Our Model

Prevention activities also focus on building the capacity of physical and mental health professionals, justice system operators (police, prosecutors, judges, forensic doctors, etc.), professional educators, primary & secondary school students, university students, and parents to:

Raise awareness of the value of harmonious coexistence

Understanding the dynamics and consequences of sexual violence

Respond appropriately when there is suspicion of sexual violence against children

Create trauma-sensitive and trauma-responsive families institutions, and healing communities

Our purpose here is to ensure that individuals, families, communities, and institutions have the resources they need to create safe spaces and, if they detect sexual violence, to offer victims compassionate and trauma-informed support. Just as a trauma-informed and trauma-sensitive response can make a positive difference in a child's life, so also can an inappropriate, victim-blaming response force a child back into silence, sometimes forever.

We provide training and specializations to:

	Justice System Operators Police, prosecutors, judges, medical examiners and other professionals trained to respond to child sexual violence and help victims obtain justice.
	Health System Professionals Included in our training pillar, which aims to provide them with the necessary resources to suspect and identify possible cases of sexual violence as well as provide compassionate support to victims of child sexual violence.
	Educational System Professionals (educators, schools, universities) We also focus on training educators, primary & secondary school students, and university and graduate students to prevent and respond to childhood sexual violence by providing training on sexual violence prevention and human rights awareness. In schools we work to ensure that children and adolescents understand the dynamics of sexual violence, are aware of their human rights and know how and where to get help. Many victims do not report the violence they’ve suffered to authorities because they are simply not aware that the aggressors' acts are crimes. One of our investigations    showed that over 80% of children who were experiencing sexual violence did not know that what was happening to them was a crime. To address these knowledge gaps, we provide sexual violence prevention and human rights awareness courses in schools. These training modules put children in touch with the knowledge and resources they need to report. Part of this school-based intervention is our "Youth-to-Youth" program, which provides training to interested adolescents so that they can create safe spaces for disclosure in their schools and communities. It is often easier for children to tell their peers about their experiences than it is to tell adults.
	Human services sectors (government welfare and protection agencies, etc.) It is important for those directly involved in legal change and human services to be aware of the signs of childhood sexual violence and the impact it has on many people's lives.
	Civil society (parents, professionals and others) Through our training pillar we seek to empower parents and professionals in trauma-informed prevention, healing, justice and response to childhood sexual violence. Some of our training topics include: Healthy Early Childhood Development. Myths about Sexual Violence. Due Diligence. Neurophysiological Impact of Sexual Violence. Neuroscience-Based Forensic Interviewing. Innovative programs and practices for Trauma healing and Resilience building.

We advocate for prevention, healing and justice before international human rights bodies, including the United Nations and the Organization of American States. We maintain a persistent presence before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, where we highlight issues of systematic violations of the human rights of child survivors of sexual violence.

We have published dozens of training manuals, books, research papers, and protocols aimed at providing advocates, public officials, and grassroots practitioners with the resources, theoretical frameworks, and practical guidance they need to carry out effective prevention activities and provide direct services to survivors.

We engage in impactful social activism through public information campaigns, using various media such as radio, television, print media and social networks. We have driven several initiatives, including the annual August 9th campaign, Day of Solidarity with Victims of Sexual Violence and Against Sexual Violence Towards Children and Adolescents, which includes peaceful walks and parades in over a dozen Latin American Countries.

AWe advocate for legal and policy reforms at national and international levels to prevent childhood sexual violence and improve access to justice for survivors. We have pushed for significant changes, such as the removal of statutes of limitations and the redefinition of rape provisions in criminal law, focusing on the absence of consent.

ABH seeks to facilitate the development of survivors’ capacity to conduct analysis of the practices, beliefs, biases, prejudices, and socio-political and cultural norms that normalize the use of sexual violence as an instrument of power (e.g., toxic gender stereotypes, conditions of subordination, and others). Similarly, we seek to facilitate the development of survivors’ capacity for decision-making and effective political participation. We also facilitate platforms that elevate survivors’ voices, decision-making opportunities, and political advocacy. The central goal of these efforts is to position survivors of childhood sexual violence as political subjects in community and governmental decision-making processes related to prevention, healing, and justice. At ABH, political participation and activism begin in the home and community institutions (educational, religious, youth, etc.) and radiate outward to broader local communities, governments, and international agencies.

Healing clearly influences the political dimension that allows survivors to regain control over their life project (Esp. proyecto de vida, meaning the intentional planning of one’s life purpose, goals, strategies, and courses of action), develop the capacity to manage power relations, and generate processes of social transformation as active agents of change exercising their rights. As an organization centered on and led by survivors, our programs are designed to ensure that survivors' voices are present in everything the organization does and in all decision-making processes, from strategic priorities to the planning of daily activities.

We facilitate economic empowerment for survivors by providing courses on financial literacy, budgeting, inventory management, marketing, income-generating alternatives, and vocational training programs to help survivors and their families find employment or start their own small businesses.

We work with survivors, their non-offending family members, and schools to prevent bullying, reduce secondary victimization, and create supportive learning environments. In addition to community support, we offer free after-school classes, individualized tutoring, group activities, college and university support, and financial support for higher education. 98% of the child and adolescent survivors who receive our academic support complete high school. 90% of those who graduate from high school go on to higher or technical education, and we continue providing them robust academic support to help them succeed!

We also support child survivors, their families and communities on their collective journey to healing. Our approach situates healing in the environments and relationships of everyday life, as opposed to clinically bound approaches that situate healing in a therapist’s office.