Prevent Child Sexual Abuse Grants

Prevent Child Sexual Abuse Grants

Status: ACTIVE
Funder: The Oak Foundation USA
Last Updated: October 30, 2025

Summary

The Prevent Child Sexual Abuse Grants aim to eliminate child sexual abuse through strategic initiatives and partnerships with survivors, change makers, and researchers. Focused on impactful data and strong accountability, the foundation supports innovative ideas across six interconnected funding areas. While not limited to specific countries, the grant-making prioritizes regions like the UK, EU, and USA for digital safety, and the Americas for justice initiatives. Together, we can foster environments where children thrive safely.

Overview

Overview Child sexual abuse is preventable. This fact drives our commitment to end child sexual abuse online and offline. Our partners are survivors, change makers, and researchers working to accelerate action at the community, national, and global levels. There is growing public desire to do more, and we have the knowledge and solutions needed to create a world where all children can thrive. Our grant-making focuses on bringing together: powerful data and solutions; strong accountability mechanisms; and vibrant leaders, organisations, and movements. We support strategic initiatives and new ideas that build capacity and talent over the long term. To support our partners, we have divided our grant-making into six priority funding areas which overlap and are connected to each other. We strive to work together as a team across these six areas of funding. Where we fund While we do not have priority countries across the programme, we prioritise some geographies based on where we see the most opportunity. For example, our grant-making under safe digital environments is concentrated in the UK, EU, and USA, while most of grant-making under justice for survivors is currently focused in the Americas.

Eligibility

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Application Details

Prevent Child Sexual Abuse Programme
Supporting a safer world
where children can thrive
2019 – present
Grant-making strategy

