ICMEC Level II Child Protection Workshop: Child-on-Child Abuse: 12 May

Tuesday 12 May 2026 (09:00 – 10:30 GMT/London)

Training for School Child Protection Team Members: Level II (Synchronous)

International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (ICMEC)

Facilitated by Debbie Downes, Director of Global School Initiatives, ICMEC

Description

How can we recognize and address child-on-child abuse? In this workshop, we’ll work through the definitions of child-on-child abuse, especially sexual abuse and exploitation, and the indicators that abuse might be occurring. We’ll also work through best practices for preventing and addressing bullying and abuse between students, both online and in-person.

Target Audience

• Level II workshops are geared towards child protection team members. We recommend school child protection teams work together to choose different training for members based on their role at the school, role on the team, and interest so that the team represents a range of expertise.

Prerequisites

• Level II courses are for child protection team members who have established child protection programs and have completed Level I or a comparable foundation-level training.

Fees

• £75 per person

This course will be split into 1 x 1.5 hour sessions and will be delivered virtually via Zoom.

About the Facilitator

In August 2022, Debbie Downes joined The International Centre of Missing and Exploited Children as the Director of Global School Initiatives. In this role, she develops and provides child protection training, support, and resources to schools around the world. She has been supporting ICMEC’s work as a regional trainer since July 2020. Debbie has worked in international education for 18 years, first as an elementary teacher, then as school principal, and then as Accreditation and Child Protection Lead for Quality Schools International. She developed and revised handbooks, policies, and resources to support child protection efforts at a group of 36 international schools. She also supported schools with on-site and virtual professional development. Debbie’s background in child protection includes an MSW from the University of California at Berkeley and several years of experience working in the court unit of Children and Family Services in Contra Costa County, California. Debbie’s overseas career began with 3 years as a health education volunteer with the Peace Corps in Kolda, Senegal. She has since lived with her husband, 2 children, and 2 rescue dogs in Thailand, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Slovenia, and her current location of Minsk, Belarus.