The Brave Movement: A bright future ahead

Photo credit: Gergana Boeva 

Launched on 3 March 2022, the Brave Movement already has a long list of accomplishments and a bright agenda for the future.

Hosted by Together for Girls, the Brave Movement is a global movement of survivors, allies and partners. It aims to end all forms of childhood sexual violence by 2030. It hopes to achieve this by encouraging bold and transformative action by governments and institutions focused on prevention, healing, and justice. According to Dr. Daniela Ligiero, executive director of Together for Girls and a leader of the Brave Movement, it is a “Movement guided by a powerful group of 15 survivor leaders, supported by allied organisations who join us in calling for transformative action from leaders and institutions towards ending violence against children”.

The coming together of the Brave Movement demonstrates a collective understanding of the power of survivor voices in breaking through the silence and shame around abuse. As Anna Macdonald, the executive director of the Brave Movement states, “Our unique strength in the Brave Movement is that we are survivor-led. This combination of direct lived experience, bravery in sharing stories, and expertise in solutions that can help end childhood sexual violence means we have leadership set to achieve big change”.

The organisational structure of the Brave Movement is also what makes it one of a kind. Through its  15 survivor leaders, and a Global Steering Group of partners that come with a range of expertise, the Brave Movement hopes to create a truly global mobilisation of different actors to drive bold and transformative aims home.

Yet, what is meant by ‘transformative, bold’ aims? The answer can be found by looking at what the Brave Movement has already achieved in its nine-month-long life.

After launching in March 2022, the Brave Movement first came together in its first milestone event on 27 April, the Global Survivors Action Summit. The event was hosted by international journalist Femi Oke and attended by several experts, activists, and allies such as human rights activist Brisa de Angulo and WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. Following this kick-off event, on 9 June, a Global Day of Action mobilised allies and partners for the upcoming G7 leaders’ summit. On 24 June, just before the summit, the movement released the first ever comparative assessment of G7 policies to tackle child sexual abuse and exploitation (CSEA). This culminated in achieving a historic first time commitment from all G7 leaders to prevent and combat child sexual abuse globally both online andoffline. Alongside its achievements within G7 countries, the Brave Movement has assembled 18 National Calls to Action from countries around the world – with more on the way. These Calls to Action serve as demands that various national movements and organisations have for their governments and contexts, but also to inform the Brave Movement’s global demands.

With this list of achievements, it is evident that the Brave Movement hit the ground running – and it does not look like it will slow down anytime soon. As a result of its tireless work, it is already expecting some more historic commitments from G7 leaders. This includes one to two paragraphs about child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA) in the Interior Ministers’ Communique and the formation of a working group on CSEA with a permanent physical secretariat in a G7 country. These commitments will support Brave activists and allies in their efforts to hold national governments to their pledges with executive and legislative action. In the upcoming year, it is also working on mobilising billions for the End Violence Fund, strong legislation in the EU to prevent and combat CSEA, abolish Statutes of Limitations, and survivor healing, among other goals and campaigns.

One of these campaigns is its advocacy around the upcoming G7 Interior Ministers meeting on 16 – 18 November. This meeting happens to fall on the second Annual World Day for Prevention, Healing and Justice to End Childhood Sexual Violence on 18 November. As the Brave Movement continues to push for bold and transformative aims, it is mobilising its  allies and partners from around the world leading up to and during the G7 meeting.

Click here to learn more about its campaign for 18 November, and here to learn more about how it is being brave, so that children can be safe.

This partnership falls under Oak Foundation’s Prevent Child Sexual Abuse Programme, which supports networks that strengthen the movement to end child sexual abuse. You can read more about the programme by clicking here. You can read more about Brave Movement here.