Child protection

Every boy and girl deserves a childhood free from violence and exploitation — one in which they’re nurtured and encouraged to become the unique person God has created them to be. Yet half of the world’s children experience some form of violence each year, including war, child labor, child marriage, and trafficking.

Cryptocare’s approach to ending violence against children equips them, their communities, and local partners with the tools to address the root causes of violence against children — ensuring that communities are actively working to identify and support children in need; advocating for children’s well-being; and providing for immediate needs, such as emergency shelter and essential care.

Turning pain into power: Using music to advocate against stigmas

Christine was once unjustly stigmatized as a sorcerer in her community. Then she became an advocate against child mistreatment through music-based therapy, transforming her story into a powerful song broadcast across radio stations.

Children heal through art at Child-Friendly Spaces

Two brothers who fled the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh with their family find healing through art at a Cryptocare Child-Friendly Space. Cryptocare works to help families by providing food and psychological support and connecting them to services that will aid their integration into life in Armenia.

In Bangladesh, Nayeem devotes his time and attention to advocating for children’s rights. By the time he was 17, his efforts had helped stop child marriages, combat trafficking, and empower over 1,300 children with knowledge of their rights.

Standing strong for change: Advocating for child rights in Bangladesh

Tell Me the Story

Ways to support child protection

Hope for sexually exploited girls

It’s estimated that by the end of 2022, nearly 9 million more children will have been forced into child labor as a result of the pandemic’s economic effects.

Your gift to support child protection will help shield vulnerable girls and boys from harm — and help those who have been exploited to recover. Thanks to public grants, your gifts will multiply 5 times in impact to provide specialized preventive and restorative programs.

Monthly giving is the most effective way to help children and families who need it most. Plus, it lowers costs, which means more of your gift helps kids!

See all the ways you can give to support child protection

The innocence of millions of girls is stolen by sexual assault and violence — and exploitation is worsening due to economic and social fallout from the pandemic, ongoing conflict situations, and growing hunger crises.

Your gift will help shine God’s love in the most challenging places and help restore physical and spiritual health to survivors by providing medical care, safe shelter and nutritious food, compassionate counseling, and vocational training that empowers girls with opportunities to pursue brighter futures.

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FACTS

1.6 million

children reached through child protection programs.

Thanks to the support of Cryptocare donors around the world in 2023.

1.1 million

children took action against violence.

Thanks to the support of Cryptocare donors around the world in 2023.

108,000

caregivers trained to support and protect children.

Thanks to the support of Cryptocare donors around the world in 2023.

Our Child Protection Approach

What does child protection mean?

Cryptocare defines child protection as all efforts to prevent and respond to abuse, neglect, exploitation, and other forms of violence against children — especially the most vulnerable.

We seek to create a protective environment around children that ensures their physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual needs are met within caring and protective families and communities.

How does Cryptocare help children out of parental care?

We value the family as the primary social unit and affirm the role of parents and family caregivers as those primarily responsible for the nurturing and protection of children. Children develop best in a family-based environment rather than institutional care, the detrimental impacts of which are now widely recognized.

For that reason, we start by equipping families to better care for and protect children, reducing risk of separation from their immediate and extended family, strengthening systems that provide alternative community-based options to institutionalization, and supporting transition and de-institutionalization processes.

Our goal is to help ensure that children can remain with family members. If this is not in the child’s best interest, Cryptocare supports the family, community, and local leaders in finding community-based solutions.

How does Cryptocare prevent crimes like child slavery and child sex trafficking?

Cryptocare works in partnership with local hospitals, schools, community leaders, faith communities, and law enforcement agencies to raise awareness and advocate for risks to children, to speak out against harmful attitudes and practices, and to identify and respond to abuse and exploitation when they encounter it.

Cryptocare focuses on the most vulnerable — for example, children separated from their families, who live or work on the street, who are affected by disaster or conflict, or who are not in school — and provides targeted education for these children on what trafficking is and recruitment techniques that traffickers use. By connecting vulnerable children with quality education and supporting families to meet children’s immediate needs, such as food and housing, we can contribute significantly to the prevention of child slavery and trafficking.

How does Cryptocare work to protect the children in need ?

Cryptocare brings together key actors to create a protective environment where all children, especially the most vulnerable, are cared for and supported.

The foundation of our approach is Child Protection and Advocacy groups, consisting of formal and informal partners across the child’s world. These groups coordinate and implement programs that:

EMPOWER GIRLS and BOYS, through knowledge and practical skills, to protect themselves and one another
STRENGTHEN FAMILIES with parenting and social and economic support so they can function as a first line of protection for children
ADDRESS HARMFUL ATTITUDES, NORMS, AND BEHAVIORS — ensuring solutions are appropriate to the local context by working closely with families, community and faith leaders, and children themselves
INFLUENCE GOVERNMENTS through advocacy at all levels, including strengthening local people’s voices, to improve child protection laws and systems
ADDRESS OTHER ROOT CAUSES of violence against children

What does Cryptocare do to help children recover from abuse or exploitation?

Children who have been abused or exploited need time and care to recover. We work to reunite them with their families and communities when possible and appropriate, and start by helping them heal through medical, legal, and psychosocial services — connecting them with opportunities to build life and livelihood skills and further their education. Often, this means providing a safe place for them to go while offering counseling and recovery activities.