Suojellaan Lapsia ry/the Protect Children strengthens the prevention of sexual violence against children in the Tor network. The Protect Children has received significant, international End Violence funding for the innovative ReDirection project. Project is led by Protect Children with large group of Senior Specialists and researchers. The main partners are the Police University College, HUS and the Training Institute for Prison and Probation Services.
The ReDirection project aims to prevent online sexual crimes against children. The goal of the project is to produce new research and information as well as develop ReDirection self-help programme for people who search, view and distribute images and footage that depict sexual violence against children.
‘The project primarily focuses on preventive measures and research where the problem is the worst – on the Tor network platforms. The ReDirection programme aims is to prevent the use of illegal child sexual abuse material and provides a new ways to reduce re-victimization.” says Nina Vaaranen-Valkonen, Executive Director, Senior Specialist at Protect Children.
The ReDirection self-help programme is based on the UUSI SUUNTA Individual Program for Sex Offenders, already in use in Finland and Estonia. The programme will be available in Finnish, English and Spanish. ReDirection programme will also be implemented to a wider linguistic region, to Colombia in Latin America in collaboration with Red Papaz.
The project is funded by End Violence, a global organisation the fulfilling the UN Sustainable Development Goal 16 to combat violence against children. The total cost of the project is 654,680 US$. The Police University College's share of the funding is 132,000 US$.
‘We will combine new research in the Tor network with the latest international research results and effective treatment programmes. The project will outline a societal significant perspective and change towards stronger prevention of sexual crimes against children,’ says Tero Toiviainen, Senior Specialist at the Police University College.
The developer of the UUSI SUUNTA program, senior lecturer at the Training Institute for Prison and Probation Services, psychologist Nina Nurminen and postdoctoral researcher Manja Nikolovska, Department of Security and Crime Science, University College London, are sharing their expertise to the project. Juha Nurmi, D.Sc. (Tech.), developer of the search engine Ahmia, helps strengthen the team's expertise on the Tor network.
Online sexual crimes against children are international criminality. The ReDirection project has a significant societal impact in helping to solve the global social and public health problem and promote the rights of the child. ‘The idea is that by preventing crimes at an early stage, we protect children in the most effective way,’ says Hanna-Leena Laitinen, Director of Public Affairs and Advocacy, Senior Specialist at Protect Children.
Further information:
https://protectchildren.fi/redirection/
Protect Children, Director of Public Affairs and Advocacy and Senior Specialist Hanna-Leena Laitinen, tel. +358 443022394 hanna-leena.laitinen@suojellaanlapsia.fi