Introducing The Brave Movement – End Childhood Sexual Violence
The Brave Movement is a collection of survivors who have come together to end childhood sexual violence. This is a global movement that will be talking to governments at the G7 summit in Germany in June 2022 - and beyond - to demand action.
The Brave Movement is a collection of survivors who have come together to end childhood sexual violence.
This is a global movement that will be talking to governments at the G7 summit in Germany in June 2022 – and beyond – to demand action.
Below is the Brave Movement United Kingdom’s Call to Action:
“We are survivors, we are allies – Together, we will end childhood sexual violence.
We are Dr Matthew McVarish, Lucy Hughes, and Dr Patrick Sandford.* We are survivors of childhood sexual violence and part of a network of survivors and allies from across the United Kingdom, committed to ending all forms of sexual violence against children and young people.
For too long, the abhorrent global crisis of childhood sexual violence has been made invisible. The devastating stigma and societally-induced shame that many survivors experience often stops them from coming forward. Survivors who do speak out are silenced.
It does not have to be this way. It changes now. Protecting children’s rights is everyone’s responsibility. As survivors and allies, we demand:
Prevention to protect current and future generations of children and young people;
Healing for survivors and their loved ones; and
Justice for survivors, holding perpetrators to account.
WE DEMAND THAT THE UK GOVERNMENT:
Takes a survivor-led, intersectional approach to research and policy making, to ensure equity of access to Prevention, Healing and Justice for people with all protected characteristics. So that by 2025 the UK will have:
- Increased investment into implementing Prevention – Healing – Justice policies.
- Increased investment into Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) to respond to addressing Global childhood sexual violence.
- Recognise the annual ‘World Day for Prevention, Healing and Justice to End Childhood Sexual Violence’ on 18th November.
- Prevention programs in place to stop harmful behaviour, achieving change on an individual, community and systemic level.
- Legislation to stop end-to-end encryption.
- Free and immediate intervention for individuals experiencing inappropriate sexual feelings towards children and young people.
- Free and immediate access to healing services for everyone in the UK with no waiting list for direct support to exceed two months.
- All healing services are to be evidence-based and person-centred, with prioritisation of ‘by and for’ organisations that serve specific communities.
- Mandatory Trauma-informed practice training for all public sector workers, with specific training for health professionals to ask standard questions to support survivors to disclose.
- Creation of a system to hold survivor testimonies and records which survivors can share with professionals so they don’t have to repeat their disclosure.
- Adoption of Barnahus Model principles for all work with victims aged under 18.
- Removal of the 12 month prosecution period in the Sexual Offences Act for girls raped when aged 13 – 16 between 1956 and 30 April 2004.”
To support the Brave Movement and to #BeBrave, sign the G7 petition as soon as possible and let’s all help to put an end to sexual violence against children.
Read more about the Brave Movement here
Sign the petition here
* Patrick Sandford is also a trustee of MankindUK, Lucy Hughes is CEO of MankindUK, the charity that delivers the 1in6UK project.
