Friend or monster? A new pan-European campaign is being rolled out to mark 25 May, the International Missing Children's Day

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Child sexual abuse can lead to children running away from home. In eight out of ten cases of sexual abuse, the perpetrator is a person the child trusts. This is why today, as in the past, the Slovenian police, in cooperation with the international Amber Alert Europe foundation and police forces from 29 other countries, are joining the pan European campaign titled 'Friend or monster?'.

FriendOrMonster

Launched in the light of the International Missing Children's Day on 25 May, this year's extensive prevention campaign aims to confront a disturbing truth: eight in ten children who fall victim to sexual abuse are abused by someone within their circle of trust. More information on this year's prevention campaign is available on the Amber Alert Europe website: Friend or Monster? 

When abuse leads to child's disappearance

Many abused children feel compelled to run away. Desperate, they attempt to escape the difficult, intolerable situation. However, running away or going missing doesn't resolve the trauma—on the contrary, it exposes them to even greater dangers, such as exploitation, trafficking, or long-term psychological harm.

The 'Friend or Monster' campaign aims to raise awareness and equip parents, teachers, and caregivers with the knowledge to spot warning signs of abuse, hold safe and supportive conversations with children, and report any concerns to appropriate services. By raising awareness and promoting early intervention, the Slovenian police in cooperation with Amber Alert Europe hopes to stop abuse and prevent it from escalating to a missing child case.

Report suspected child sexual abuse to the police as soon as possible!

If you suspect that a child has been sexually abused, report it to the nearest police station or call 113.

By taking immediate action, we can prevent the child from remaining in the vicinity of the perpetrator, where they could be exposed to further sexual exploitation and abuse. The police will do everything in our power to protect the child and take action, in accordance with our powers, against the perpetrator who dared to abuse the child's trust for such despicable acts.

It isn't always stranger danger

On 25 May, International Missing Children's Day, the focus is on prevention. One of the reasons why children run away are abusive situations in environments where they should feel safe. In eight out of ten cases, children are abused by someone they know and trust, such as family members, close relatives, friends or other adults in the community. Sexual abuse within a child's circle of trust can often lead to the child running away.

We can protect children by intervening in child sexual abuse, especially when it happens in a trusted environment. What makes intervention possible, however, is recognising the signs of abuse. Through intervention, we can stop further abuse and provide children with a safe environment, away from abuse. By doing so, we protect them, and prevent them from running away and potentially being victimised further.

How to recognize signs of abuse?

How to recognise the signs that are possible indicators for child sexual abuse, in order to intervene? Abuse might be hidden, but its signs often aren't. These signs may include giving hints, emotional, physical or psychological signs, problems at school and socializing with peers, changed or inappropriate behaviour as well as fear and avoidance of certain persons, places or situations.

It is important to create a safe space for a child in distress to speak up

As caregivers, we need to ensure a child feels safe to speak up about something that may have happened to them. Such safe environment can be created by promoting trust, listening without judgement, explaining to children that their bodies only belong to them and that no one may touch them, discussing boundaries, and helping them understand the difference between good surprises and harmful secrets.

Police continue to search for a missing person for as long as necessary

In Slovenia, there is no time limit regarding missing persons cases, meaning a missing person remains missing until they are found (dead or alive). We also keep records of unidentified bodies found until their identity is established. The Police Tasks and Powers Act also stipulates that the data in the register must be stored until the missing person is found or the unidentified body is identified.

We keep a close eye on the issue of missing persons

The Slovenian police are aware of the distress a sudden and unexpected disappearance of a loved one can cause to their relatives. This affects them greatly, which is why we devote a great deal of attention to this area of work in the police force. In order to optimize our work and be as successful as possible, we constantly provide additional training for police officers and criminal investigators. We cooperate continuously with European and global police organizations and use state-of-the-art systems such as the Schengen Information System and Interpol's Yellow Notices system for missing persons to exchange information.

Previous prevention campaigns on the International Missing Children's Day

Every year on 25 May, the Amber Alert foundation organizes an extensive prevention campaign in cooperation with police forces across the EU to raise awareness of the issue of missing children. Some of the most high-profile campaigns in previous years, in which the Slovenian police also took part, ran under the following slogans, for example:

Related content

Moj otrok je pogrešan, kaj lahko storim? (My child has gone missing, what can I do? - practical tips and guidelines for parents and guardians - only in Slovenian)
Prijava pogrešane osebe. Kako ravnati, ko nekdo izgine? (Reporting a missing person. What to do when someone goes missing? information on the reporting process and advice from the police - only in Slovenian)
Iskanje pogrešanih oseb – aktivnosti policije (Search for missing persons – police activities - only in Slovenian)
Amber Alert Europe
Police Expert Network on Missing Persons, PEN-MP (Evropska mreža policijskih strokovnjakov za pogrešane osebe (PEN-MP)