Oak Foundation / Prevent Child Sexual Abuse Programme / 2019-present Grant-making strategy
Our vision
C hild sexual abuse is preventable.
This fact drives and inspires our
support to end child sexual abuse
o nline and offline. Our partners
are survivors, advocates, and
researchers working to accelerate
a ction at the community, national,
and global levels.
O ur challenge For example, survivors and allies are
organising, speaking out, and calling
a nd opportunity
on governments, institutions, and
corporations to make safer
environments for children online and
Child sexual abuse is a global public health
offline. There is also a growing number
crisis: data from UNICEF suggests that 1 in
of researchers who are creating new
5 girls and 1 in 13 boys have been sexually
solutions on what works to prevent
abused or exploited before reaching the
child sexual abuse. There is a path
a ge of 18. The impact is often devastating
forward, and we are inspired by our
a nd long-lasting, affecting mental and
partners’ efforts to bring about change.
physical health, future relationships, and
society at large. Child sexual abuse occurs
around the world in schools, sports,
_____________________________________
communities, and digital environments.
Based on feedback from grantee partners, we
updated the strategy in 2023 to explain and
F or years, child sexual abuse has been describe our strategy in more detail. We do not
anticipate making any significant changes to this
cloaked in silence and stigma, resulting in
strategy over the next few years; however, we will
government and societal inaction, poor
continue to refine it as we learn more from our
investment, and impunity. The good news partners. We will communicate to our partners if
is that there is growing public pressure to there are any changes.
d o more, and we have the knowledge and
t he solutions needed to prevent harm
before it happens.
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Oak Foundation / Prevent Child Sexual Abuse Programme / 2019-present Grant-making strategy
We aim to support powerful alliances
Our programme
and connections to contribute to change
aspirations
Strategic alliances can support our partners’
efforts to mobilise, create solidarity, and inspire
public pressure. Alliances are also critical to scale
Building on Oak’s values and Oak’s funding up solutions and strategies quickly, build
principles, we strive to reflect the following innovative solutions, and combine valuable
aspirations into our grant-making practices expertise and resources to achieve lasting
and decisions: change. This is why we support efforts that build
relationships between our grantee partners, with
We aim to be responsive to other funders, businesses, communities, and
opportunities, support bold initiatives, governments.
and learn from success and failure
We support efforts that have the potential
for the greatest impact. We also support bold
initiatives that may fail. We commit to learning Oak’s definition of child
from our partners, taking advantage of political sexual abuse
opportunities, and adapting to changes in the
We recognise that there are many
field. Our strategy will continually evolve to
definitions of child sexual abuse
remain responsive to opportunities, while
(e.g., from the CDC, WHO, and
ensuring our Trustee’s vision to end child
sexual abuse is reflected in our grant-making. UNICEF, among others), and that
different disciplines and communities
We aim to do no harm use different terms and approaches.
Research tells us that child sexual abuse affects
us all, either directly or indirectly. To this end,
At Oak, we commonly use the term
we aim to do no harm in our grant-making. This
child sexual abuse and understand
includes understanding better how we can best
this to include many forms of sexual
support our partners and continue to learn more
violence against children, including
as a team.
incest, peer-to-peer abuse,
We aim to uplift diverse voices, technology-facilitated abuse online
and support communities and (grooming and illicit images), sexual
people across the globe exploitation, and rape.
Sexual abuse impacts all children, regardless
of their economic situation, race, or gender.
Given the global nature of our grant-making
programme, we support efforts that uplift
survivors and diverse voices that are demanding
change, and prioritise the local context and
culture. For example, we support: more locally
owned and driven initiatives, including research;
initiatives that shine a spotlight on boys as
survivors and see men as a positive force
in prevention; and projects led by local
communities and people facing discrimination.
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Oak Foundation / Prevent Child Sexual Abuse Programme / 2019-present Grant-making strategy
What we fund: • invest in local researchers around the globe
to build the evidence of what works to
Six funding areas prevent child sexual abuse;
• support the planning and positioning
of solutions to be successfully scaled up
Oak and our grantee partners are preventing
(e.g., programmes, campaigns, and policies)
child sexual abuse in multiple ways, and multiple
to reach and help more children, families,
solutions are needed for positive change.
and communities; and
Therefore, based on the interest of our Trustee
• generate evidence and data to support
and consultations with partners, we have decided
advocacy efforts to drive change, with a
to support strategic initiatives and new ideas, and
particular focus on our priority areas 3, 4,
build capacity and talent over the long term. To
and 5 (i.e., ensuring digital environments
pursue our vision and support our partners’ work,
and competitive sports are safe for children,
we have divided our funding into six priority
and bringing justice to survivors of child
funding areas that focus on evidence &
sexual abuse).
solutions and accountability. These funding
areas overlap and are connected to each other.
We strive to work together as a team across
these six areas of funding.
2) Men & boys
Existing research shows that attitudes, beliefs,
and behaviours that encourage positive
1) Solutions & research masculinity and healthy relationships can protect
Preventing child sexual abuse requires multiple children against child sexual abuse. However,
strategies and solutions (e.g., parent education there is a lack of investment and evidence in
