Future Developments
The OCP has recently put together a proposal to review their training programs to improve their
effectiveness using the best research available. These programs have proven to be very effective in
addressing many of the challenges that exist in child abuse prevention, however these programs have not
yet had an opportunity to be formally assessed against the current worldwide research available. The
current intent is to invite a couple of subject matter experts from the International Society for the
Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (ISPCAN) to assist the team in improving their training material
and delivery approaches.
The need to review the effectiveness of the programs has been brought to light as a result of the
awareness of a number of criticisms that have been raised from the use of personal safety programs,
such as those like 3-3-5. One such criticism is that this target hardening approach to child protection
places too much responsibility on the child. In addition, the body of research to date has not provided
convincing evidence to suggest that the knowledge attained by children through these programs actually
translates to the practical ability of successfully preventing abuse incidents from occurring in the first
place. Ultimately, adults are responsible for the safety of children and newer alternate approaches to
supporting and equipping children, such as through resilience building should be considered as better
methods for prevention and early intervention.
It is with this understanding that adults are ultimately responsible for the safety and protection of children
that the OCP ministry will seek to extend its focus and emphasise in its strategy into the future. Whilst the
use of the 3-3-5 personal safety program has increased disclosure rates of child sexual abuse, often
these disclosures do not result in positive outcomes for the child. The reason being is that the adult who
the child has disclosed to, often is not able or willing to helpfully assist the child through their trauma and
instead reacts in a way that further compounds the trauma through expressions of anger, accusations of
lying and requesting the offence to be kept secret. In response to addressing these challenges, the OCP
team is seeking to develop a new approach to inform and equip primary carers and teachers in knowing
how to help recognise signs of abuse and trauma, how to receive disclosures of abuse and how to assist
children when they disclose, thereby in doing so creating an extended guardianship environment within
the child’s relationship network. The more adults looking out for the child, the safer the child will be. The
OCP has identified that this message, that adults are ultimately responsible for the safety and protection
of children, should to be propagated throughout all the communities under the CCT. The OCP team,
however is also acutely aware of the challenges that it faces in addressing these issues amongst primary
carers and in developing a strategy for engagement. Through the team’s experience of providing positive
parenting support, it is often the grandparents of the children who attend, the parents themselves either
are too busy working, or simply uninterested. This is a fundamental change in attitude which will be
require innovative approaches to help encourage parents in CCT communities to take greater
responsibility for their children’s safety and protection.
The OCP team has also observed on an organisational level, that whilst many communities are interested
in attending training on child safe awareness training, this newly acquired knowledge has considerable
challenges in having it applied within the local and specific context of each community. As such, the team
is looking to develop a new delivery approach, progressing from its current criteria based approach
towards a more situational prevention approach. For example, helping communities understand how
crime occurs and how to control the social and environmental aspects of the situation to deter potential
offenders by increasing the risk, increasing the effort, reducing the opportunities, reducing the rewards
and reducing the excuses.
In addition, as a result of the current proactive, preventative nature of the training that the team conducts,
this process has inevitably uncovered numerous allegations of abuse. Since its inception, there have
been 80 people from within church communities, who have approached the team to inform them of
incidents of abuse, and an additional 10 people have contacted the team by phone and 5 people using
social media. However, of these, only 2 people have been prepared to formally report their case to the
police. In addition, we are currently aware of 5 people who have allegedly perpetrated child abuse, but
are continuing to run organizations that care for children since there has been insufficient support to
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pursue these cases through the judicial system. The team will need to consider further how to increase its
capacity so as to continue to encourage alleged victims to speak up when these incidents arise.
The OCP has been given a 2 hour time slot each day for the newly established CCT radio station to
promote information about child related issues, working towards its vision of seeing child safe
communities through Thailand. Each day, the team focuses on an area of interest for discussion, whether
it be child protection, child abuse, positive parenting, Internet safety or the lifestyle of today's youth. The
program provides helpful information for children and parents, as well as who to contact in cases of
abuse. The program is also available online and the team are looking at new ways to help raise
awareness of child safety and promote communities to look after their most vulnerable members. For
example, in the future, the team is hoping to run events in order to bring their audience in and promote
this ministry and message amongst their own communities.
The OCP ministry wishes to acknowledge the valuable contribution their staff makes towards the
successes and progress of this work. It has been an ongoing priority to invest in the professional
development of the OCP staff through opportunities to build their capacity and skills. The 2014 year
promises a number of possibilities to develop their skills, such as through English acquisition programs
and attending conferences in relation to child protection within this region. We are looking forward to the
continuing support from CWS and the CCT in this crucial aspect of encouraging a ministering
environment where the staff has strong commitment both in working together and in the work itself, and in
understanding their importance to the ministry.