Taking action to
help prevent and
respond to child
sexual abuse

Offered in person and online by Little Warriors, Prevent It! is an evidence-based educational workshop developed in conjunction with researchers at the University of Alberta.

Prevent It! educates and empowers adults to take action and help prevent and respond to child sexual abuse.

The Prevent It! workshop offers hope to help prevent child sexual abuse. Research has shown that adults who complete it become more supportive of children and begin using more behaviours that are believed to reduce children’s vulnerability to sexual abuse.

Child sexual abuse is a crime that often goes unreported or underreported. However, the estimates of its prevalence are staggering. According to experts:

• An estimated 1 in 3 girls and 1 in 6 boys will experience sexual abuse

  MacMillan, H.L., Tanaka, M., Duku, E., Vaillancourt, T., & Boyle, M. (2013). Child physical and sexual abuse in a community sample of young adults: Results from the Ontario Child Health Study. Child Abuse & Neglect, 37, 14-1. and Pereda, N., Guilera, G., Forns, M., & Gómez-Benito, J. (2009). The international epidemiology of child sexual abuse: A continuation of Finkelhor (1994). Child Abuse & Neglect, 33(6), 331-342.

• 95% of those children will know their perpetrator

  Finkelhor, D., Ormrod, R., Turner, H., & Hamby, S (2005). The victimization of children and youth: A comprehensive, national survey. Child Maltreatment, 10(5), 5-25, DOI:10:1177/1077559504271287

• 95% of cases will go unreported

  Martin & Silverstone, 2013. How Much Child Sexual Abuse is “Below the Surface,” and Can We Help Adults Identify it Early? DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2013.00058

• About the workshop

  Developed in conjunction with researchers in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Alberta, in close collaboration with Little Warriors, the Prevent It! workshop aims to teach adults about child sexual abuse, with a focus on helping adults develop tools to help reduce children’s vulnerability to sexual abuse.

  Prevent It! is an evidence-based educational workshop offered in-person and online. It teaches participants to help prevent child sexual abuse by using the following steps: Study, Talk, Observe and Prepare for action:

  Study – Participants are given basic information about child sexual abuse. Individuals will learn about healthy sexual development in children and what behaviours are cause for concern.

  Talk – Participants will learn that talking with children about their sexual development and about child sexual abuse is a critical step in reducing their vulnerability to sexual abuse.

  Observe – Participants will learn what signs to watch for in children that could indicate that sexual abuse has occurred. They will also learn what signs to watch for in other adults that could be cause for concern.

  Prepare for ACTION – Participants will learn ways they can begin taking action to help stop child sexual abuse—supporting children they are concerned about and working to reduce the risk of sexual abuse to other children.

  Prevent It! is useful for parents, professionals and organizations looking for the following:

  • Education and training for staff and volunteers in the prevention of child sexual abuse
  • Training to respond to insurance requirements
  • Education and training to be leaders in child protection and make a difference in their community
  • Education and training to help protect the children in their lives

  The workshop includes the following:

  • Interactive workbook for each participant
  • Video segments of experts and sexual abuse survivors’ stories
  • Opportunity for discussion about important issues in sexual abuse prevention and the relevance of these issues for parents, staff, volunteers and organizations that serve children and youth

  After the training, participants will feel empowered and be informed about the following:

  • Child sexual abuse
  • Child sexual development
  • How to talk with children about healthy sexual development
  • Troubling signs to watch for in children
  • Troubling behaviours to watch for in other adults
  • How to respond to disclosures of child sexual abuse
  • How to report abuse
  • How to reduce the risk of sexual abuse as responsible adults and organizations

  Upon completion of the workshop, each participant will receive a certificate of attendance.

  The results of an extensive followup study conducted on the Prevent It! workshop and published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology show that three months after completing the workshop, participants demonstrate highly significant improvements in several aspects of their behaviour, knowledge and attitudes regarding child sexual abuse:

  • The number of subjects actively looking for evidence of child sexual abuse increased from 46% (at baseline) to 81% (at followup).
  • The number of subjects who actively took steps to protect children increased from 25% (at baseline) to 48% (at followup).
  • Subjects showed an overall increase in accurate knowledge about child sexual abuse.
  • Subjects showed less adherence to myths about child sexual abuse.
  • Participants talked about more child sexual abuse-related topics with children in their lives.
  • Among those who were part of an organization when they took the workshop, the amount of recommended organizational prevention strategies being used tripled.

  This study followed the progress of 312 participants from 23 facilitated workshops. It measured knowledge, attitude, behaviour and prevention strategies used.