programmes, new legislation, public promoting positive masculinity. We focus on
communications campaigns, and perpetrator two developmental periods where gender norms
prevention programmes). In addition, effective are particularly malleable: early childhood and
strategies and solutions need to be locally adolescence.
informed, designed, and tested. Then they can
be scaled up to reach as many children, families, To this end, we support efforts that:
and communities as possible. We need more • test, adapt, evaluate, and plan for the scale
evidence in understanding the nature of the up of programmes to: 1) positively engage
problem and the most effective and scalable men in early caregiving, and 2) promote
solutions for different contexts. healthy and equal relationships in
adolescence; and
To this end, we support efforts that: • advocate for increased capacity and
• bring together advocates, survivors, investment in solutions to challenge ideas
about traditional gender roles in early
implementers, and governments to test,
caregiving and adolescent relationships.
evaluate, and adapt promising solutions,
making sure they have their desired impact,
and are based on evidence and the demands
of the local context;
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Oak Foundation / Prevent Child Sexual Abuse Programme / 2019-present Grant-making strategy
4) Safe sports
3) Safe digital environments
Leaders in charge of clubs, federations, and
Governments and technology companies have
governments are responsible for making sports
a responsibility to keep children safe online.
safe for children. However, increasing numbers
Unfortunately, children are subjected to
of adults are speaking up about their abuse as
significant harms through digital environments
child athletes. In addition, research shows that
because they are unregulated. Photos and videos
young elite athletes are at a high risk of sexual
of child sexual abuse are shared online on a
abuse. The unregulated environments for
massive scale. This includes self-generated
competitive child and youth athletes increase
images that are shared without consent. In the
their risk of abuse and widespread impunity
absence of harmonised rules, social media
for perpetrators and institutions when abuse
platforms, gaming services, and online service
happens. Clubs, federations, and governments
providers vary widely in their approach and cause
need to prioritise the safety and wellbeing of
unsafe environments ripe for sexual abuse. They
child athletes and be held accountable for their
violate survivors’ rights to privacy, dignity, and
inaction.
justice. They need to prioritise the safety and
wellbeing of children.
To this end, we support efforts that:
• implement measures that safeguard young
To this end, we support efforts that:
athletes against harm, so they can train
• bring together survivors, young people,
and compete with dignity and in safety;
parents, and key stakeholders to hold
• evaluate safeguarding measures to keep
technology companies accountable to build
young athletes safe in clubs and use the
safe environments and remove online child
evaluation findings to influence change
sexual abuse material;
across the sporting sector;
• support coalition building and research that
• conduct research to support survivors
can be used for advocacy, and campaigning
and their allies and strengthen safeguarding
to raise public awareness and generate public
efforts;
pressure on governments and technology
• provide support to survivor advocates
companies;
and their allies who are speaking out and
• advocate for regulation to change the norms
demanding change and justice on their terms
of industry and technology platforms with a
(e.g., start-up funding and comprehensive
particular focus on preventing and removing
organisational development support to new
child sexual abuse material online, and
and emerging groups, among others);
promoting the safety by design movement;
• help survivors and their allies to expose abuse
• build child safe technologies into the design
and advocate for change that includes
of any new online platforms to prevent harm
survivors’ unique expertise (e.g., calls for
before it occurs; and
national inquiries, national centres for safe
• advocate for new policies, with a specific
sports, and calls
focus in the EU, US, and UK, where
for justice, among others); and
opportunities exist to establish precedent
• provide self-care, advocacy, communications,
for other governments.
and holistic security support to survivor
groups and their allies, based on their
expressed needs.
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Oak Foundation / Prevent Child Sexual Abuse Programme / 2019-present Grant-making strategy
5) Justice for survivors
6) Survivor-led organisations
Supporting survivor-led organisations and their
S urvivors of child sexual abuse need to be able
allies is a priority throughout our strategy. More
t o go to the authorities, report abuse to those
survivors are speaking out, organising, and
w ho hold power, have their voices heard, and
demanding change as individuals, volunteers,
h ave their crimes brought to justice. However,
or through their participation in the work of
l aws in many countries and measures within
not-for-profit organisations. Their advocacy is
o rganisations are often discriminatory and do
creating a new sense of urgency that is critical
n ot provide safety and access to justice to
in preventing child sexual abuse. However, many
s urvivors and their families. This results in
survivor-led organisations and their allies lack
w idespread impunity and distrust of justice
funding and capacity to build their organisations
s ystems, fostering little incentive to report
to advocate for change safely and effectively.
a buse or seek justice. Individuals and institutions
n eed to be held accountable for their crimes
To this end, in partnership with survivors,
a nd inaction. Ultimately, we believe that bringing
j ustice to survivors can deter child sexual abuse. we support efforts that: build connections and
alliances of survivors and their allies to advocate
within our priority areas;
T o this end, we support efforts that:
• ensure that survivors and their allies have
• improve the laws and policies that guarantee
what they need to campaign and advocate
survivors’ access to justice (e.g., through
