Out of the shadows: Shining light on the response to child sexual abuse and exploitation is an Economist Intelligence Unit research programme supported by the World Childhood Foundation and the Oak Foundation with additional support from the Carlson Family Foundation.
It is based largely on a country-level benchmarking index that evaluates how stakeholders are responding to the scourge of sexual violence against children in 40 selected countries. They include: Albania, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Cambodia, Canada, China, Egypt, El Salvador, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Mongolia, Mozambique, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Serbia, South Africa, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Tanzania, Turkey, the UAE, Uganda, the UK, the US and Vietnam.
The Out of the Shadows Index examines four categories within which these responses take place:
- Environment: the safety and stability of a country, the social protections available to families and children, and whether norms lead to open discussion of the issue.
- Legal framework: the degree to which a country provides legal or regulatory protections for children from sexual exploitation or abuse.
- Government commitment and capacity: whether governments invest in resources to equip institutions and personnel to respond appropriately, and to collect data to understand the scope of the problem.
- Engagement of industry, civil society and media: the propensity for addressing risks to children at the industry and community levels, as well as providing support to victims.
Created with input from international experts, the index draws on the latest available quantitative data and qualitative research. The index model is available at https://outoftheshadows.eiu.com. A detailed description of the index construction and research process is available in a downloadable methodology paper, alongside other resources related to working with the model.
This online resource includes key findings, country-by-country data, information on the Sustainable Development Goals, news and videos, a white paper, and other resources.
