Blue Umbrella Day (BUD), which is a campaign that raises awareness of how to better care for boys and protect them from sexual violence was launched on April 16th as part of Childlink’s two-year public education campaign.
Childlink, in a press release, stated that the BUD campaign is an initiative by global network, Family For Every Child, and its local stakeholder, Childlink. Blue Umbrella Day raises awareness of how to better care for boys and protect them from sexual violence. The BUD initiative relied on the research findings from Caring for Boys research conducted by Family For Every Child; that report states, partially, that “sexual violence affecting boys remains largely unknown, unacknowledged and not responded to, across a wide range of contexts and cultures, mostly as a result of gendered social norms, which influence perceptions of boys’ vulnerability. These also pose an obstacle to disclosure by boys, identification and acceptance by others, recognition of harm caused, and recognition of the support needed to recover”.
At the launch of the research-backed campaign, Head of Cooperation, EU Delegation of the European Union, Karel Lizerot said, “It is an inverted gender issue to speak about the abuse of boys, because it touches on so many taboos. I am happy that the EU can support an initiative that not only promotes discussions but also are actively working on the issue. Boys are often neglected victims and I am glad that we can search for the truth with this project.” ChildLinK incorporated BUD into its existing One Thousand Boys initiative (OTB), a project that started in 2020. According to Childlink’s release, OTB has been widening collaboration, increasing the target groups, delivering services in regions where no services currently exist and place greater emphasis on men and boys both as victims and perpetrators but more critically as advocates for preventing Child Sexual Abuse (CSA).
Lead Researcher on the OTB research, Dr. Paulette Henry said many social norms and practices contribute to CSA. “There is a great underreporting of sexual assault of boys. It is believed to be far more common than is currently thought, with boys being just as vulnerable as girls but shame and guilt often inhibits reporting,” said Dr. Henry. The OTB will expand the Child Advocacy Centre (CAC) services to children who report child sexual abuse. ChildLinK is currently operating CACs in regions 3, 4, 5 and 6. Support gained from the Spotlight Initiative Guyana was instrumental in operationalizing the CAC in Region 6. Under the OTB new CACs services will be made available in regions 8 and 9 with the aim that children in all regions in Guyana will have access to the CAC services.
Dr. Vindhya Persaud, Minister of Human Services and Social Security, who delivered the feature address, underscored the importance of placing the spotlight on violence against boys. “I commend and congratulate ChildLinK for their passionate advocacy, their creative approaches, and especially, this one that focuses on one thousand teen boys and also partnering with hundreds of men so that they become advocates for the awareness campaign and end stigma as it relates to reporting and intervention.”
This BUD campaign is currently ongoing in several member countries including India, the Philippines and Paraguay.
