth. [INSERT COUNTRY-SPECIFIC DETAIL].

1 in 5 women and 1 in 10 men report being sexually abused as children. Around the world, the laws are starting to change but unfortunately too many adult survivors in [COUNTRY] are still waiting for justice.

Will you commit to help abolish criminal and civil statutes of limitations in [COUNTRY]? By joining this historic movement, you will be part of the change that will guarantee survivors of childhood sexual violence can bring their perpetrators and complicit institutions to justice.

We would welcome the opportunity to meet with you to discuss this further. [PROVIDE DETAILS].

Yours faithfully,

[NAME]