PRESS RELEASE

April 26, 2022 – 12 PM EST

MassKids – contact Jetta Bernier at

[1][email protected] – 617-827-5218

Brave Movement – contact Julia Harris at

[2][email protected] +44-7545-043958

Child Sexual Abuse Survivors and Allies in Massachusetts Call on World
Leaders to End Childhood Sexual Violence

26 April 2022 – Tomorrow, April 27th at 9-11AM EST, at the first-ever
[3]#BeBrave Global Survivors Action Summit, adult survivors of childhood
sexual violence and allies in 22 countries from five continents around the
world, will demand bold and transformational action as fast as possible by
governments and private sector leaders.

The virtual summit will be hosted by the BRAVE MOVEMENT, a growing
international advocacy movement of survivors and allies united to end
childhood sexual violence. Survivors and allies will launch National Calls
to Action from 18 countries and a [4]#BeBrave Global Call to Action, with a
focus on prevention, safety and justice.

MassKids, the nation’s oldest statewide private child advocacy
organization, will lead the effort in Massachusetts to promote and carryout
the Brave Movement’s top priorities which include:
* Prevention: Educate parents, concerned adults, lawmakers, school and
youth organization staff about child sexual abuse and ways to prevent it
from ever occurring;
* Safety: Create a safe and secure internet free of sexual violence for
all children and adolescents;
* Justice: Abolish statute of limitations laws to guarantee that
survivors who choose to can bring perpetrators and complicit institutions
to justice.

MassKids will establish a 15-member Massachusetts Survivors Council to
promote the engagement of survivors across the state and to ensure that
their voices impact policy-making and decision-making on Beacon Hill. This
Council will amplify the work of the MassKids Board of Directors, 50% of
which includes those with lived experiences of childhood sexual abuse.

According to MassKids Director Jetta Bernier: “Over the years I have
witnessed many advances in prevention strategies, public awareness, and
legislative policies to address sexual abuse, only to face persistent
challenges from those who believe ‘it would never happen to my child,
everyone we know is nice;’ school leaders who cover up sexual misconduct
choosing to protect abusers rather than children; and funders who don't
want to be associated with what they see as a dark issue.”

On a hopeful note, she concluded: “Because of these prevailing attitudes,
the path of movement building since the mid-80s has been a challenging and
crooked one. Because of the Brave Movement, however, we are closer than
ever before to a new era when the power of survivor voices and those of
their allies will finally be heard and their joint actions will be felt
like never before in our homes, communities and State Houses.”

So far, 80 organizations have endorsed the [5]#BeBrave Global Call to
Action, with many more expected to endorse it before it is formally
delivered to government leaders in June 2022. In addition, adult survivor
leaders from nine countries will launch the first-ever [6]#BeBrave G7
Petition with Change.org. The petition calls for mobilizing billions from
G7 governments and the private sector to end childhood sexual violence in
their own countries and around the world. The Government of Germany is
hosting the next G7 Summit on June 26-28, 2022 and its agenda will include
a discussion of the Brave Movement’s Global Demands.

The Brave Movement is catalyzing campaigners around the world to mobilize
on a Global Day of #BraveAction on June 9, 2022 and demand commitments from
their government leaders and G7 Leaders to end the scourge of childhood
sexual violence.

The Brave Movement is building new partnerships to accelerate bold action
with the European Commission, UNICEF, the World Health Organization (WHO),
Oak Foundation, the Children's Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF), the
Global Partnership to End Violence Against Children, and many others.

Massachusetts resident Sarah Cooper, a member of the Global Survivors
Council, and survivor of online sexual exploitation is spearheading the
#BeBraveZuck Campaign. It calls for approval by Meta (formerly Facebook)
shareholders of a resolution that would ensure the company is held
accountable for immediately detecting, reporting, and removing all online
childhood sexual violence materials. “Our stories hold power” she said,
“but our voices together unite change. We are BRAVE, so that children
can be safe.”

# # #

About the Brave Movement:

Led by fifteen adult survivors of childhood sexual violence and allied
organizations from around the world, the Brave Movement is taking
collective action to achieve bold and transformational laws, programs and
policies at the local, national and regional level and in global
institutions within the multilateral system. The full recording of the
#BeBrave Global Survivors Action Summit will be available at
[7][link removed].

About MassKids:

MassKids is an independent, private child advocacy organization working
since 1959 to improve the lives of Massachusetts’ most vulnerable children.
It leads the Enough Abuse Campaign, a citizen education and community
mobilization initiative to prevent child sexual abuse. Hailed by the U.S.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as “a trailblazing
effort”, Enough Abuse has been adopted in several states and in the West
African nations of Nigeria and Sierra Leone. [8][link removed]
and [9][link removed].

References

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Massachusetts Citizens for Children
112 Water Street
Suite 502
Boston, MA 02109
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