This PSA proves that Canada is one of the safest places for kids unless they’re online

NO FIXED ADDRESS is partnering with the Canadian Center for Child Protection to raise awareness about the alarming increase in online child sexual exploitation in Canada*. The ‘Safe Spaces’ campaign alerts parents that there is currently nowhere safe for a Canadian child – not their school, not their playground, not even their own bedroom – once they go online.

In the film ‘Safe Spaces’, the mothers of six victims of online sexual exploitation tell the stories of their children from the same places where they thought their child would be safe. These brave mothers have not only suffered the nightmare of what happened to their children, they have also suffered the assumption by many Canadians that it is somehow their fault for not keeping their children safe. This is the prejudice that the ‘Safe Spaces’ campaign aims to change. This can happen to anyone. Predators are everywhere online. And they target everyone. The campaign urges Canadians to support the federal government’s Online Harms Bill, which requires social media companies to provide meaningful protections to children online.

“These courageous mothers chose to share their heartbreaking stories to help Canadians understand why we urgently need legislation to protect our children from dangerous spaces online, just as we do offline,” said Lianna McDonald, executive director of C3P. “This is why we need safety rules for the platforms children use every day, as proposed in the Online Harms Bill.”

“We were overwhelmed by the courage of these mothers who shared their stories. As a parent, it’s scary to think that we allow our children to go online every day, when there are so few protections in place in Canada right now. This is a wake-up call to all parents that this can happen to anyone, anywhere.” said Alexis Bronstorph, chief creative officer at NO FIXED ADDRESS.

*Cybertip.ca saw a 27% increase in reports of online sexual exploitation last year (compared to the previous year).