Truck drivers in Brazil trained to protect children
Children along the highways of Brazil run a high risk of being exposed to sexual abuse. Childhood educates Brazilian truck drivers in matters relating to sexual abuse to enable them to protect the children instead of representing a danger. Read more in “An engine for change.”
Establishment of social work unit in Siem Reap, Cambodia
Our long-term goal is to prevent as many children as possible from being victims of sexual abuse and exploitation – which is why it’s important that the initiatives we support are scalable so that they can continue to have a positive effect even when we have phased out our support. Our work with the social work unit at Angkor Hospital for Children in Siem Reap, in Cambodia, is one example of how a relatively small investment by us can achieve significant results, far beyond the project itself.
Support for Cambodia’s first treatment center for drug and alcohol addiction
In a joint project focusing on women who work in the sex industry in Sihanoukville, we opened Cambodia’s first treatment center for alcohol and drug addiction in collaboration with our project partner, M’Lop Tapang. Women prostitutes and their children can receive individual support, and preventative measures are organized for young addicts and their parents.
Support for children with disabilities, Cambodia.
Children with special needs are three to five times more vulnerable to some form of violence than other children. Sexual abuse is almost five times more common among children with psychological or intellectual disabilities. In Cambodia, we partner with a number of local organizations that each contribute a piece of the puzzle in developing measures to help and strengthen children with disabilities and their families.
Work to promote alternatives to orphanages in Cambodia, Thailand and South Africa
Globally, it is estimated that approximately 5.4 million children grow up in orphanages. The most common reason is not violence or that their parents have died, but poverty – as many as 80 percent of children have at least one living parent. At Childhood, we are working to turn this trend around and to ensure that children can grow up in families. Since 2019, we have conducted the “Ur askan i elden” (EN: “Out of the frying pan into the fire”) project in cooperation with Erikshjälpen to increase the availability of safe care for vulnerable children.
Launch of global index on how the countries of the world prioritize the issue of child abuse
Out of the shadows: Shining light on the response to child sexual abuse and exploitation was published in January 2019. This ground-breaking index, which we developed in cooperation with The Economist Intelligence Unit and global experts, measures how 60 countries prioritize the issue of child sexual abuse. The index gives us important insights into what is being done – and what needs to be done – to stop child sexual abuse. One of the conclusions is that child sexual abuse is a global problem regardless of a country’s economic status. Read more in “Twenty more countries added to benchmarking index on child sexual abuse”.
Investment in early support for parents, South Africa
In cooperation with local partners in South Africa, we have contributed to the development and evaluation of home visitation programs that reach out to and support families in difficulty. Women from the same area are trained in providing support to pregnant women and new mothers to strengthen these mothers and enable a close relationship and strong connection with their children. We also provide support for a project that offers parental programs aimed at educating parents in the importance of raising their children without violence.
Support for self-help groups and training of school staff in LGBTQ issues in Ukraine
With our support, two LGBTQ organizations in Ukraine trained school staff and social workers to help them offer safe and non-discriminatory support for LGBTQ youth. The same project also organized self-help groups for LGBTQ youth and held workshops where hundreds of young people and parents gained greater knowledge and understanding of the issue.