The Child project

Tobore Anne Emorhokpor is Founder and Executive Director of Nigeria Child Protection Trust, a nonprofit charity organization dedicated to the primary prevention and ending of child sexual abuse, violence against children and neglect. She has 3 years of involvement and leadership experience in raising awareness of the unacceptability of child sexual abuse. She is also passionate about transforming the lives of families and bringing them out of poverty. Tobore supports a lot of women/men through partnership with good spirited individuals’. She believes strongly in the economic well-being of families and supports women’s social development and empowerment. She received her Master’s Degree in Pharmacy, from Cardiff University. Tobore is married and has three young children.

Children in Nigeria have the right to live in safety and dignity but sexual abuse/violence against children has continued to be a menace. Many children are subjected to the worst forms of sexual abuse and violence at different stages of their lives.Unfortunately, this evil act keeps repeating and so this problem has never ended. The Child Project aims at identifying the underlying causes of sexual abuse/violence against children and eradicating it by looking at the root causes and engaging with the parents and children, drawing the attention of the Nigerian government, policy makers and other partners to take appropriate action. It is anticipated that, the child project is going elevate humanity by collaborating with international and local agencies to reduce and eliminate sexual abuse/violence against children. Also mothers will be empowered economically, which will enhance their well-being as well as increase protection of children.

The Child Project is working to end sexual abuse and violence against children, bringing perpetrators to justice and supporting women to prevent abuse. In various Nigeria communities as many as one in every three children are abused sexually and violently beaten. These children are often abused by someone familiar and are subjected to sexual and psychological torture that sometimes results in death. In Nigeria, thousands of children are assaulted daily and it is increasing by the day fuelled by extreme poverty, negligence and inability to implement harsh punishment to deter the perpetrators from continuing with their evil deeds. Sexual abuse and violence against children is a major threat to children in Nigeria and in global development. Every 7 minutes a child dies from violence (End Violence Against Children 2020). Over 1 Billion children aged 2 to 17 are estimated to have experienced emotional, physical and/or sexual abuse in the past year (WHO 2020) and one in 10 girls under the age of 20 has been subjected to forced sexual acts (UNICEF 2014). Sexual abuse and violence against children is a very serious threat with significant long term consequences that affects victims while they are young and throughout their lifetime.

The Child Project is committed to help end sexual abuse and violence against children, bringing perpetrators to justice and supporting women, so child abuse can be prevented. Sexual abuse and violence against children is preventable.

1.    We educate parents, caregivers and support /impact individuals or families who have been affected by child abuse or domestic abuse/violence. 

2.    We ensure that perpetrators of sexual abuse and violence against children are brought to justice. 

3.    We provide medical services for victims of abuse.

4.    We educate on family planning and signpost to centres that provide it.

5.    We reach out to women and children in the rural areas and cities in Nigeria through social media. By making contact with them through this medium we provide help either by partnership with NGO’s based in Nigeria or work on our own way necessary as much as we can. 

6.    We are involved in women social economic development and livelihood improvement through the provision of startup capital, income generating activities to achieve sustainable improvements in the life of deprived families.

Sexual abuse and violence against children is one of the biggest problems affecting our society. The Child Project is dedicated to preventing and ending sexual abuse and violence against children. The Child Project is operating in cities and communities in Nigeria, where the victims are located. The major focus is to reach out to all communities. Every child in Nigeria has the right to live in safety and dignity. The Child Project is committed to creating environments for all children to feel safe. We believe the potential for change in attitudes, behaviours and systems is possible, we support and create opportunities for children and women to live a better life. We believe in using time and money to change people’s lives, we help people to be self-sufficient. We pay off school fees for younger ones to enable them get an education. We also help adults and fund them in business that guarantee’s they would be able to take care of their family and create employment. We are also helping the homeless and women facing domestic violence get off the streets and getting them into a trade. The focus of the project is to help people with a chance at life.

We aim to increase awareness of violence and sexual abuse and teach about the prevention.

We help families access family planning so they have only the number of children they can comfortable cater for. This will prevent sending children off as child labourers. Victims of child labour are the children that suffer abuse the most. 

We help to deter violence and sexual abuse by prosecuting abusers. 