• Where do you offer in-person workshops?

  We offer in-person workshops where we have trained volunteer facilitators. Currently we have active facilitators in the following communities:

  • Alberta:
    Airdrie, Calgary, Camrose, Drayton Valley, Edmonton, Grande Prairie, Hay Lakes, Hinton, Innisfail, Leduc, Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, Ponoka, Okotoks, Westlock, Wetaskiwin
  • British Columbia:
    Burnaby, Cranbrook, Elkford, Fernie, Invermere, Kelowna
  • Saskatchewan:
    Onion Lake, Saskatoon, Swift Current
  • Manitoba:
    Steinbach, Winnipeg
  • Ontario:
    Kenora, Providence Bay, Toronto, Ottawa
  • The Netherlands:
    Eindhoven, Amsterdam, Utrecht, The Hague (Den Haag), Rotterdam, Tilburg, Maastricht. Other locations possible.

  We want to reach as many people as possible, and our facilitators will travel to other communities when it’s possible. Please note that mileage, accommodation and food allowance costs may apply.

  For more information, email preventit@littlewarriors.ca.

• Can individuals register for the workshop?

  Yes!

  We offer the in-person workshop in communities across Canada where we have active facilitators. For an in-person workshop, click here to register.

  Register as an individual for a 3 hour live online facilitator led interactive workshop.

  For the online workshop to be done at anytime as an individual, you can register here.

  You can also request a group booking to host a workshop live online via Zoom or in-person at your location. Click here. 

  This workshop deals with sensitive subject matter and was designed for participants aged 18 or older. Please note that children cannot attend the workshop. Youth between the ages of 16 and 17 can attend the workshop, but must have a consent form signed by a parent or guardian. Please email preventit@littlewarriors.ca to get the consent form prior to registration.

• Is there a fee for the workshop?

  Prevent It! is offered at no charge to individual participants, both in person and online. However, donations are appreciated and gladly accepted. Little Warriors is a registered charity and any donation over $25 will receive a tax receipt.

  For group bookings where volunteer facilitators are required to travel, a fee may be applied to cover the costs of mileage, accommodations and meals, and shipping of materials. Please note that in the Netherlands there will be a small fee charged to cover the cost of shipping Prevent It! workbooks.

  Little Warriors is committed to the awareness, prevention and treatment of child sexual abuse. It is thanks to the generous support of individual and corporate donors that we can do this important work.

  Click here to make a donation to Little Warriors.

• Can I host an in-person workshop for a group (organization, school, etc.) at our location?

  Absolutely. To do this, please complete the Group Booking Form online here.

  We ask you to provide a few options for workshop dates and times to enable us to book a facilitator. Once we receive your information, we will secure a Volunteer Facilitator to do the workshop for your group, and you will receive confirmation of the date we are able to accommodate.

  For group workshops, we require a minimum of 10 people and a maximum of 30. For group bookings where volunteer facilitators are required to travel, a fee may be applied to cover the costs of mileage, accommodations and meals, and shipping of materials.

• What’s required of me if I want to host a group workshop?
  • You will need to secure a room that is available for a 4-hour time slot and has enough space and seating for participants.
  • You will need either a TV and DVD player or a laptop, projector and speakers—to play a DVD or USB. If you are not able to provide equipment and someone to operate it, please let us know before booking.
  • Approximately 3-5 days before the session, the Regional Program Coordinator will contact you to get a list of all registered participants. This will allow us to prepare individualized certificates of attendance for all attendees.
  • On the day of the session, you’ll need to ensure that your room is set up with seating for all participants and the AV equipment listed above. We ask that you make sure that all of the equipment is working prior to the workshop start time.
  • Be prepared to meet the workshop facilitator at the location half an hour before the session is scheduled to begin, so the facilitator has time to set up.

  Little Warriors does not provide refreshments for workshops, but you are free to do so if you wish. For information on how to book a group workshop at your location, please see the answer to the question above.

• Who facilitates your workshops?

  Volunteer Facilitators are crucial to Little Warriors’ mission of helping to prevent child sexual abuse in Canada. They are our primary resource for delivering the Prevent It! workshop to adults in communities across Canada.

  Our Volunteer Facilitators are deeply committed to community, preventative education and making a difference in the lives of adults and children. Little Warriors has a comprehensive screening, training and monitoring process that all Prevent It! Volunteer Facilitators must go through before delivering an in-person workshop. Please note that our facilitators are volunteers and are not counsellors.