From the Centre for Research & Education on Violence Against Women and Children Learning Network:
Children and youth are particularly vulnerable to sexual violence. Their evolving needs, along with the developmental changes unique to childhood and adolescence, contribute to this vulnerability. As such, the younger the children are, the more they rely on adults to meet their needs. Moreover, for their development, children need to build and maintain meaningful emotional connections with the adults around them. This can lead children, in many situations, to prioritize and seek adult approval in order to feel valued and accepted.
Often, adults are not fully aware of the impact of the power imbalance and hierarchy that exists between them and children. This imbalance is not questioned and is seen as unchangeable. Yet adults exercise their power in both supportive and harmful ways—through everyday decisions, child-rearing practices, and sometimes through abusive behaviours toward young people.
Research indicates that sexual violence is frequently experienced as a loss of power and a violation of personal integrity. For children, it is often also experienced as a betrayal, since the person responsible for causing harm is frequently someone the child trusted.
This Brief offers a reflection-based, practice-informed approach to preventing and responding to sexual violence in ways that restore power to the child. Grounded in the work of Marie‑Vincent—a Québec-based organization that supports children and adolescents who have experienced sexual violence—it shares guiding principles, concrete examples, and relational strategies that practitioners and caregivers can adapt in their own contexts.
Access the full Backgrounder document here: Preventing and Responding to Sexual Violence: Centering Children’s Power and Agency in Practice
What is meant by “sexual health education”?
In this resource, sexual health education refers to age-appropriate learning about bodies, consent, boundaries, relationships, emotions, communication, identity, safety, and overall well-being. This term includes social, emotional, and relational dimensions of sexuality in addition to biological or medical information. Some literature also uses the term sexuality education to describe this broader scope.
Other useful resources:
- UNESCO Comprehensive Sexuality Education: For Healthy, Informed and Empowered Learners
- Sex Information & Education Council of Canada (SIECANN)
- Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights
Access the full Backgrounder document here: Preventing and Responding to Sexual Violence: Centering Children’s Power and Agency in Practice
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jessica Martin holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology, a certificate in youth intervention, and a graduate diploma in art therapy. She is a member of the registre des droits acquis of the Ordre des travailleurs sociaux et des thérapeutes conjugaux et familiaux du Québec (OTSTCFQ). She has been part of Marie-Vincent’s Prevention and Training team since 2020, where she works as a project lead and trainer. Previously, Jessica spent eleven years as a human relations officer and trainer with Quebec’s Director of Youth Protection. Her professional interests include child protection, the socio-judicial trajectory, support for child development, and intervention in situations of maltreatment. Her career has notably led her to intervene in family crises triggered by disclosure. At Marie-Vincent, her role in child protection continues in a new form—working upstream of crisis situations by equipping the significant adults in children’s lives to prevent the risks of sexual violence and to respond effectively when it occurs. Her goal is to build a protective community for all children and adolescents.
Suggested Citation: Martin, J. (2026). Preventing and Responding to Sexual Violence: Centering
Children’s Power and Agency in Practice. Learning Network Brief. London, Ontario: Centre
for Research & Education on Violence Against Women & Children. ISBN: 978-1-998746-17-0
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