The Hidden Survivors: Care Leavers and the Unspoken Crisis of Sexual Abuse

Ruth Wacuka and Georgette Mulheir

This report examines the global sexual abuse and exploitation of care leavers, highlighting how systemic failures, both within institutions and during the transition to independence, leave young people vulnerable to harm, including cross-border trafficking and online exploitation. It calls for urgent action to strengthen safeguarding, ensure comprehensive aftercare, and create survivor-centered justice systems to protect care leavers’ rights, dignity, and long-term wellbeing.

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Children of Parents or Primary Caregivers Deprived of Liberty

UNICEF

This brief explores how the detention or imprisonment of a parent or primary caregiver affects children’s rights, well-being, and development, often exposing them to stigma, instability, and reduced access to essential services. It calls for child-sensitive justice processes, greater use of alternatives to detention, and coordinated support systems that prioritize the child’s best interests at every stage.

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Children in Civil Proceedings Technical Brief

UNICEF

This brief outlines how children engage with civil court processes—such as custody, guardianship, and adoption—and highlights the profound impact these proceedings have on their rights, development, and well-being. It identifies gaps in law and practice and calls for reforms to ensure children’s meaningful participation, child-friendly procedures, and consistent application of the best-interests principle.

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Inter-agency Guidance on Child Protection Case Management Data Categorisation

The Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action

This article highlights efforts to standardize Child Protection Case Management (CPCM) data in humanitarian settings to improve program quality, planning, and advocacy. Led by UNICEF and UNHCR through the Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action, the initiative establishes common data categories for risks, vulnerabilities, and services, enabling consistent analysis and stronger, evidence-driven protection responses for children across crises.

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Shifting Power, Localizing, and Strengthening Ownership: Three Country Learnings and Challenges in Community-Led Child Protection

Wessells, M., & Kostelny, K.

This report synthesizes learning on community-led child protection in Sierra Leone, Kenya, and India. It shows the power of communities' own agency and action on behalf of children and underscores the importance of ownership.

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Indigenous knowledge and the challenges of informal foster care practice in South-East Nigeria: The need for a formalised process for child safety

Chinwe U. Nnama-Okechukwu

This study explores the informal foster care practices of the Igbo ethnic group in South-East Nigeria, revealing both its cultural value in providing family-based care and the challenges it faces. Findings highlight the lack of regulation, data, and support services, underscoring the need for greater involvement of government agencies and social workers to ensure children’s safety and well-being.

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Building a Culture of Voice and Agency for Aboriginal Children in Out-of-Home Care: A Review of Policy in New South Wales and Victoria

Bradley Burns, Rebekah Grace1, and Scott Avery

This paper examines how effectively out-of-home care systems in New South Wales and Victoria, Austalia support the participation of Aboriginal children and young people in decisions about their own care. It highlights systemic barriers and calls for structural reforms to embed Aboriginal child and youth voices at every level, rather than relying solely on individual practitioners to promote participation.

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Psychosocial Interventions for Edge of Care Families in the Early Years: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Paula S. Oliveira, Kyla Vaillancourt, et al.

This systematic review and meta-analysis assessed the effectiveness of psychosocial interventions for families with young children involved in child protection services. While the interventions improved parenting sensitivity, attachment, and parental functioning, evidence for reducing maltreatment risk remains limited, highlighting the need for larger, more consistent studies.

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