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[22 May 2006] - This manual, as the title suggests, is about how to protect children from sexual violence and sexual exploitation, specifically in disaster and emergency situations. It is not intended to be an academic report but instead is a practical guide that we hope will be of use to people working directly in the field. The aim is to provide fundamental information to assist personnel working in emergency situations in responding to protect children, in terms of what can be done before disaster strikes (which might be called ‘mitigation’ efforts), in the immediate aftermath (the ‘response’) and in the longer term reconstruction phase (sometimes called the ‘recovery’). We have also included recommended actions and key considerations to be taken into account in the event of sexual violence or sexual exploitation. Why The Manual Was Written ECPAT International’s work in combating commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) has highlighted the absence of practical and systematic dissemination of knowledge and skills for protecting children from sexual crimes in difficult circumstances. During numerous conflict situations and following a number of natural disasters (notably the Asian Tsunami in 2004 and the Pakistan Earthquake in 2005) ECPAT received requests from organisations and members of the ECPAT International network seeking advice and guidance in relation to this issue. Even though a number of guidance documents related to emergency response exist, none of these specifically focus on preventing sexual violence against children in emergencies. It is apparent however that this problem is a concern as it is often mentioned as an issue, although countermeasures are rarely suggested. The limited resources that are currently available tend to focus on the needs of larger, better resourced organisations rather than those which are locally based and are there in the immediate aftermath and have the added advantage of community and cultural knowledge. We believe that local organisations have a crucial role to play in protecting children which should not be ignored. Furthermore, many emergency response guides give a policy overview , rather than guidance for practice, and while both are important, this means that such materials can seem of little relevance to people actually doing the work under difficult circumstances. Almost exclusively the available research focuses on the situation of women and female children, with the situation of boys being largely overlooked. While sexual violence is a particular manifestation of the broader framework of gender based violence, and thus affects girls greatly, it is important to appreciate that boys can also be victims. Who The Manual Is For The manual was specifically written to give local grassroots organisations the knowledge and strategies necessary to protect children from sexual violence and sexual exploitation in the event of both natural and man made disasters and in emergency situations. We also hope is that it will be of use to larger organisations, international agencies, policy makers, funders and anyone else who is concerned with protecting children from this particularly damaging kind of abuse and violence. How The Manual Was Developed The manual was developed in a two stage process. Stage One involved a substantial literature research into previously published material and research. Stage Two was a Technical Consultation held in Phuket, Thailand in November 2005. This meeting bought together practitioners from children’s organizations in Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Thailand that had been directly involved with relief efforts, together with international experts, to reflect upon their experience and distil lessons in relation to the protection of children from their work in the Asian Tsunami. The contents of the manual are based on the outcomes of these two stages, in conjunction with the technical expertise of ECPAT International regarding the sexual exploitation of children.