#ProtectEveryChild

This Emerge awareness campaign is on its way to equip a wide audience with the knowledge and tools to understand what Child Sexual Abuse is, how to identify it and how to report it.

Why?

There has been a surge of horrific acts of Childhood Sexual Abuse (CSA) being reported in Sri Lanka. The covid-19 lockdowns, stay home orders and the economic crisis have contributed to the increase in violence and abuse that is taking place behind closed doors.

Children, are becoming more vulnerable with each passing day.

Emerge strongly feels that it is important to raise our voices and create a community driven campaign against Child Sexual Abuse, as we believe community involvement is key in ensuring that these
heinous acts are brought to light, perpetrators held accountable and a sense of zero tolerance toward abuse becomes a communal thinking pattern.

The campaign

The banner of #ProtectEveryChild was built to reflect inclusion of all genders, any and all economic strata as well as the action of which the campaign held at its core. The branding for this campaign was intentionally neutral; and the messaging was built to be simple, clear and accessible.

“Learn Together” was the underlying theme for phase 01 of the #ProtectEveryChild campaign conceptualized by Emerge Lanka Foundation. Accordingly, the entire month of content aimed to create awareness, educate and thereby empower the general public with vital information around CSA that will lend a hand to decrease the propensity of CSA in Sri Lanka.

The Impact

#ProtectEveryChild was able to reach 300,000 individuals across 06 social media platforms through its trilingual knowledge-sharing content

More than 150 individuals responded to the campaign call to action and engaged via a video or photo with the powerful pledge to protect every child. Some of the voices included Brand Ambassadors Russel Arnold, Bhoomi Harendran, Indu Dharmasena, and Chamari Athapaththu.

Emerge founded new partnerships (LiteFM) - creating new pathways to spread awareness and knowledge on Child Sexual Abuse in Sri Lanka.