1
Overview
The Canadian Centre for Child Protection is a national charity dedicated to the personal
safety and protection of children.
A world where children
Our mission is to:
are protected and safe
REDUCE the incidence of missing and sexually exploited children
EDUCATE the public on child personal safety and sexual exploitation
ASSIST in the location of missing children
ADVOCATE for and increase awareness about issues relating to missing and sexually
exploited children
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Overview
Our Impact
200,000+ reports processes
500+ children removed from abusive
environments
CHILD SAFETY AND
FAMILYwhere
ADVOCACYchildren
DIVISION
world
A
6,000+ families of missing children supported
are protected and safe
Thousands of children located
60,000 classrooms using Kids in the Know
lessons
17,000+ child-serving organizations received
the program
38% of Canadian children receive safety
information every year
20,000+ professionals trained to prevent child
sexual abuse
CANADA’S NATIONAL TIPLINE FOR REPORTING THE ONLINE SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF CHILDREN
Mandate:
• Accept reports from the Canadian public regarding the online sexual exploitation of
children
•
A world where children
Provide education and referral services to are
keep families
and their and
childrensafe
safer on
protected
the Internet
Statistics current as of September 15, 2015
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Cybertip.ca receives and addresses online and
telephone reports from the public regarding:
•
Child pornography (child abuse images and
material)
•
Online luring
•
Children exploited through prostitution
•
Travelling to sexually exploit children
•
Child trafficking
•
Making sexually explicit material available to a child
•
Agreement or arrangement with another person to
commit a sexual offence against a child
•
Non-consensual distribution of intimate images
Prevalence of Child Sexual Abuse &
Exploitation
Research
• In Canada, 32% of the adult population: physical abuse, sexual abuse and/or
exposure to intimate partner violence in childhood.
• 1 in 10 children have disclosed being a victim of sexual abuse at least once
before they turned 15.
• The majority of adult survivors of child sexual abuse report that they did not
disclose the abuse to anyone when they were children (Hindman, 1999).
• 93% of child maltreatment cases are never brought forward to police or child
welfare.
• Robust associations between child abuse and mental health conditions.
(Statistics Canada, 2015) (Afifi et al, 2014)
What Does Research Tell Us?
• Offenders of sexual abuse can be anyone:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
18% immediate family
20% extended family
21% stranger
12% acquaintance
8% neighbor
6% friend
6% teacher
Aboriginal adults reported being sexually abused before the age of 15 at a
higher rate than non-Aboriginal people.
(Statistics Canada, 2015)
IMPORTANT:
Insult to Injury
When a child is victimized and
technology has been used to
memorialize the sexual harm,
there is often an additional layer
of trauma for the child.
“The past is still the present.”
Dr. Silberg
Prevention and Education
Young Children and Child Sexual Abuse
Prevention Programs
TEATREE TELLS: A Child Abuse Prevention Kit
Lesson One:
Lesson Two:
Lesson Three:
Lesson Four:
Feelings
Identifying a grown-up who you
go to for help
Naming body parts
OKAY and NOT OKAY Touching
©2014 Canadian Centre for Child Protection Inc. All rights reserved. No copying, reproduction or distribution (including posting online) without permission.
No modifications of any kind. Images are copyright of the Canadian Centre for Child Protection Inc. or used under license from a stock photo provider.
Kids in the Know is a K-10 personal safety program created by
Canadian Centre for Child Protection.
The program is designed to empower children and reduce
sexual victimization and children going missing.
Protecting our Youth
• Online Luring - Adults who
sexually exploit youth
• Self/peer exploitation
A world where children
are protected and safe
Model in image intended as illustrative
Common Tactics Used by adult offenders with teenagers
Flattery: used particularly on girls in an effort to take advantage of the societal importance
placed on female beauty
Pity: used to encourage a sympathetic response from a teen and coerce her/him into feeling
as if s/he is in a friendship or sexual relationship
Sharing Sexually Explicit Material: used to normalize sexual activity and desensitize a teen
to believe sexual activity with adults is okay
Persistence: used to wear down a teen’s personal boundaries, often under the guise that the
adult will stop after the teen gives her/him what s/he wants (which is never the case)
Uttering Threats: used to terrify a teen to comply with a request for sexual content
Sexual Abuse and Exploitation
•
Youth assume responsibility as their minds are incapable of
processing any other way.
