INTERVIEW: How Saprea fights child sexual abuse through healing, education, advocacy programs – Chris Yadon

In a world where silence often deepens the wounds of trauma, one organization is daring to break barriers, restore hope, and chart a new path for healing. Saprea, founded by Shelaine and Derek Maxfield out of compassion for a friend’s suffering and in honor of a sacred promise, has grown into a global force against one of society’s most devastating crises—child sexual abuse. With a vision as bold as it is urgent, Saprea empowers survivors to reclaim their stories, equips parents and caregivers to safeguard children, and rallies communities to confront a reality too long shrouded in stigma and silence.

In this CrispNG exclusive, Chris Yadon, the managing director of Saprea, shares what inspired their mission, the impact of their work, and the insights they bring to some of the most pressing questions on healing, protection, and prevention.

What inspired the establishment of Saprea, and what is your scope of coverage?

Motivated to support a friend who was suffering impacts of child sexual abuse and to fulfill a promise to a dying friend, Shelaine and Derek Maxfield founded Saprea, a non-profit organization, a charity committed to liberate individuals and society from child sexual abuse and its lasting impacts. Saprea fulfills this lofty vision in three ways:

1. We empower healing for individuals who were sexually abused as children or adolescents through retreats, support groups, and online resources.

1. We educate and engage parents and caregivers to protect children from sexual abuse through community and online resources.

1. We drive awareness to motivate individuals to take action against child sexual abuse.

From your experience working with survivors, how do moments of increased public awareness around child sexual abuse impact those still navigating the aftermath of their trauma?

Public awareness can impact survivors in diverse ways. The responses can be as different as the survivors themselves. The benefits of awareness for survivors is the dismantling of shame and stigma, the sense of community with other survivors, and the compassionate response of being seen. The challenges of public awareness include triggering stories, public dialogue that dismisses or ignores the harm to survivors, and feeling a loss of control over their experience or story.

What are some misconceptions about survivorship that you believe the public, and even policymakers, need to better understand?

Survivors don’t need or want our pity. They need our compassion. Most survivors quietly cope with their traumatic impacts while leading very successful lives. The public often portrays survivors as deeply broken human beings incapable of living productively. This is inaccurate.

Survivors are all around us and we do not know it. Because of the societal shame and stigma, most survivors don’t disclose or limit their disclosure. As a result, survivors don’t even disclose to close friends or family. As a result the public has a perception that sexual abuse happens to someoneelse, somewhere else. It is not in their neighborhood, family, workplace, faith community, etc. This is inaccurate.

Many parents find it difficult to talk about online safety and boundaries with their children. What age-appropriate approaches do you recommend for starting those conversations early?

I think this is true of the past, but less so of current parents. Yes, we still have work to do, but many parents are talking proactively about online safety and boundaries with their children. For approaches, I encourage parents to get clear about their own beliefs regarding prevention topics like online safety and boundaries. Once clear, they can start discussions at any age. For example, you can teach a two year old about bodily autonomy and anatomy. A young child can learn about privacy and boundaries. It continues from there. Saprea provides a robust guide for age appropriate conversations at this link.

In what ways can schools and youth programs become safer spaces and more proactive in preventing abuse?

Youth programs have made significant progress in the last twenty years by implementing child protection policies, staff training, background checks, reporting channels, expanded supervision, etc. This should continue and extend to parent programming. Schools have been lagging behind other youth serving organizations. Parents, caregivers, and policy makers need to hold schools accountable to implement effective protection strategies that are working in other youth serving organizations like sports, clubs, faith communities, etc.

With technology constantly evolving, what emerging online risks should caregivers be most mindful of today, and how can they respond effectively?

AI generated child sexual abuse materials (CSAM) combined with sexual extortion (sextortion) are emerging threats. Parents and caregivers need to understand that current technology enables criminals to make nude photos of your child without consent. The criminals are then reaching out to children through technology to extort them for additional images, sexual favors, and money. Boys are being targeted at a high rate than other forms of sexual abuse and exploitation.

What role do community-based organizations like Saprea play in helping survivors move from surviving to truly healing and thriving?

Saprea believes survivors can and should self-direct their healing. Our role as an organization is to empower survivors with education, practices, and community that enable the survivor to own their story and become a steward of their healing process.

For survivors who may feel isolated or ashamed, what first steps can they take to begin accessing support safely?

Online or remote programs that are confidential and self-service can be a great place to start. When ready, engaging a therapist or a community of other survivors will help them take next steps.

How important is it to create safe spaces—both physically and emotionally—for survivors, and what does an effective “safe space” look like in practice?

Healing does not happen without safety. A survivor’s nervous system cannot engage in healing practices when it is aroused. Safety is not optional. Safe spaces are non-judgmental, supportive, and gives the survivor power and choice to manage their experience.

What are the challenges you have encountered so far as an organisation and how were you able to navigate them?

There are too many to list, but the most significant has been getting the public to acknowledge and talk about such a stigmatized and uncomfortable topic. We don’t solve societal issues when we look away and ignore them. Yet, the opposite is true. We have a great track record of monumental progress as soon as we are willing to acknowledge an issue despite our discomfort.