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Why the G7 must prioritize childhood sexual violence: A survivor’s call from Jamaica to the world
As a survivor, I speak with the weight of lived experience. As an advocate, I speak for the countless children whose voices are still silenced
June 5, 2025
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From awareness to action: Why Every G7 country needs a national action plan to end childhood sexual violence
Seven of the richest nations do not have a complete national action plan - that includes prevention, healing and justice - to address childhood sexual violence. Without a national action plan, there is no meaningful action. Without action, we cannot ensure that children can thrive in safety, free from the threat of sexual violence. These three pillars of prevention, healing, and justice deepen our understanding of the multifaceted nature of violence. I wrote a play called GROOMED about the psychological effects of child sexual abuse. Awareness is a term used frequently about child sexual abuse. What as a society are we actually doing for prevention, healing and justice? The Police Crime Commissioners estimate one adult in 60 is a sexual threat to children. Abuse is damage to the core identity of the child that will persist forever unless properly attended to. Comprehensive national action plans must include funding for long-term, survivor-informed healing services, not just crisis intervention, but the deep work of recovery. That includes national policies to eliminate legal barriers and to ensure that institutions can no longer hide behind bureaucracy. But now, I find meaning in a different kind of scorecard: the G7 Scorecard on childhood sexual violence. Every survivor deserves healing, no matter when they come forward. But most importantly, ask yourself: Why don’t we have a national action plan yet and what are we waiting for?
June 5, 2025
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Time for justice - why Europe must unite to make sure child sex abusers never escape
A statute of limitation in relation to childhood sexual violence defines the maximum amount of time a victim can wait before starting legal proceedings against the perpetrators. Setting this limit for survivors of childhood sexual abuse is harmful as it means that many do not recieve justice if they can’t speak up within the imposed deadline, which is usually an arbitrary amount of time. Governments retaining these harmful statutes of limitation for survivors of childhood sexual abuse is not only deeply unfair to victims but dangerous for future generations and extremely costly for society. For these reasons it's not surprising that the complete elimination of statutes of limitations in relation to childhood sexual violence of is one of the highest priorities of the global survivor movement. Unfortunately for them, evidence obtained from countries that have no statutes of limitations in relation to childhood sexual violence disprove that claim. There are some types of evidence that survive the passage of time such as a criminals' confessions, DNA, child sex abuse material, the internal archives of institutions that have shielded abusers (i.e. catholic church, boy scouts) or multiple victims who describe the same modus operandi committed by a common perpetrator. The European commission and the European Parliament want to change this outrageous situation by including a legally binding common standard on the new directive against child sexual abuse. On Tuesday 17th of June, the European Parliament will vote their proposal to establish in the new directive that there should be no criminal or civil statute of limitations in child sexual abuse cases.
June 4, 2025
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We can end violence against children - here’s the proof from the last seven days
Three countries, three big wins in the last seven days in the fight to end violence against children.
May 20, 2025
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Brave Movement welcomes signing of bipartisan Take It Down Act as “a step forward in protecting all children from online sexual abuse and exploitation.”
WASHINGTON DC, 19 May 2025 – The Brave Movement – a global movement of survivors and allies working to end sexual violence against children and adolescents – has welcomed the signing into law today of the Take It Down Act. Brave Movement Founder and CEO of Together for Girls, Dr Daniela Ligiero said: “ Online child sexual exploitation and abuse is an epidemic, and one growing at an exponential rate. More than 300 million children have been affected by online child sexual exploitation and abuse in the last year, with 10 cases of abuse reported every second. In the run-up to the G7 Leaders’ Summit in Canada in June, the Brave Movement has called on all G7 countries to prioritize online safety as part of greater leadership action in ending all violence against children.
