Thanks to the support of the EU, educators have been enriched with international tools for the prevention of sexual violence online
In 24 communities of 11 oblasts of Ukraine, classes were held with adolescents on the prevention of sexual violence on the Internet, during which educators used modern tools, which were familiarised with at the webinar “Contemporary International Tools for Preventing Sexual Violence Against Adolescent Girls on the Internet”. The webinar was prepared and conducted in April 2024 by the team of the NGO “Labour and Health Social Initiatives” (LHSI) within the framework of the project “Empowering Law Enforcement in Overcoming Online Violence against Children” which has been implemented by a consortium of civil society organisations since January 2022 with the financial support of the European Union.
More than 250 educators got acquainted with materials based on international and national experience including two animated educational videos for children, a booklet “Tips for parents and guardians to counter online sexual violence”, a manual for professionals working with children and an online game tool CYBERSAFE adapted into Ukrainian.
“We work and conduct training sessions with girls and boys. But we focus on the vulnerability of girls, who are most exposed to the negative influence of the Internet and are subjected to various forms of online violence,” says Natalia Lukyanova, project coordinator, NGO “Labour and Health Social Initiatives” (LHSI). “Our philosophy is not strict control or prohibition, but trust and providing truthful information to adolescents about the risks on the Internet, how to avoid and respond to them, and how to overcome unpleasant moments and who to turn to.”
The materials presented were recognised as modern, interactive and interesting for work in schools. “The webinar was extremely informative and relevant. The materials and practical advice provided at the event are proving to be important tools to support the safety and well-being of adolescent girls in the digital space. This valuable experience will help to fight the problem of online violence more effectively," shared one of the participants.
Conducting classes with teenagers was "homework" for the webinar participants. Teachers worked with teenagers in four main areas: non-consensual sharing of sexual images, exploitation, coercion and threats, sexual bullying/harassment and unwanted sexualisation. At the same time, almost everyone, namely 99%, watched animated videos, 21% worked only in an offline format, using the Guide presented at the webinar, and 37% used the interactive game Cybersafe, translated into Ukrainian within the project.
Labour and Health Social Initiatives (LHSI) plans to further develop this work in cooperation with national and international institutions.
Background information:
The three-year project "Empowering Law Enforcement in overcoming online Violence against Children" is implemented by the All-Ukrainian Charity “Child Well-Being Fund Ukraine”, the All-Ukrainian Public Centre “Volonter” and the NGO "Labour and Health Social Initiatives" with more than 400 000 EUR of financial support from the European Union. The pilot regions are Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, and Kharkiv oblasts. The project's duration is 2022-2024.