The GAPB envisions a caring, naturing world where all children have the opportunity to access their rights and express their authentic selves without fear of stigma a world with gender equity and equality where every child's right is safeguarded and freedom from sexual violence is not just an ideal but a reality for all.
Our journey is guided by a set of core values and principles that underpin every facet of our work. Our principles are the foundation upon which we build our strategies, advocate for change, collaborate and engage with communities worldwide. At the core, the GAPB commits to:
Respect for Human Rights
Child protection and the upholding of child rights serve as our compass, directing our efforts towards a holistic, mutually beneficial and complementary approach to enhance inclusivity for all children.
Gender Equity
Gender-based violence is rooted in harmful gender stereotypes and systemic power imbalances that position women, girls, and children as inferior or subordinates in society. We are committed to continuously strengthening collaboration to protect women and girls from gender-based violence and advocate for gender equity.
Transforming Rigid and Harmful Gender Norms
We aim to work with boys as allies in transforming rigid and harmful gender and social norms and understanding definitions of masculinity that promote gender equality.
Intersectional Approach
We recognise that children’s social identities can overlap and create compounding experiences of discrimination and oppression affecting boys, girls and/including children with disabilities and diverse sexual orientations, gender identities, gender expressions, and sex characteristics, among other diversity factors.
Placing Survivors at the Center
We aim to use a survivor-centred approach by ethically placing survivors at the centre of its work through meaningful participation.
Promoting Locally-Led Experiences and Expertise
We value locally-led action and local leadership, striving to enhance the agency and voice of local CSOs, people with lived experiences, and communities, making advocacy efforts more relevant and effective.
Evidence-Driven Approach
We aim to implement an evidence-based approach to understand and combat child sexual violence against boys, bridging existing knowledge gaps and enhancing prevention and intervention strategies.
Coordination and Collaboration
The complexity of child sexual violence demands collaborative efforts rather than working in isolation. We will avoid duplication of efforts, by assembling resources, expertise and commitment of organisations, and bringing together survivors, families, local and international organisations to achieve global and sustainable change.
Advocating for Additional Resources
We will advocate for more funding, allocation of resources and direct services to support survivors and survivor-led organisations, increased funding for the gender-based violence and relevant sectors for the protection of children, and dedicated new funding mechanisms in the field of prevention, mitigation and response to sexual violence against boys.