May 19, 2025
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The Brave Movement welcomes the French PM’s support for the creation of a victims council
Support from France’s Prime Minister for the creation of a national survivor council has been welcomed by the Brave Movement as ” An essential step towards ending violence against children in France .” The announcement, made by François Bayrou today at the National Assembly in Paris brings closer the establishment of a body made-up of survivors of abuse, to advise on legislation, policies, and programs aimed at ending it. Brave stands ready to support the creation of a Council which can amplify survivor voices, provide an exchange platform for experts and survivors and serve as an invaluable resource in the development of policies tackling child sexual violence .” Constance Bertrand, French survivor spokesperson of the Saint-Dominique de Neuilly-sur-Seine survivors' group said: “ A National Council would be an initiative that gives victims a voice and a place.
May 14, 2025
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EU steps closer to ending statutes of limitations for child sexual abuse crimes: Brave Movement statement on the EU Committee LIBE vote
The Brave Movement welcomes the first-ever vote by MEPs in favour of abolishing time limits in all EU countries for the prosecution of child-sex offenders.
May 13, 2025
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Take It Down Act: Awaited U.S. legislation to keep kids safe from online sexual exploitation
It specifically targets the distribution and threats of sharing non-consensual intimate images - including AI-generated content - as a federal crime, protecting survivors from further harm and ensuring that there are no loopholes for perpetrators based on location. Over 300 million children under the age of 18 have been affected by online child and sexual exploitation and abuse in the last 12 months. As the home to many of the world’s leading tech companies, the United States holds a unique position of responsibility and influence in shaping online child protection standards. The TAKE IT DOWN Act criminalizes the act of intentionally publishing or threatening to publish non-consensual intimate images, including AI-generated content, on online platforms. Violence, which might start in an online sphere, negatively impacts children in the physical world, such as bullying in school or acts of sexual violence physically perpetrated offline. Alarmingly, 1 in 8 children globally have been subjected to online solicitation, and 1 in 8 children have experienced taking, sharing, and or/exposure to sexual images and videos in the last 12 months. Online sexual violence can have serious emotional, health, and psychosocial impacts on children and youth, including into adulthood. I was a victim of technology-assisted child sexual abuse when I was 13 … It's been 21 years since my abuse, and I still live in fear of those images.
April 28, 2025
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From silence to leadership: how national survivor councils can drive prevention, healing and justice
Survivors have firsthand experience and insights into the complexities, challenges, and needs of those who have suffered from childhood sexual violence. Through the creation of National Survivor Councils (NSCs), governments are better equipped to effectively address violence against children, especially childhood sexual violence, while ensuring that survivors play a central role in all such efforts. These councils don’t just give feedback; they help shape the actual policies that impact how we prevent and respond to childhood sexual violence. Having a council of survivors of child sexual violence substantively included in policy-making processes guarantees that the voices, perspectives, and expertise of those directly affected are heard, valued, and integrated into resulting policies and decisions. By actively involving survivors, governments can develop more informed, empathetic, and effective responses to the fight against child sexual violence. The Independent Commissioner for Child Sexual Abuse Issues was established by the German Government in 2010 as a political hub for survivors, practitioners, researchers, and lawmakers working on child protection. The first Survivor Council at the Commissioner’s Office was formed in March 2015 to ensure that survivors' experiences and expertise are heard at the highest political level and engaged in policy-making processes related to childhood sexual violence in the country. In 2025, the Bundestag and the Bundesrat, the two German parliamentary chambers, both passed a law making the Independent Commissioner, the Independent Inquiry and the German Survivor Council statutory, making sexual violence against children and adolescents something that cannot be ignored in the political sphere anymore. For instance, under the current three-party coalition between the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the Christian Social Union (CSU) and the Social Democratic Party (SPD), the council had input into the continuation of the Child Sexual Abuse Fund (Fonds Sexueller Missbrauch) – a low-threshold support system for survivors of intrafamilial child sexual abuse – along with the Supplementary Aid System (Ergänzende Hilfesystem) – a support system for survivors of institutional child sexual abuse. The Council aims to ensure childhood sexual violence programs and funding address survivors' needs by fostering collaboration between survivors, community organizations, and the government. The G7, which will take place in Canada in June 2025, is uniquely positioned to accelerate the global adoption of National Survivor Councils, setting international standards for survivor-centered approaches to ending childhood sexual violence.
April 24, 2025
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