02 — AREA OF WORK
Prevention Education
We reach children before traffickers, groomers and sextorters do.
The best way to protect children is to prevent exploitation before it happens. Join Us.
WHY IT MATTERS
The greatest barrier isn’t a lack of concern — it’s a lack of understanding and confidence to speak up.
Many children don’t recognize when they are being groomed or manipulated. Parents, caregivers, educators and professionals often don’t know what warning signs to look for, how perpetrators operate, what to say to prevent harm and how to say it, or how to respond with compassion when a child is at risk or has been exploited.
As a pioneer in prevention education in Canada, we’re making sure communities replace myths with facts, fear with confidence, and silence with action.
WHAT WE FOCUS ON
A 20+ year track record.
Since 2005 we’ve reached millions around the world through training and awareness across 16 countries — families, educators, law enforcement, policy makers and others — empowering them to recognize the vulnerabilities of the children in their lives and keep them protected.
Our highly-acclaimed trainings and tools serve audiences of various ages and sectors, and combine insight from researchers, children and youth themselves, survivor leaders and other child protection experts. They focus on five things.
Spotting and Accessing Help
Recent trends in the sexual exploitation of children, the latest tactics perpetrators use to lure, groom and control victims, and how to identify and respond when a child is at risk.
Changing Risky Behaviours
Based on what young people tell us they want: critical thinking, setting boundaries, asking for consent, safe decision-making under pressure, self-confidence and a strong support network.
Disrupting Harmful Norms
We prompt audiences to think critically about the norms and attitudes that fuel demand, glamourize exploitation and shame victims — and give them tangible steps to help shift them.
Building Resilience
Resources and training that help adults build the resilience of children in their care — healthy boundaries, recognizing inappropriate behaviour, and seeking help when needed.
Encouraging Open Dialogue
How to broach difficult subjects with children and create a safe space for them to share their concerns.
Built with children, not just for them
We empower children themselves to educate their peers and communities in Canada and around the world, to prevent and intervene early.
WHAT MAKES OUR APPROACH DIFFERENT
Our prevention education is built on a model unlike any other.
We provide comprehensive, expert-led education on the sexual exploitation of children and on children’s rights. As young people share what they’re seeing — from unsafe technology and sextortion to child sex trafficking — we provide the education, advocacy training, mentorship and opportunities to act.
HOW WE HELP
Four ways we put prevention to work
01 — TRAININGS
Presentations, Workshops & Customizable Trainings
Powerful presentations and workshops give children the knowledge to stay safe and the confidence to recognize risk, ask for help and support other children who have been harmed. Expert-led trainings give parents and school staff the skills to support at-risk children or victims.
Learn more about our Canadian effort through EmpowerVention.
A community organization, government agency, business or professional association? Contact us.
02 — RESOURCES
Guides, Toolkits & Information Hub
Guides, toolkits, videos, an information hub and a social media community — created in partnership with survivors and children themselves — for children, parents and school staff who want to learn about child sexual exploitation and how to combat it.
03 — EVENTS
Conferences, Webinars & Youth-Led Gatherings
Events that connect children, adult survivor leaders, clinicians, front-line professionals and decision-makers — encouraging the intergenerational and intersectoral collaboration that better protects children.
04 — CAMPAIGNS
Nation-Wide, Youth-Led Awareness Campaigns
From Canada’s first nation-wide, youth-led awareness campaigns such as #Beh1ndtheScr3ens to partnerships with companies and organizations, we bring critical information on the sexual exploitation of children to millions.
Invest in Prevention
Prevention education is one of the most powerful ways to stop the sexual exploitation of children in its tracks. Your donation helps equip children, families, educators and communities with the knowledge, skills and confidence to protect children.
