A global benchmark to
protect children and adolescents

Arturo

Direcrtor, Los Andes

“Ratifying and upholding key international conventions signals that a government recognizes sexual violence against children as a serious human rights violation.”

ElsaMarie D’Silva

Co-founder Brave Movement; Founder, Red Dot Foundation

““This Index is an invaluable tool for all of us working to end childhood sexual violence. It measures the most fundamental laws, policies, and systems all governments must enact to get serious about supporting kids.”

ElsaMarie D’Silva

Co-founder Brave Movement; Founder, Red Dot Foundation

““This Index is an invaluable tool for all of us working to end childhood sexual violence. It measures the most fundamental laws, policies, and systems all governments must enact to get serious about supporting kids.”

Leah Juliett

Activist, Poet, Survivor, Organizer

“As a survivor, I know silence protects harm. The Out of the Shadows Index turns truth into necessary action, forcing the world to measure and confront violence against children. The data doesn't just inform us, it gives us the power to change what comes next.”

Elly Vaughan

Principal, Health and Society, Economist Impact

“Behind every data point in this Index is a child whose life has been shaped by violence. Governments have primarily built systems that respond to abuse after the fact, but too few are investing in stopping it before it happens. When systems fail to include mechanisms to prevent abuse, children pay the price and societies bear the cost for decades to come.”

Sophia Luu

Founder, Secrets Worth Sharing

“If you experienced sexual harm as a child, it can feel like you have to be the one to advocate for your own support. This should never be the case. With the Out of the Shadows Index, strategic thinking has been done to build meaningful and intersectional support. The survivor-centred groundwork has been done and is ready for the world's governments to follow.”

Deborah Fry

Childlight Global Director of Data and Professor of International Child Protection Research, University of Edinburgh

““Out of the Shadows is a vital tool to highlight government responses to child sexual abuse, alongside Childlight’s Into the Light Index, which reveals its scale and distribution. Together, they provide a fuller picture to drive accountability and target prevention.””

Professor Lucie Cluver

OBE, Professor of Child and Family Social Work, University of Oxford and University of Cape Town

“We are the first generation in history that can prevent childhood sexual violence. New, effective, low-cost programs can reach entire populations. Evidence shows this will benefit health, education, and national GDP. Now is the time.”

Scharliina Eräpuro

Artist, actress, advocate and survivor Voice

“These crimes are rapidly increasing each year. As a survivor, I know the cost of silence. Governments must act now, not later, to protect children, invest in prevention, and ensure survivors are heard, believed, and supported.”

Marija Manojlovic

Executive Director, Safe Online

“Technology is changing how abuse is perpetrated, as well as how that abuse travels, mutates, and scales. Governments must put in place proactive, future-proof safeguards, backed by sustained financing, to prevent harm and stop this escalation.”

Dr. Bukola Ogunkua

Founder and CEO Suburbancares, public health physician, trauma expert and population health researcher

“Let us be the generation that chooses compassion over complacency, and action over indifference—so that every child’s future is defined by hope, not harm.”

Esther Dingemans

Director, Global Survivors Fund

“It's never too soon to protect children from experiencing sexual violence and never too late to accompany the reparative process they are entitled to. This index urges action now. Everywhere and together.”

Bryanna Mariñas

Founder & Global Coordinator, Global Youth-Led Movement on Ending Violence Against Children

“Child sexual exploitation and abuse persist when prevention and response efforts are weak and unaccountable. The Out of the Shadows Index reframes CSEA as a systems issue, and not just a statistic. By making national progress visible and comparable, it strengthens accountability and helps young advocates understand where our governments must do better and where we must continue pushing for change.”

“Survivors and advocates around the world can finally see in one place how their country stacks up in the fight to end childhood sexual violence. This resource is a compass for every activist and a roadmap for every government.”