Final Conference of the Protect Project Held in London

The final conference and closing meeting of the “Protect” project, conducted in partnership with Goldsmiths, University of London, took place in London between the 14th and 21st June, 2023. Representatives from Beşiktaş Municipality’s Directorate of Foreign Affairs attended the meeting and delivered a presentation on the project.

Hosted by Goldsmiths, University of London, the conference saw the participation of a total of 80 individuals from Türkiye, the United Kingdom, France, Cyprus, and Poland, including academicians, students, experts, researchers, and project coordinators. After the presentations given by the project coordinators, the website specifically prepared for the project was introduced.

What is the Protect Project?

By developing innovative educational tools for youth workers, the Protect project — part of the “KA2 Youth Strategic Partnership”— aims to increase awareness of, inform about, prevent, and safeguard against child sexual abuse. The project, conducted in coordination with Goldsmiths, University of London in the UK, includes partners such as Beşiktaş Municipality from Türkiye; Fundacja Cooperacja (Cooperation Association) from Leszno, Poland; C.I.P. (Strong Citizens Association) from Nicosia, Cyprus; and Pistes Solidaires (Traces of Solidarity Association) from Pau, France. The project aims to enhance the qualifications and skills of women under the age of 30, promote a comprehensive understanding of sexuality education, and increase awareness of child sexual abuse.

Under the main theme of “Child Sexual Abuse,” the first online training addressed the topics such as social exclusion, territorial conflicts, and social inclusion, while the second training, hosted by our municipality in Türkiye, focused on social exclusion, social inclusion, child brides, and paedophilia. The third and final training delved into cyber safety, cyber bullying, digital exclusion, threats, harassment, disinformation, cyber bashing, unconsented distribution of images, and other cyber-crimes targeting individuals. Various games and tools were designed for all the trainings, followed by a comprehensive workshop on using these tools. At the end of the three-year project, the website was prepared to assess all these trainings and facilitate the utilization of the knowledge gained by other partners and young people receiving education. You can access the project’s website at https://sites.gold.ac.uk/the-protect-project/ to reach all the resources free of charge.