HM The Queen's opening speech at ISPCAN Congress

First, allow me to express my gratitude for the privilege of opening the ISPCAN Sweden 2024 congress here today. It is an honour for Sweden to host this meeting.

I want to thank the International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (ISPCAN) and Barnafrid – the Swedish National Center for Knowledge on Violence against Children at Linköping University for organising this important congress.

I am deeply grateful for the hard work and dedication of all participants in protecting children around the world. Your tireless efforts are greatly appreciated.

The congress’ theme Working Together in Times of Crisis emphasises the tough realities and challenges that children face because of armed conflicts, climate change and other related difficulties. The congress also addresses issues of racism, colonialism, bias, and their differential impacts on indigenous communities within child protection and justice systems. It focuses on collaborative approaches to protecting children, especially during challenging times.

Additionally, you will cover a wide range of topics relevant to child protection professionals and researchers from around the world. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), one billion children experience violence every year. In Sweden, nearly 60 percent of school-aged children reported exposure to violence in the latest national survey conducted in 2022. In many cases, the violence is perpetrated by an adult, including parents. The prevalence of violence is even higher among children with disabilities, such as neuropsychiatric disorders. Alarmingly, the analysis from this study indicates that exposure to violence has remained high over the last years or even increased, particularly in cases of sexual violence.

These facts urge novel solutions that are evidence-based and can be implemented efficiently, regardless of the level of resources in any given country. Child protection professionals and front-line workers are more challenged than ever to support children and families with fewer resources. In this work, multidisciplinary and multi-agency models, such as children’s advocacy centers and Barnahus, offer promise and potential.

One of the important themes of this congress is quality improvement. It emphasises the critical need for data-driven evaluation and quality improvement, particularly in children's advocacy centres and Barnahus. It is not sufficient to establish multidisciplinary collaborations across disciplines and agencies in these settings. We must recognise that continuous data-driven evaluation and quality improvement are essential for sustaining the global effort to prevent child maltreatment.

Twenty-five years ago, I established World Childhood Foundation with the vision to ensure that all children have a safe and loving childhood, free from violence, exploitation and sexual abuse. Our mission is to inspire, promote, and develop solutions to end the sexual violence and exploitation of children.

So far, we have supported more than 1,000 projects worldwide – initiatives and ideas that have developed and grown. Often, the ideas come from passionate individuals who have a deep understanding of children’s vulnerabilities and needs.

The work focuses on putting child sexual abuse on the global agenda. For example, several projects in Brazil, Cambodia, South Africa and Thailand aim to prevent sexual violence and enhance public and professional commitment to protecting children.

In Europe, the World Childhood Foundation has, among other things, helped establish Barnahus in Germany, Moldova, and Ukraine. But how does it work? The Barnahus collaborative model has proven to provide reliable, child-friendly, trauma-informed, and legally secure methods of avoiding the trauma for children who have been sexually abused. We actively work to spread knowledge and expertise about Barnahus and to facilitate the opening of more centres. I was delighted to learn that the Barnahus pre-conference, with the generous support of the Jerring Foundation, was held yesterday for the first time in the history of the ISPCAN world conferences.

Since the outbreak of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the World Childhood Foundation has supported Ukrainian children sheltering in neighbouring countries. The work has included providing psychosocial and humanitarian support to vulnerable groups, such as minority communities and children in institutions.

This experience has taught us the importance of strong, long-term commitment and the value of working together. Children and adults with lived experience possess invaluable knowledge that we should pay attention to by involving them in the work of finding new, tangible solutions.

We have an incredible gathering of brainpower, accumulated knowledge, experience, and enthusiasm here today. Let us harness this collective strength to discover new solutions for preventing violence and supporting children who have been exposed to trauma and other adversities.

Thank you.