The Safe Childhoods Foundation

The Safe Childhoods Foundation is a NGO with a mission is to fight against the exploitation of children in the developing world. Currently we are based in Indonesia, with numerous projects in play to prevent the exploitation that includes, but is not limited to, child trafficking, child sex tourism, online child sexual exploitation, (including child abuse material and webcam child sex tourism) and organ harvesting. Indonesia’s child protection systems are exceptionally weak and the latent poverty of the country that is often concealed by its shining image as an international tourist destination leaves its children vulnerable to exploitation from both domestic and foreign offenders. It is also consistently ranks as the leading country worldwide for producing, sharing and downloading child sex abuse material online.

One aspect of our work is to support victims of abuse. Our flagship project is The Sanctuary, a unique, eco-friendly safe-house for children rescued from brothels, trafficking rings, and private sex abuse situations. Blending a mix of western forensic and psychotherapeutic tools with meditation, yoga and holistic, sustainable living, this is a world first that is due to open shortly and that we hope to see replicated all over the world. Whilst supporting these victims, we also work closely with law enforcement agencies such as Interpol, the FBI and the Australian Federal Police to bring their offenders to justice. We assist in gathering intelligence on criminal gangs, trafficking rings and travelling sex offenders, identifying offenders and regional hotspots for abuse. We also work with the Indonesian National Police in strengthening their nascent child protection systems. This work ranges from training in investigative and forensic interview technique and management of offenders in the community to coordinating raids and assisting in prosecutions, whilst all the time keeping the welfare of the children our primary focus.

We recognise, however, that while it is vital we help the victims of child sexual abuse, it is vital that we are also pushing forward a proactive strategy that will contribute to stopping the abuse in the first place. Ultimately, it is this work that will reduce child sex exploitation and as a result, we place heavy focus on preventative measures. The awareness and cooperation of the public is key; currently we are running several media campaigns in hotels, airports and on billboards and in magazines to raise awareness of child sexual exploitation in tourism whilst also conducting educational Child Safe Workshops in schools and businesses. In addition, we work closely with cybercrimes units and internet service providers to make the internet safer and less hospitable to child sex criminals by blocking online child abuse material and using GPS data to identify hotspots of abuse. Underpinning our work, we are continually lobbying government ministers in Jakarta and Canberra to introduce policies to strengthen child protection in particular reference to travelling child sex offenders.

Safe Childhoods is registered charity in the UK and Indonesia, and is governed and audited by the relevant charity commission boards. Our registration number is 1126669 and can be verified on the UK Charity Commission Website. In Australia, Safe childhoods Foundation Limited A.C.N. 163062306 is the trustee of the Safe Childhoods Foundation public ancillary fund ABN 39934604423 which is endorsed as a deductible gift recipient by the Australian Taxation Office. In Indonesia we are registered as Yayasan Sahabat Anak Bali.