Parents and caregivers who have experienced sexual violence against their child are often burdened by challenging emotions, duration of criminal proceedings, and a lack of awareness on how to help the recovery of their child and the whole family. Acknowledging this need for support, Protect Children has facilitated You Are Enough™ peer support groups in Finland since January 2021 to support parents whose children have fallen victim to sexual violence.
The current training will provide important insights Protect Children specialists have learnt about experiences of families who have been affected by sexual violence against their child while the peer support groups have been facilitated in Finland and as part of 2KNOW project also in Ireland.
This training is suitable for any professional who works with or interacts with families affected by online sexual abuse against their child. The training aims to enhance professionals’ understanding of the entire family’s experiences when facing such trauma and emphasises the importance of supporting also parents in the victim’s healing process.
Agenda
- 09:30 – 09:45 Welcome and introductions
- 09:45-10:45 Families’, and especially parents and caregivers’ experiences on their child falling victim to OCSEA
- 10:45 – 11:00 Break
- 11:00 – 12:10 The impact of online elements on trauma and the healing process, along with the critical importance of a trauma-informed approach by professionals when engaging with parents throughout their journey toward healing and justice.
- 12:10 – 12:25 Questions and discussion
- 12:25 – 12:30 Closing remarks
Project 2KNOW
Project 2KNOW is a two-year project funded by the European Commission’s Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values Programme (CERV), which aims to improve data collection on violence against children and to offer a scalable parental peer support model for carers of child victims of sexual abuse. The project partners include Protect Children, the University of Eastern Finland, and the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS).