https://ecpat.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/VOICE_Report.pdf

In today’s rapid­ly evolv­ing dig­i­tal land­scape, ensur­ing the safe­ty and well-being of chil­dren online is para­mount. How­ev­er, achiev­ing this goal requires more than just imple­ment­ing top­down poli­cies and tech­no­log­i­cal solu­tions, it neces­si­tates a pro­found under­stand­ing of children’s expe­ri­ences, per­spec­tives, and needs. As laid down by the UN Con­ven­tion on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), chil­dren have the right to have their voic­es heard and tak­en into account in all poli­cies affect­ing them. By active­ly lis­ten­ing to children’s voic­es on safe­ty online, we not only empow­er them as agents of their own devel­op­ment, but we also sup­port more effec­tive poli­cies and inter­ven­tions tai­lored to their spe­cif­ic needs.

The VOICE project was designed to lis­ten, to under­stand, and bring the views of chil­dren and caregivers1 into the pol­i­cy debate around safe­ty stan­dards and poli­cies in dig­i­tal envi­ron­ments. Through this research, ECPAT Inter­na­tion­al, Eurochild, and Terre des Hommes Nether­lands, on behalf of the Down to Zero Alliance, engaged in col­lab­o­ra­tive, mean­ing­ful child focus group dis­cus­sions and the co-cre­ation of advo­ca­cy mes­sages with chil­dren in 15 coun­tries in Europe, Asia, and South America.