Phoenix 11 in Ottawa to speak about eradicating the spread of child sexual abuse material and its ongoing distribution on the Internet

Survivors meet with federal Minister to discuss the unique and traumatic impacts of having their child sexual abuse recorded and distributed online and the need to do more


For Immediate Release

Winnipeg, MB: Yesterday, the Canadian Centre for Child Protection (C3P) and the Phoenix 11 were in Ottawa to meet with the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, Ralph Goodale to discuss the devastating and often lifelong impacts of child sexual abuse and the traumatic experience survivors face when their abuse was also recorded and distributed online.

The Phoenix 11 are a group of survivors who were sexually abused as children and had their child sexual abuse recorded, and in the majority of cases, distributed online. To mark this important meeting, the C3P is releasing a recorded Advocacy Impact Statement from the Phoenix 11. View the Advocacy Impact Statement at protectchildren.ca/phoenix11.

This is the third time they have gathered to provide a voice for victims. Most recently, in July 2018, the Phoenix 11 met in Winnipeg to craft an advocacy agenda in an effort to raise awareness about the unique challenges and overwhelming struggles facing child sexual abuse imagery victims and survivors.

Survivors of child sexual abuse who have been identified and those who have yet to be identified have to face everyday the knowledge that the worst moments of their lives have been recorded and shared online. They cope daily with the fear of their imagery being seen by someone they know, being recognized randomly by strangers—all with the awareness that they completely lack control over how their imagery is used and who has it. Today, the Phoenix 11 join together to pursue the expeditious removal of their child sexual abuse imagery from the internet and are using their collective voice to advance that demand.

In January 2016, C3P and a number of partner experts from around the globe launched the first-ever international survey for adult survivors to better understand the unique challenges faced by victims whose abuse was recorded and may have been distributed online. Recommendations for change were put forward to reduce the availability of sexual abuse images on the public internet, improve education and training on the issue, strengthen international coordination and communication between all systems and entities that intersect with victims, and develop remedies to recognize the rights and unique needs of survivors.

In February, 2018, C3P and the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children organized the first retreat for a group of survivors in North America to share similar experiences in a safe and supportive environment. The Phoenix 11 were born out of that retreat, forming an action group focused on advancing the agenda and bringing the collective voices of survivors and victims to the global arena.

Quotes

“Listening first-hand to these brave young women speak candidly of their horrific childhood sexual abuse and its life-long impact was absolutely devastating and a definite call to do more. The sexual exploitation of children and its distribution online are abhorrent and intolerable crimes and I continue to be committed to victims and survivors and to push for the eradication of child sexual abuse imagery online both in Canada and internationally, through the G7 and the Five-Eyes Alliance.”
— The Honourable Minister Ralph Goodale, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness
“We are very privileged to hear the honest and painful truth from these brave women. Their courage in coming forward further reinforces our relentless pursuit of eradicating the public availability of child sexual abuse imagery online, and the need for better support for survivors who live with this reality day in and day out. We are tremendously grateful for the Minister’s time and commitment to listen to the voice of these survivors and for the government’s global leadership to solve this crisis.”
— Lianna McDonald, Executive Director of the Canadian Centre for Child Protection

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Phoenix 11 Advocacy Impact Statement

“For a long time we were afraid. We were afraid of the dark, we were afraid of the unknown, we were afraid of our past and what it meant for our future. Alone, isolated, yet exposed to the world, we knew there were others like us out there, yet we were scared to confront their pain because of what they understood about our pain.

“Last year we all took a bold step to overcome the fears about ourselves, to band together to become a force for change. To speak for all those who cannot speak for themselves. To make the invisible visible. To make the two dimensional three dimensions.

“We are the Phoenix 11. Sexually abused as children, reduced to child sex abuse images, and stripped of our dignity and humanity, we have risen together as powerful young women who are retaking our identities and self-worth.

“No longer content to live in the shadows, we are redefining what it means to be victims who were powerless to stop the relentless onslaught of the technology of abuse.

“We are survivors of sexual torture, child rape, erotic photoshoots, pedophile sleepovers, elementary school sex shows, streaming BDSM, and twisted sexual desires whose digital images are trafficked worldwide to fulfill the endless needs of an evil perverted community which takes pleasure from our pain.

“Now we are putting the world on notice that we will no longer be a silent suffering collage of young girls and boys whose nameless and often faceless images and videos circulate worldwide in the internet cesspool of humanity.

“We are the Phoenix 11.
Hear our voice.
See our strength.
Answer our call.
We will not be stopped.
We will not be silent.”

To learn more about the Phoenix 11, visit protectchildren.ca and projectarachnid.ca.

About the Canadian Centre for Child Protection: The Canadian Centre for Child Protection is a national charity dedicated to the personal safety and protection of children. Our goal is to reduce the sexual abuse and exploitation of children, assist in the location of missing children and to prevent child victimization. The Canadian Centre operates Cybertip.ca — Canada’s national tipline to report child sexual abuse and exploitation on the internet, as well as other prevention and intervention services to the Canadian public.

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