Protect children

Before a child leaves home

Someone offers to take a child for school, work or a better life? Check it first.

• Money or gifts for a child can become a debt the child is made to work off.
• People who traffic children are often known a little to the family: a neighbour, a distant relative, a teacher or a broker.
• A real school has a name, an address and a phone number you can check yourself.
• If you cannot call or visit, no one will know if the child is hurt or made to work.
• Whoever holds a child's papers can control the child. Keep the originals yourself.
• Far from home, a child cannot ask for help or come back alone.
• Children are often promised school, then made to work long hours for little or no pay.
• Honest people never ask you to keep a child's journey secret or to lie about the child's age.

Family safety plan

• Visit the place first, or ask someone you trust there to visit it.
• Get the full name, address and phone number of the person and the place. Call the school yourself.
• Agree on a call every week, and a secret code word the child can say if they are in trouble.
• Keep the child's original papers. Give only copies.
• Take a clear photo of the child before they leave.
• Teach the child your phone number by heart, and the child helpline number.
• Never accept money or a loan for a child. A child is not a debt.

Papers and school protect a child

• Register every child's birth. A birth certificate proves a child's age: it helps stop child marriage and child labour, and it helps a child get school, health care and help. Ask at your local government office or health centre.
• Keep children in school. Ask the school or your local government office about help with school costs, such as fee waivers, school meals or support for families. Many countries have them.

📖 7 days for parents and guardians →
A short daily Bible reading with one way to keep children safe each day.

A marriage for someone under 18?

• Wait until 18. A few more years of school can change a whole life.
• Ask the young person what they want, alone and without pressure.
• Talk to a teacher, a health worker, a faith leader you trust, or a child helpline.
• Never accept money, or the payment of a debt, for a child.
• In most countries, the law sets 18 as the age to marry.

Safe in games and chats

Games and chat apps can be fun. Some adults use them to trick young people. Know their tricks:

• People online are not always who they say they are. Ages and photos can be fake.
• Gifts, diamonds, coins, skins or phone credit from a stranger are a trick to make you feel you owe them.
• Anyone who asks you to keep a secret from your parents is not safe.
• Never send photos of your body, not even to someone you like. Photos can be copied and used to threaten you.
• Keep chats inside the game or app. Be careful if someone wants a private chat or a video call.
• Never meet someone from online alone. Tell a parent first.
• You can always say no, block and report. You don't have to be polite to someone who scares you.
• If something feels wrong, tell a safe adult. You will not be in trouble.

Someone is threatening my photos

First: it is not your fault, and you are not in trouble. Many young people face this, and it can be stopped.

• Do not pay and do not send anything more. Paying almost always leads to more demands.
• Stop replying. Do not argue or beg.
• Take screenshots of the threats and of the account name. Never take screenshots of the photos themselves.
• Block and report the account in the app.
• Tell a safe adult today: a parent, a teacher or a relative you trust.

You can also report it to the police or to a child helpline. Bring your screenshots.

A child may be in danger

Signs that a child may be trafficked or exploited:

• Works long hours, at night, or instead of going to school
• An adult always answers for the child, or never leaves the child alone
• Seems afraid, hungry or very tired, or has injuries no one explains
• Lives with people who are not family and has no contact with home
• Has no papers of their own, or says they owe money
• Is controlled by an adult, in public or online

What to do

• If a child is in danger right now, call the emergency number.
• Do not confront the adults or try to rescue the child yourself. It can put the child in more danger.
• Write down what you saw: when, where, and what the child and the adults look like.
• Call a child helpline or the police, or write a report below.

Find a child helpline in your country (Child Helpline International) ↗

5 lies traffickers tell parents