to increase government commitment and
eliminating statutes of limitations, improving
funding to prevent and respond to child
rape definitions, and recognising boys as
sexual abuse;
victims under the law, among others);
• ensure technology, sports, and policy and
• improve access to justice of survivors
law reforms support survivor needs and
(e.g., through child-friendly interviewing,
demands to prevent child sexual abuse
evidence collection, reporting, and
and end impunity;
psychosocial support), while being sensitive
• strengthen and build the capacity of new
to the needs of communities facing systemic
and emerging groups to support their
discrimination from formal justice systems
ability to operate effectively; and
and others facing stigma so they can seek
help; and
• ensure that survivors are informing the
design and evaluation of promising solutions
• invest in research and evaluations to
to maximise impact.
identify effective interventions, barriers,
and opportunities for survivors to access
justice.
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Oak Foundation / Prevent Child Sexual Abuse Programme / 2019-present Grant-making strategy
Strategic opportunities
How we work with
In addition to these six focus areas, we invest
in a wide variety of partnerships to allow us to our grantee partners
experiment and to help us remain responsive,
nimble, and relevant to new opportunities that
Application process
fall outside of our six focus areas of funding.
Our grants are usually multi-year and long term
While we have intentionally decided not to create
(three years or more). When we formally invite
criteria to guide these investments, they tend
an organisation to apply for a grant, we discuss
to fall into these categories:
the size of the grant and whether it will be
project support or core support (i.e., flexible
• field-building efforts to strengthen networks
and unrestricted funding). We work with
and alliances, groundbreaking research to
organisations to develop the application in
track progress in the field and to support
partnership, ensuring we communicate
advocacy, watchdog reports to hold
consistently about when and who will make the
governments and institutions accountable,
decision on a grant, how the application process
and strategic communications, including
works, and how long it will take. We also discuss
creating hope-based messaging;
the possibilities of renewal well in advance of
• experimental grants to test new approaches
the end of a grant. We consider all renewals
and partnerships;
as distinct and separate grants.
• exit-, emergency-, and bridge-grants to
Download this document to learn about the
support our partners’ transition to new
grant-making timeline and process.
funding sources and to address unforeseen
challenges and opportunities; and
Communications
• special initiative grants and legacy
We believe that the best relationships are built
investments in areas of interest to the
on trust, and we foster that in our relationships
Trustees (e.g., preventing family separation
over time. We maintain a relationship with our
in Bulgaria and supporting LGBTQI+ youth
grantee partners throughout the lifetime of the
in Switzerland).
grant to share learning and impact with other
grantee partners and the foundation. We value
Where we fund honest, open, and frank exchange and invite
feedback on how we can be better grant-makers.
While child sexual abuse is a
We will ask for formal reports on an annual basis.
public health crisis impacting
At the start of the grant, we discuss the regularity
all communities, most of our of our communications and communications
partnerships are in Southern and preferences. For example, we can offer a meeting
every six months by telephone. We strive to visit
Eastern Africa, Europe, the UK, the
our grantee partners in person when possible.
US, and Latin America. While we
In addition, we commit to sharing our strategies
may exceptionally consider
and approaches, as well as where a grant fits
partnerships outside these regions,
within broader efforts at the start of the grant.
we aim to concentrate our grant-
making in countries and regions Events and partner convenings
where we have other grantee Where practical, we attend events organised
by grantee partners to listen and learn from
partners to foster stronger
their experience. We also explore opportunities
connections and collective action.
to convene and consult our grantee partners
to better inform our grant-making and foster
joint learning and connections.
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Oak Foundation / Prevent Child Sexual Abuse Programme / 2019-present Grant-making strategy
Connect with us on social media
Our budget and
Through our social media channels, we amplify
requests for support the voices of our grantee partners and support
the work of our programmes. We want to
inspire hope and possibility.
Our annual budget is currently USD 43.3 million,
with a plan to grow to USD 48.5 million by 2025.
As a small team, we can only make up to 53
grants per year. This means that we have to
turn down many requests that come our way, Our grantee partners
despite alignment with our strategy. For information on our current grantee partners,
visit our grant database on our website or read
Organisations that fit our current strategy our annual reports. Visit our website page to
can submit an enquiry through our website: learn more about our partners’ work. We publish
https://oakfnd.org/submit-enquiry/. We know stories on a regular basis that help explain our
it can be challenging for organisations with grant-making approaches.
limited resources to connect with funders, and
we do value and consider all submissions, but
an enquiry does not guarantee a formal
invitation to apply for funding.
Additional information
Our team
We are researchers, advocates, campaigners,
programme implementers, and multi-disciplinary
and multicultural people. We are organised
in two teams (evidence & solutions and
accountability). We recognise that the funding
areas overlap and are connected; therefore, we
work together as a team across our six funding
areas. Collectively, we speak 12 languages, hold
12 nationalities, and have ending child sexual
abuse at the heart of everything we do.
Contact us
If you would like to speak to us, please email
us on info@oakfnd.ch.
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