Our approach
We are united in promoting a transformation of the child protection sector to be rights-focused and child-centred in addressing the exploitation of children and young people. As a values-led collective, our work is grounded in transparency, accountability, lived experience, rights-based practice and meaningful participation.
Our values
Transparency and Accountability
We work collaboratively with the children’s rights community, sharing our evidence and being open about our learning (successes and failures). We are accountable in our relationships with others as well as in decision-making within our organisation. We reject the dominant tendency towards secrecy and perfectionism in our strategies.
Centring Lived Experience
The local, lived and contextual knowledge of exploited children and young people is a guiding force in everything we do. We ensure that this experience is central to research, programmes and advocacy for exploited children and young people.
Rights, not charity
Like all human beings, exploited children and young people have rights, and are not passive objects of charity. Although children have unique protection-based rights because of their age and dependence on adults, they also have universal human rights. We use rights based, feminist approaches and seek long term solutions to the causes of their exploitation, not quick fixes.
Participation, not protectionism
In the name of protection, exploited children and young people are commonly perceived as dependent and vulnerable, and their experiences and agency are often stifled. We challenge these simplistic narratives and promote the empowerment and engagement of exploited children and young people in decision-making.
Our strategy
Promoting participatory approaches
We will champion the use of participatory approaches in research and advocacy to ensure that the evidence base for donors, policymakers and practitioners is centred on the realities for exploited children and young people.
Bringing people together
The local, lived and contextual knowledge of exploited children and young people is a guiding force in everything we do. We ensure that this experience is central to research, programmes and advocacy for exploited children and young people.
Sharing learning to co-create solutions
Like all human beings, exploited children and young people have rights, and are not passive objects of charity. Although children have unique protection-based rights because of their age and dependence on adults, they also have universal human rights. We use rights based, feminist approaches and seek long term solutions to the causes of their exploitation, not quick fixes.