•
Repetitive exposure leads to a dissolution of personal
boundaries
•
Leads to desensitization and lowering inhibitions
•
Feel complicit in the abuse experience
Dr. Sharon Cooper
Model in image, intended as illustrative
IMPORTANT:
Double Silencing Effect
Adolescent Development
What makes adolescents vulnerable to sexual victimization
• Brain is not fully developed until early 20’s.
• Some adults will exploit their normal needs for independence, sexual curiosity,
intimacy, and romantic connections.
• The acceptance of children’s vulnerability to grooming needs to be applied to all child
victims – meaning a child is vulnerable whether s/he comes from a “stable” or “chaotic”
home and whether s/he “does” or “does not” receive enough attention and affection at
home. *
*K. Lanning, 2005
Abuse Dynamics
• Violence is not present in most cases
• Youth often have a relationship with the offender on levels other than the abuse
• Youth may protect the offender
• Youth often minimize what happened, they don’t want anyone to know about it
• Youth are often very confused about what has happened
• Youth often do not believe they are victims
Sexual abuse is a wide range of individual experiences
What makes adolescents vulnerable to sexual victimization
When sexual activity occurs between an adult and a youth, the adult is always to
blame and is always the offender, regardless of whether the child
• said no
• fought back
• actively cooperated
• initiated the contact
• told someone
• accepted gifts or money
• enjoyed the sexual activity
Adolescent Development
Simplistic or unrealistic advice is unlikely to have a significant impact
on the problem.
“Don’t talk to strangers online”
“Don’t send naked pictures online”
THE PROGRAM BUILDS SAFETY COMPETENCE
Lessons address:
•
relationships building
•
identifying feelings
•
assertiveness skills
•
healthy boundaries
•
the role of safe adults
•
high risk behaviour
•
how to get help
Teaching children personal safety strategies will reduce the
possibility of victimization.
Offenders are less likely to target a child if they think the child will tell.
Self/Peer Exploitation
Model in image, intended as illustrative
Reality Check around the Issue
• youth are doing this on a more regular basis than any of us know (they don’t want to
tell an adult that this is what they have done);
• it is typically the extreme cases being reported by youth (to a school, law enforcement
or Cybertip.ca) who likely feel they have nowhere else to turn; and
• the number one wish from youth affected by a self/peer exploitation incident is getting
the content off the Internet – not necessarily intervention from the authorities.
Reason Why these Pictures/ Videos are being Taken
1.
Romantic relationships
2.
Attention-Seeking Behavior
3.
Coercive Circumstances
Page 2 of the SPEX guide
Model in image, intended as illustrative
RESEARCH: Sexting Coercion
More than half of the young college students engaged in
unwanted, but consensual sexting when they did not want to.
1 in 5 youth consented to sexting when they didn’t want to.
Article: Computers in Human Behaviour
Sexting: A new, digital vehicle for intimate partner aggression
Michelle Drouin, Jody Ross, Elizabeth Tobin
Self/Peer Exploitation
A resource guide families
Pages 1-15 in the SPEX guide (ORANGE SECTION)
A PDF of the family resource guide is also
available on www.cybertip.ca.
Resources for Youth
Cyberbullying
Our agency has found that a large percentage of reports
made to Cybertip.ca by teens are with regard to sexual
images/videos being created and distributed via the
Internet and/or electronic devices, with cyberbullying
as the fallout.
Addressing Online Risks Facing Youth
The lessons address the topics:
•
•
•
•
•
Healthy Friendships
Healthy Dating Relationships
Boundaries and Personal Safety
Identifying Safe Adults
Responding to Unsafe Situations
Teaching Refusal Skills
Consider this:
It can be difficult for youth to be direct with
someone who is breaking boundaries.
What are some examples of refusal skills to
help youth get out of uncomfortable
situations?
ADDRESSING SEXUAL VIOLENCE AND ONLINE RISKS FACING YOUTH IN
GRADE 9 AND 10
Why the unit was created and what it
addresses:
•
•
•
•
•
Healthy Relationships
Love vs. Control in Dating Relationships
Canada’s Sexual Consent Laws
Cyberbullying and Harassment
Identifying When and How to Get Help
Cybertip.ca Alerts
Cybertip.ca Alerts are notifications sent out to inform the
public of concerning technology trends and new
resources designed to increase children’s personal
safety.
A world where children
are protected and safe
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