The European project 'Educap, Multiplying educational capacities to combat sexual violence against children', has held its first congress after two years of activities. It is expected to reach 1,800 education professionals in the coming months.

The programme is promoted by Save the Children, the Universitat de València, the University of Barcelona and the University Carlos III de Madrid. The training took place in the classrooms of the Universitat de València and the Universitat's Legal Clinic, which is part of the Faculty of Law.

The results of the project indicate that, after the training provided, teaching staff’s self-perception of having tools for prevention, detection and reporting of cases increased by almost 80%.

One of the most innovative aspects of this project is the "train the trainer" methodology: the materials and the training course have been designed so that the teaching staff who receive this training are able to train the rest of the education professionals within their centres, thus multiplying the scope of the training.

In total, the teaching staff benefiting from the project have more than 35,000 children in their classrooms throughout the Valencian Community. They will now be better protected at school. 

"Violence against children is something that we as a society cannot tolerate, and the educational environment is a crucial place to detect possible cases. Therefore, thanks to this project, thousands of teachers throughout the Valencian Community are now better prepared to prevent and act in schools in the event of any suspected case of sexual abuse involving a child," says Yohara Quílez Playán, Save the Children's Policy and Social Advocacy Officer in the Valencian Community.

During the two years that the project has lasted, a Guide on prevention, detection, action and support in cases of sexual abuse against children for educational centres has been edited and published, as  well as different awareness-raising materials for the educational community (teachers, school directors, psychology and pedagogy professionals, counsellors), families and children with information on the right of children to be protected from violence and with key information to prevent, identify and act in the face of sexual violence.

All these materials, together with the forthcoming book “‘Luchar contra el abuso sexual infantil desde las aulas: un asunto de derechos humanos”, have been published in open format on the project's website.

Human Rights Institute

The Human Rights Institute was created in March 2005 as the specific centre of the Universitat de València for multidisciplinary research on human rights. The Institute brings together researchers from different legal and social branches around some basic goals. Thus, the advancement of knowledge of human rights through multidisciplinary research, training and awareness of human rights through its teaching work, and the promotion of reflection, dialogue and commitment to human rights, in particular with the rights of individuals and groups that are most vulnerable or most threatened.