Call for a UN World Day on Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation

The International Center on Sexual Exploitation—a division of NCOSE—is proud to join the Global Collaborative effort to establish an international day of recognition for child sexual exploitation and abuse prevention and healing. The Global Collaborative is a survivor led network of NGO’s, faith-based institutions, survivor networks and governments. 

As the Global Collaborative states: 

“The World Health Organization reports 120 million girls and young women under 20 years of age have suffered some form of forced sexual contact; that one in five women, and one in thirteen men report experiencing sexual abuse before their 18th birthday; and that in some parts of the world, one out of every two children have experienced sexual abuse; and that because of the shame, stigma, and fear associated with their experience, at least sixty percent of child sexual abuse victims/survivors never disclose their abuse.” 

“The members of the Global Collaborative believe the 18 November International Day will provide a forum to bring survivors, civil society, and governments together to focus and better align vital resources, heighten awareness of the problem of CSEA, and support victims and their families in their quest for healing and justice.” 

This will be accomplished through the following actions:

• Bringing global visibility to the right for every child to grow up free from all forms of sexual abuse, both on-line and off-line. 
• Raising awareness of measures that can be taken by communities, schools, religious institutions, recreational venues, inter-governmental organizations, families, and young persons to ensure that every child is protected. 
• Harnessing the power of social media with celebrity, and high-profile survivors sharing their stories to help eliminate the stigma experienced by victims of child sexual abuse and exploitation. 
• Channeling the creativity and influence of a range of partners to accelerate adoption of legislation, policies, and procedures to ensure all children are safe, and victims/survivors receive justice, and have access to the resources they need to heal. 
• Accelerating adoption of evidence-based practices by health care providers, social welfare organizations and faith communities to enabling effective healing for victims/survivors of abuse, their family members, and communities. 

THIS NOVEMBER 18^th YOU CAN HELP CALL ON THE UNITED NATIONS TO OFFICIALLY RECOGNIZE THIS IMPORTANT DAY 

Take Action: Record your steps on November 18^th and log them on this webpage! (You can use an app on your phone, a Fitbit, or whatever you like! Set a reminder in your phone to log your steps on our webpage by the end of the day.) 

This simple, easy action will symbolize the powerful reality that people around the world want to take steps to end child sexual abuse and exploitation!  

Please take action and show the international community that all nations must recognize these issues and must work collaboratively to protect children and strive for justice. 

The following organizations are co-founders and Partners of the International Day for Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse Prevention and Healing: