This is the introduction to Prostasia Foundation's 2021 Annual Report, which is released today.

We all feel righteous horror and anger over the abuse of children, often accompanied by a feeling of disgust when that abuse is sexual in nature. These feelings stem from our shared instinct, as beings of reason and conscience, that child sexual abuse is an ethical abomination that must never be tolerated.

While this instinct is justified, a response towards child sexual abuse that is led by moral outrage also has its limits and costs. At an individual level, it drives intolerance and discrimination, especially towards minorities such as LGBTQ+ people. At a collective level, it provides cover for censorship, surveillance, and the unchecked expansion of the carceral state—which again harm marginalized communities the most.

More importantly, our society's preoccupation with moral grandstanding over child sexual abuse has distracted us from the most urgent task at hand: preventing such abuse from happening in the first place. Since most child sexual abuse is committed by first-time offenders (often minors themselves), prioritizing the punishment of those who have already offended over the prevention of new acts of offending fails to place childrens’ interests first.

Prostasia Foundation's approach to addressing this toxic political and social dynamic is twofold. First, we reorient public discourse towards evidence-based approaches to the prevention of child sexual abuse. We do this by funding the tireless and compassionate work of expert researchers and clinicians, and disseminating their recommendations to policymakers, platforms, and the general public.

Second, we call out stigma-driven laws and policies that legitimize the abuse of human rights as a response to child sexual abuse. Sometimes, majorities are wrong, and will empower their governments to do harm with impunity, as history's darkest pages record. Prostasia acts as a watchdog on extremism in the cause of child protection, by engaging with diverse stakeholders whose voices are not normally heard, and addressing the human rights impacts of child protection laws and policies.

In 2021 our inclusive, evidence-based approach achieved its greatest success, while also being subjected to its most difficult test. It began when we invited queer criminologist and author Professor Allyn Walker to be our guest on the November episode of our monthly podcast and YouTube series, The Prostasia Conversations. Allyn spoke about their (now) best-selling book on minor-attraction from Prostasia's perspective of sexual abuse prevention. The result, illustrated here by charting the views of our YouTube channel leading up to the release of the video, speaks for itself.

Because child sexual abuse is a taboo topic, key prevention messages that were covered in this interview are absent from mainstream media coverage on child sexual abuse, and from most sex education programs. For example, most people cling to the simplistic belief that pedophilia and child sexual abuse are synonymous. But as Professor Walker explained, this is not the case, and that false belief harms the cause of abuse prevention. The opportunity to expose tens of thousands of skeptical newcomers to this disconcerting but important truth has paved the way for their continued learning on this neglected topic.

The cost of this progress, however, was high. Most people strongly, even strenuously, cling to false beliefs about how child sexual abuse happens, and how (or even whether) it can be prevented. When presented with uncomfortable facts that challenge these beliefs, many react not with understanding but with suspicion, hostility, even violence.  As such, the video prompted a significant online backlash and misinformation campaign. Professor Walker, along with members of our staff, were subjected to smears, death threats, doxxing, and harassment.

We condemn these tactics, and refuse to bend to them. Indeed, it would be unprincipled for us to capitulate to stigma, given that fighting it has always been integral to our mission. As with other stigmatized topics surrounding child sexual abuse, such as sex work, pornography, and consensual kink (about which we are equally outspoken), we knew that the stigma surrounding pedophilia would be used as an attempt to discredit our work and staff.

That's why we have always insisted on taking an expert-led evidence based approach to this difficult topic, and refused to allow stigma to limit who could join us as an ally for prevention. Stigma costs jobs. It costs lives. It puts children at risk. We reject the false narratives about child sexual abuse and prevention that it maintains. We recommit ourselves to advancing our unique evidence-based and sex-positive approach towards upholding both child protection and human rights.

Despite the challenges we faced, 2021 has been a year of resounding success for Prostasia Foundation in our pursuit of our goals, as this Annual Report will set out. As our successes continue to mount, so too will our opposition. Yet we remain steadfast in our commitment to ensure that the elimination of child sexual abuse is achieved consistently with the highest values of the society that we would like our children to grow up in. Thank you for joining us on that mission in 2021, and we look forward to your continued support in 2022.

Jeremy Malcolm

Executive Director, 2018-2021

On December 13, members of Prostasia's Board of Directors, Advisory Council, and staff came together with its members for the organization's first virtual Annual General Meeting.

One of the first orders of business at the event was to talk about changes in Prostasia's team, several of which were previously announced in this newsletter. Maggie Ingram, MHS, PhD, was welcomed to the Advisory Council, and Jude Powell to the Board of Directors.

Maggie is a public health scientist with over 5 years of pre- and post-doctoral experience in the field of child sexual abuse prevention. She is committed to following the science and using a public health approach in order to design, evaluate, and promote the most effective programs, policies, and strategies to prevent the first instance of child sexual abuse perpetration.

Jude is a Master of Social Work candidate with a professional background in advocacy for survivors of abuse and neglect. Jude challenges stigmas surrounding topics such as sexual assault, behavioral and substance use disorders, BDSM/kink, LGBTQ+ identities, and non-monogamous dynamics. Jude is dedicated to advocating for survivors and erasing barriers for cisgender men and transgender or gender non-conforming victims of sexual assault and exploitation.

As Maggie joined, James Cantor PhD and Ian McPhail took their turn to rotate off the Advisory Council. James is an internationally recognized clinical psychologist and neuroscientist, and Ian is the director of PASS, and former Deputy Executive Director of the Free Speech Coalition. Both were thanked for their service.

Recently departed or departing staff were also recognized and thanked, while incoming Social Media Manager Joshua Casey was welcomed. Joshua has always been passionate about using social media as a way to advocate for his beliefs. He is an advocate for human rights, free speech, privacy, anti-censorship, autistic people’s rights, sex worker’s rights, criminal legal system reform, and child sexual abuse prevention.

Outgoing Executive Director Jeremy Malcolm and Program Director Meagan Ingerman both spoke to the meeting. Jeremy's opening remarks were taken from the Introduction to our 2021 Annual Report, which is reproduced above "A year of resounding success".

Meagan spoke about some of the new volunteer roles that will be available at Prostasia Foundation in 2022, including two of the programs that Meagan managed at Prostasia: our Survivor Expressions project, and our Prostasia Ambassadors program. Other opportunities at Prostasia are highlighted in the article "Volunteering for Prostasia" below.

Finally, the meeting was opened for general discussion and other business raised by the members. A representative of MAP Support Club presented a message on behalf of the members of that group expressing concerns about language used in some of our blog posts, and requesting a closer consultative relationship with Prostasia on such matters. The Chair assured the representatives that these requests would be conveyed to the Board for consideration.

With business ending in an orderly and punctual fashion, the meeting was declared closed. Those in attendance were thanked for their recognition of Prostasia Foundation's achievements in 2021, and for their committment as a community to continuing its important work in 2022.

So you’re thinking about getting involved in CSA prevention?

DON'T DO IT!!!! Run!!! 

Just kidding.

For real though…I’d like to share some thoughts.

By the time you read this, I will already have ended my time as Prostasia’s Program Director and may very well be busy taking a well deserved rest. I can afford to retire for about 6 hours, so I think I’ll do that. 

I started this journey in a sort of random place, I met Jeremy Malcolm and he told me about a child protection non-profit he was starting. It sounded like a new and really interesting approach and it just made sense to volunteer my time to a worthy cause. I started on the advisory council as a sort of liaison to the kink community. Before I knew it, I was pretty heavily involved. I wrote for Prostasia, helped with events, did a stint on the Board of Directors, I was our first paid employee, I have worn a lot of paid and unpaid hats while working with Prostasia. 

My 3+ years with Prostasia has been one long lesson in critical thinking. You think you are thinking until you start thinking about thinking. All that to say I thought I was really open and aware but working in this space has given me some really valuable tools and perspectives. I have to say, it has been truly bizarre to work in a field that requires a great deal of critical thinking while watching critical thinking go up in flames during the Trump years. 

But let’s talk about the good: 

Jeremy is a pretty tireless cheerleader for the people he works with. I would not have made it this far without his encouragement and faith in me. I have learned so much working with him that I have been able to pass some of it on. I have been inspired by his passion and tenacity and I am glad I got the chance to collaborate in a significant way with him in our shared work. I am truly thankful for the times I didn’t believe I could do something and he pushed me. I am also very lucky to have been given the trust and freedom to make projects my own. 

I won’t name every person I’ve had the privilege of working with because I definitely don’t want to accidentally forget anyone. Suffice it to say, I am so grateful to each and every person I have gotten to work with. Everyone who gives their time to this space is so brave and genuinely dedicated, it’s incredible to see. I thank you all for your work and for working with me. Please know I will still be around when I can to continue helping! 

To those I butted heads with, thank you for challenging me to stretch myself and see things from other perspectives. 

It wouldn't be a journey without some missteps, so to the person I accidentally fired on their birthday…I’m SO sorry! You were the first person I ever managed and I learned a lot…like making a calendar of employee birthdays…

That’s the sappy stuff, this is the part where I tell y’all what I think you need to know about working in this controversial field:

• The loudest voices in child protection are parroting false numbers and misinformation. It’s hard to shout over the din so we need a lot of voices speaking in favor of science and evidence. 
• Working for a small organization means wearing a lot of hats. It also means you’ll have a lot of opportunities to learn new roles!
• You won’t get paid what your work is worth because there is no funding despite everyone crying and shaking their fists at the heavens about how awful CSA is. As a matter of fact, if you have experience fighting for funding, using that experience is one of the best things you can offer a non-profit. 
• Learning new vocabulary will rule your life, but also, terminology is quicksand because the science and social aspects are often at war with each other. You’ll learn to adapt your speech and writing to be as correct as possible while still taking into account the human element. It’s challenging but neat. 
• TERFs use conservative talking points, conservatives use TERF talking points, both will call you a “pedo” if you disagree with them for any reason. To be honest, they’ll call you a “pedo” if you agree with them, too. The best part is when they clash and start calling each other “pedos.” 
• A lot of people who think they are warriors for consent and bodily autonomy, are still somehow SWERFs. A drum I will never stop beating is that sex work community is one of the best models we have for harm reduction and CSA prevention. A largely self regulated community that supports their own, with a vested interest in keeping minors out of sex work for everyone’s safety is a community we should be learning from. 
• People will judge you and say you do not belong in this field if you like anything other than hetero missionary with the lights off. Be who you are anyway, it’s honestly the best revenge to just keep being what they think is wrong. Sex positivity is the way forward. Stigma harms. Acceptance is harm reduction. 
• A lot of leftists are not nearly as progressive as they think they are, especially when you ask them to be open to the research and science linked to rational and effective prevention. If it’s outside their worldview and comfort zone, a lot of people will reject reality. Very few people are open to uncomfortable truths. Also, a lot of people who call themselves leftists, are not anywhere near the left. You know who you are. 
• This is not a field one should enter lightly. I don’t say this to discourage but I have learned things along the way I wish I had known from the outset. Smear campaigns are a real thing, so are doxxing, death threats, and suicide baiting. It’s completely possible to make this kind of thing something you can live through, but you need to know it’s all a possible reality. Making your face and voice public is something to approach with caution until you feel secure. 
• You’ve gotta take breaks. All of the above means you’ll have to do some serious self care sometimes. Don’t read comments you don’t need to read, protect your time off by not allowing work to bleed through, and take big fat social media breaks! You’ll thank yourself when you look up from the work and get some fresh air. 

Finally, we’ve gotta talk about how y’all approach already overworked and under/unpaid prevention advocates with requests for special attention for your niche issue. I want this to be crystal clear:

If you plan to complain, plan to contribute. 

Every single issue a small org takes on requires manpower and money. Here at Prostasia, we have done our best to tackle the most relevant child protection issues despite a lack of funding, while working full time at other jobs, and without as much help from others as you might think. Oh, you know, also during a pandemic. Those who have helped, have helped tremendously, but it’s also worth mentioning that we have spent a lot of time as an unpaid, two person team. 

As stewards for Prostasia’s early years, Jeremy and I have done our best to hear everyone out and work with as many elements of child protection as we possibly could. I personally learned that you have to streamline, you have to pick your battles, and you simply can’t cover everything. I’ve also learned that movements should be led by the people they represent. An obvious for instance is the need for MAPs to lead the movement for their own rights. A group like Prostasia can help backstop to the extent it supports our mission, but it can’t be the standard bearer. Victims and survivors need movements led by them and for them. Again, Prostasia can support, but can’t lead. Why? Because Prostasia’s mission is CSA prevention, prevention requires its own focus. 

Give your time. Give your money. Help out. People deserve to get paid for their work, especially work that is this challenging. Consider that when you think about charitable giving. It costs money to keep things like websites up and running, it costs money to keep people alive while they do this work, it costs money to fight. 

In 2022, Prostasia will be building a whole new team with new perspectives and energy to offer. If there is an issue you think Prostasia should take on that has not been part of our mission previously, soon you’ll have the option of appealing to new leadership. But I really want to stress that making a suggestion is welcome, but better with a plan to help make your suggestion a reality. 

There are a bunch of existing volunteer opportunities but if you have an idea for a new niche for yourself, by all means, make a pitch and volunteer to spearhead your pet initiative. 

Our Survivor Expressions platform for survivor stories was a pet initiative of mine. I wanted to give survivors a safe space within Prostasia. One of the cool things about side projects is that they sometimes bring in their own funding. For instance, we got some sponsorship to help with making Survivor Expressions a reality. 

Since its my baby, I will take this opportunity for a little plug: If you are a CSA survivor looking for a safe space to share your story, please consider submitting to Prostasia’s Survivor Expressions. 

We’ll present your story, your way. We even have volunteers to help hold your hand if you want to share your story but are having an understandably hard time telling it. 

Anyway, making projects happen doesn’t need to be intimidating or even take up all of your time. I want to leave you with the idea that getting things done is 100% possible if we all work together.  Finally, be nice to your friendly neighborhood CSA prevention professionals and advocates. They work hard and work is often thankless. 

And that’s pretty much it. I’m sad but also ready to step down. I will miss the team I have had the honor of working with but I am so excited to see what the next chapters will look like for Prostasia. I trust that the foundations I helped to lay will stand the test of time. 

Signing off, 

-Meagan

In 2022 while we assemble a new executive leadership team, Prostasia Foundation is returning to our roots as a fully volunteer-run, community-based organization. That means that if you have ideas about what Prostasia could be doing better, there has never been a better opportunity to help make it happen.

Whatever free time you wish to offer, and whatever your interests may be, from blogging to bookkeeping, there is an opening for you. We've listed some of the available roles on our forum, but here are a few of the choicest roles from that list:

• Acting Executive Director — You are the nexus between the Board of Directors and the staff. You will chair and attend quarterly board meetings, and perform or delegate our program work with our volunteer team.
• Blog Editor — You will be primarily responsible for suggesting topics for blog posts, and commissioning volunteers to write those posts (especially authors from marginalized groups who can write in their own voices on topics that concern them). You will edit the posts, schedule them on our publication calendar, and work with the webmaster and social media manager to have them posted online and publicized. You will also have the opportunity to write your own posts and articles for Prostasia’s website and for submission to other outlets.
• Newsletter Editor — If you got this far into our newsletter, then congratulations, you are one of the most-engaged 7.22% of our Prostasia's 6000 newsletter subscribers, and the perfect candidate to take on the job of Newsletter Editor. You (yes, you) could be the one to commission or write one lead article, one other feature piece or article, and a review to comprise our newsletter, which should ideally be sent monthly. In addition, all content published on our website since the previous newsletter was published will be featured. Selected old newsletter articles will also be submitted to the Blog Editor for publication in the “From the newsletter archives” blog series. 

For these and dozens of other open positions, please check out the full list below and enquire for further details.

In this final anthology episode of the Prostasia Conversations for now, experts and personalities from around the world talk on child sexual abuse, human rights, and sex positivity.

Speakers drawn from across our three years of podcasting include prevention expert Elizabeth Letourneau, adult movie star Alison Rey, Andrew Puddephatt from the Internet Watch Foundation, Jillian York from the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and many others.

The full list of speakers, with links to their original interviews, is given on our podcast page.