I was a victim of sexual abuse and violence as a child by a family member. Seeing the many stories on social media of gross injustice and violence against children, l decided to do something about it. There is an increase in cases of children being raped and rapists going free. Sometimes, the perpetrators give the families of the abused child a paltry sum. Women protect their husbands (abusers) against their own children (victims). I dislike injustice and not comfortable seeing sexual abuse and violence against children. I started off with a page on Facebook creating awareness and this evolved over time. I am very passionate about children. UNICEF reported in 2015 that one in four girls and one in ten boys in Nigeria had experienced sexual violence before the age of 18.

I have seen first-hand the effects of domestic violence on children in the home. It affects children mentally and emotionally. I have battled to overcome these demons and want to help other children. After suffering sexual molestation, I want to help young girls and boys who have experienced this and prevent others from getting abused. I dislike injustice and corruption and want to make the society a better and safer place for everyone.

I am self-motivated, resilient, and passionate. I use my skills as a healthcare professional and a project manager to manage this work. 

I live in the United Kingdom with my family. I have 3 children under 5 years old. I worl full time as a Recruitment Consultant. Despite al of this, I have been commited to helping women and children based in Nigeria for the past 3 years. Cobid 9 saw a huge incresse in the number of cases of abuse, neglect and violence. In this toubling times, i have been able to riase thousands of pounds to help women put a roof over their head and help children who have been abused. This work is very emotionally draining. In spite of all the challenges I have faced carrying out this work I have been able to stick to it and help a lot of women and children.

I got a report of a 13 year old girl who was raped and sodomised by her Uncle and his son. She was in Hospital with complications. The family were being pressured to drop the case. 

I took over and introduced the family to FIDA lawyers who help victims for free. We obtained evidence of the abuse and proceeded to arrest the culprit. 

He has connections in Government and our lives were threatened to drop the case. I involved social media and the story went viral. The girl died from complications of her abuse. We received threatening phone calls in the middle of the night. There was a smear campaign but we kept on telling our own side of the story. We got security for the family and had to strategize on everything concerning the family. We put out a date for the burial which was not accurate and armed thugs showed up. 

Despite all the challenges we have faced in this case, we are still believing for justice. The father has been remanded but the son is on the run. We are still trying to find him to bring him to justice. 

I work with over 15 NGO's and individuals  in 16 different states in Nigeria. I sometimes manage up to 5 cases at the same time. 

In Dec 2019, I had 3 cases of child abuse in Lokoja, Ilorin and Owerri at the same time. 

I could not find an NGO in Ilorin so I had to build a team of volunteers. I had to give them directions each step of the way to deal with a father who was physically abusing his mentally challenged daughter. He did not understand her illness and assumed she was stubborn. 

At the same time I was coordinating another team at Lokoja and Owerri. 

All 3 cases had successful outcomes. The teams worked well together. 

We are tackling root causes of this as well treating the outcomes.

Create a safer society with children having a good quality of life. 

Currently serving: 200

Serving in 1 year:500

Serving in 5 years: 5000

Our plan is to 

1. Encourage families to have the number of children they can comfortably look after. 
2. Empower families to start business and create jobs
3. Teach parents on the signs of sexual abuse and how to protect their children 
4.  Put abusers away in Jail to protect the fabric of society
5.  Ensure children get qulity eductaiona nd medical care 

1. We need to get people to open their minds to change. A lot of women and families believe in protecting the abusers over the victims. This is a cultural barrier. 
2.  We need finances to make sure we are able to help as many families as possible be self sufficient so they do not send their children into slavery. 
3. We need to get good legal representation in court so our cases can be seen through to the end and justice ensured. Sometimes the lawyers are given a bribe by the abuser and they throw the case. 

1. We will continue to post messages on social media and teach in Communities to let them know that they need to stop protecting abusers.

2. We currently raise money through social media and we will continue to do so. 

3. We will continue to use social media to push for justice till we can get effective representation. 

1. Black Diamonds Support Foundation
2. Be Inspired Nigeria
3. Faith Heritage foundation
4. Stop the abuse Foundation
5.  Harriet Foundation
6. Behind Bars Initiative 

I usually contact them when i have cases in their Cities and I provide money for them to help with housing a victim or providing care for them.

I am currently relying on donations from myself, friends and family. I am also applying for grants. 

The main barrier is financial. With the right financial strength, we will be able to reach more communities with the message of family planning and preventions of sexual abuse and violence. We will able to help more women be economically strengthened.