At Protect Children we do our utmost best to ensure that no child is subjected to sexual harassment, grooming or becomes a victim of any kind of sexual violence.
We advocate for child rights and support all efforts that guarantee that no child becomes the victim of sexual harassment, grooming or sexual violence.
We support professionals of any field or sector by providing child protection services and by offering training and specialist services.
We advocate for children, give advice, consult and organize seminars. We produce educational material for children, parents, caregivers and educators aimed at preventing child sexual harassment, grooming or sexual violence. We work in close partnership with national and international governmental organizations, with law enforcement, child protection agencies, companies and other relevant stakeholders.
We are specialists in protecting children from sexual violence. We have years of expertise of national and international cooperation in preventing sexual crimes against children especially in the digital media. We evaluate our processes on a regular basis and constantly update our knowledge.
We are part of the international Project Arachnid network run by the Canadian Centre for Child Protection, which uses efficient technology that reduce the availability child sexual abuse material and speeds up the process of taking down such material globally.
This significantly helps breaking the cycle of abuse. We work in close collaboration with Barnahus-project run by Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare as well as with global NGOs such as the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children USA, eSafety Commissioner Australia, Red Papaz Colombia and ECPAT Sweden. Project Arachnid is the fastest and most efficient way to remove child sexual material from the internet. Read more: https://projectarachnid.ca/en/
an action plan to prevent sexual violence against children 2020-2025 Part II (chapter 11: Laitinen&Vaaranen-Valkonen)
and especially the additional protocol with guidelines for preventing sexual crimes against children. (Vaaranen-Valkonen took part of the interagency working group for the opsc guidelines)
Every child has the right to be safe from any kind of violence. Sexual violence is one of the most adverse and traumatic childhood experience (ACE) but there are always ways to recover with the help of timely, evidence based treatment and psychosocial support.
Any images/footage recorded of the sexual crime, shared and distributed over the internet further violates the rights and well-being of the child victim.
We give our expertise to analyze the illegal child sexual abuse material (CSAM) in Project Arachnid. This helps the law enforcement to work on victim identification as well as to takedown the illegal images from the internet. CSAM profoundly wounds a child victim, their family and their close ones.
Online CSAM is a continuum of harm that slows down the recovery process. Therefore, it is extremely important to use the most effective methods and technology of Project Arachnid to remove the illegal CSAM.
We have received extensive training by Interpol and INHOPE and have several years of experience analyzing CSAM.
We have applied permit to collect funding. Follow us through Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and after we have got the permit for collecting funding we are always scanning for new ways to protect children from sexual harassment, grooming and sexual violence. We are a non-profit organization and your support is vital to us. No one can protect children alone – we need your help.
Please contact us with any questions you may have. Let’s work together! Protecting children is everyone’s responsibility; together we can make a difference.
Corporate responsibility and sustainability may be executed in different ways. We are happy to work together to find an angle that would best suit and benefit your business and to fulfill your corporate responsibility and sustainability while advancing child rights as well. Often the best solutions are guided by the strategic direction and visions of your business.
We have years of experience of collaboration with companies and advocating the Rights of the Child as part of corporate responsibility. We have created projects and innovations, and provide specialist consultation for product and service development.
We are experienced trainers with hundreds of employees from our collaboration companies trained.
We have proven skills on how to organize events, conferences and panel discussions with wide media attention and coverage.
We have experience on planning, creating and executing campaigns that have reached millions of people.
Contact us, let’s meet and find a way for you to make a difference for children.
Our work is based on scientific research and evidence based methods. We evaluate our work on a regular basis.
. We have experience in research and conducting large-scale surveys. We have worked with Helsinki University, government officials, regional state administrative agencies, law enforcement officials and child protection professionals for years.
You can learn more about our work in the chapter we wrote in “Sexual harassment, grooming and sexual violence in digital media” for a national action plan.
Currently we are in partnership in the following scientific working groups:
Vaaranen-Valkonen has co-produced a Question and Answer type card game in Finnish and Swedish to facilitate dialogue with children who have been victims of sexual violence, other abuse, or violence within the family unit. “What do you know” – cards have been developed as part of a trauma focused, cognitive-behavioral therapy method (TF-CBT) that has been proven an effective mode of therapy for treating children’s experiences as victims of violence.
They help the therapist or caregiver aid the child in processing their thoughts, feelings and behaviors that arise from their experience of violence and thus enable them to correct false beliefs and receive psychoeducation. Studies show that there is a direct correlation between the quality, timing and amount of support and understanding the child receives after surviving such a violent experience to how well they are able to heal. More information here.
“We decided to help protect children in a very concrete way. We wanted to have an organization in Finland whose one and only focus is to work toward preventing sexual crimes against children. We believe that the work requires specialized knowledge and education in both social and health care fields as well as years of experience. An amazing opportunity opened up for us and we now have two of Finland’s premier experts directing the work of the organization”
– Taina Pallasvesa, Protect Children Chairman.
Nina Vaaranen-Valkonen is known for her years of experience working to protect children from sexual violence. Vaaranen-Valkonen has been part of several national and international specialist working groups, she has been a researcher, an educator, appeared in the public media, she has also been a speaker in national and international conferences.
Vaaranen-Valkonen’s career focus has been to advocate for the teen and child victims of sexual violence. During her long career, she has worked in the field as a therapist focusing on child psychiatry. She was part of the Crime Victim Hotline project for teens, she was the hotline manager for the Finnish arm of the Save The Children Organizations Child Protection and Hotline unit. In addition to her regular job, Vaaranen-Valkonen also works as a cognitive-behavioral psychotherapist treating among others, victims of sexual violence. Vaaranen-Valkonen has coproduced “What do you know” cards as an aid for conversations between children and the adults in their lives regarding the child’s experiences of physical and or sexual violence.
Vaaranen-Valkonen has a master’s degree in political science, is a social psychologist and a licensed health care professional (cognitive-behavioral psychotherapist, licensed TF-CBT therapist) Vaaranen-Valkonen started her studies by becoming a registered nurse.
Hanna Leena-Laitinen has over ten years of multidisciplinary experience in child protection work. Laitinen has achieved substantial results partnering with business partners and has made child rights a larger part of public discourse. Laitinen has worked with helping children and teens who, as a symptom of their past, have gotten involved in crime, she has been a social worker responsible for children’s welfare and has participated in widely varied multiagency partnerships in social- and crisis hotlines including national readiness to provide psychosocial support.
At Save the Children’s child protection and internet hotline unit, Laitinen was a specialist responsible for corporate partnerships, researching social work and coordinating child protection and international partnerships and communications. Laitinen has created and implemented international campaigns and been the lead author of several publications.
Laitinen earned a Master’s degree in social sciences, and is a licensed social worker. Laitinen has also studied leadership and business economics and studied at a university in London. Laitinen’s positions of trust have enabled her efforts to have a wide-reaching societal impact. In addition to her regular job, she also acts as an educator and does social work.
+358 40747 8829
nina.vaaranen-valkonen@suojellaanlapsia.fi
@NinaVaaranen
+358 4430 22394
hanna-leena.laitinen@suojellaanlapsia.fi
@HannaLeenaLait1
Mailing and office address: Alppikatu 20, 00530 Helsinki (Office visits by appointment only)
