Early is Best - Protect Children is launching a new national project to prevent sexual violence against children
- Protect Children
- Apr 4
- 2 min read
NEWS
Protect Children is launching a new national project to prevent sexual harassment, grooming, and sexual violence against children in Finland.
Reports of crimes of sexual violence against children have increased significantly in Finland. Particularly, the misuse of technology facilitates an increasing number of crimes, highlighting the urgent need for more effective and targeted preventive measures to prevent these crimes.
Protect Children is launching a new national project, Early is Best, to prevent sexual violence against children. Starting in April 2025, the aim of the project is to promote children's and youth's wellbeing and protection from sexual violence through holistic, innovative work.
Prevention is crucial for enhancing children's wellbeing and safety. It is crucial that children learn emotional and safety skills as early as possible to ensure that these skills become a natural part of a child's daily life. Early action and intervention are also crucial for fostering healing and enhancing professionals' work. Project Early is Best focuses specifically on advancing prevention to end crimes of sexual violence against children.
Within the project, Protect Children will promote children's emotional and safety skills education, create preventive materials, develop support services to foster healing, and strengthen professionals' ability to recognise, address, and respond to child sexual abuse and exploitation. Particularly, the project will focus on developing Swedish materials as well as accessible materials to ensure that every child and young person has equal opportunities to access information and support.
The project builds on Protect Children's innovative work. The organisation has actively supported victims, survivors, and families, namely through the Our Voice Survivor Advocacy Group and You Are Enough Peer Support Groups. Moreover, Protect Children actively trains professionals and promotes safety skills education through Stop, Slow & Go workshops.
Project Early is Best is supported by the foundation Brita Maria Renlunds minne sr.