PREVENTION EDUCATION HIGHLIGHTS
Where this work has landed
01Keynoting at the Association for the Treatment and Prevention of Sexual Abuse (ATSA)+
Our Founder, Cheryl Perera was invited to San Antonio, Texas, to give the plenary address at ATSA's 43rd Research and Treatment conference, reaching 1,200 members, including treatment providers, researchers and educators, victims' rights advocates, law enforcement, and court officials from around the world. Speaking about the importance of including children's views when determining how to protect them, Cheryl showcased the work of OneChild — including our EmpowerVention and Youth Advisory Squad programs — and provided the audience with tangible steps they can take to partner with children and include their perspectives and ideas in the design, delivery and evaluation of prevention programs against child sexual exploitation and abuse.
02From Hurt to Healing: Supporting Children Impacted by Sexual Exploitation Webinar+
This webinar, supported by the Department of Justice during Victims and Survivors of Crime Week, was organized by OneChild and attracted over 500 registrants from around the world, including educators, social workers, and community leaders. Led by our Youth Coordinators and Youth Advisory Squad alumni, the session featured adult survivor leaders, victim services agencies, and educators who engaged in a panel discussion focused on actionable solutions to support children affected by child sexual exploitation via the school system. Feedback praised the engaging discussions and practical takeaways, emphasizing its value in building resilience and fostering healing for children impacted by sexual exploitation.
03Children's Voices: The Empowerment and Inclusion of Children in the Response to Online Child Sexual Exploitation+
Hosted by Public Safety Canada as part of their webinar series in support of the National Strategy to Combat the Online Sexual Exploitation of Children and attended by 433 participants, this impactful session featured a panel with our founder, Cheryl Perera, alongside two remarkable YAS alumni, Darius, 17, and Lola, 16, researchers, representatives from the RCMP, and other agencies. Together, the trio made the case for the benefits of including children's voices; shared how OneChild engages children in consultative, collaborative, and child-led ways, lessons learned and best practices; and showcased the impact children are making in the fight against online child sexual exploitation. Their powerful insights provided participants with actionable knowledge and practical tools to safely, ethically, and meaningfully engage children in their work. Testimonials from attendees emphasized the relevance and applicability of the strategies shared, with many reporting immediate integration of these practices into their professional roles.
04Delivering Critical Youth-Led Prevention Education on the Sexual Exploitation of Children (SEC) and Online Safety to Children+
In 2024, EmpowerVention, our flagship youth-led prevention education and early intervention program in Canadian schools, directly reached over 17,000 students and school staff, with planned expansion to BC, Alberta, and Quebec in 2025. With young people as co-creators and speakers for presentations, workshops and resources, and through formal partnerships with school boards, we empowered elementary and high school students with the knowledge, tools, and inspiration to keep safe from sexual exploitation, and become changemakers in their schools, communities, country, and world.
05Toronto Anti-Sex Trafficking Symposium+
Joining organizations such as Covenant House Toronto, Victim Services, the Mary Ward Centre, BridgeNorth, and the Toronto Police Services, Darius, Lithika, and Irene — three Youth Advisory Squad alumni — were invited to speak to over 300 female-identifying students from the Toronto District School Board to educate students on how to confront the harsh realities of child sex trafficking. Our alumni took to the stage, commanding the audience, and discussed their powerful capstone projects they launched in their schools and communities to empower their peers to take a stand against the sexual exploitation of children.
06Launching the First Nation-Wide Youth-Led Conference on the Sexual Exploitation of Children+
During the Canadian Sexual Exploitation Summit, we hosted the inaugural Youth Day — a day-long virtual conference designed and delivered by “children, for children,” attended by 2,000 individuals. Four panels made up the day, focused on child sex trafficking, building a safer online world, boys and the sexual exploitation of children, and moving beyond words to action. The panelists included children, diverse lived experience experts, parents of victims, tipline operators, and investigators who engaged in a rich discussion on these themes.
07Launching the First Nation-Wide, Youth-Led Awareness Campaign against the Sexual Exploitation of Children+
Public service announcements made with our Youth Advisory Squad and Meta for National Human Trafficking Awareness Day, that was played in classrooms across Ontario and screened in Peel Region movie theatres, reaching tens of thousands of children.
