0
About Us
About Us
We Are In A Mission To
Help The Helpness
Founded in 2003, Action Pour Les Enfants (APLE) is a leading child‑protection NGO in Cambodia. We began as a front‑line response to street‑based child sexual abuse and exploitation, helping police investigate crimes and providing legal support to child victims and their families. Over two decades, APLE has expanded its work to deliver integrated protection across prevention, investigation, victim support and policy change.
- Our vision at APLE is a community with robust social and legal justice in which all children are free from sexual exploitation and abuse. Our goal is to uphold children’s rights, dignity, and potential, free from exploitation and abuse.
- APLE’s mission is to strengthen national social and legal mechanisms for the protection of children at risk of, or affected by, sexual exploitation and abuse. The APLE approach is centered on collaborative efforts with government agencies, NGOs, and local communities. Our strategies include awareness campaigns, training, victim support, justice assistance, policy advocacy, and sustainable solutions through strategic partnerships.
WHAT WE DO
Inter-Connected Pillars
APLE works through four inter‑connected pillars to prevent abuse, protect victims, and hold perpetrators to account.
Get Involved
Challenges We Address
Child sexual exploitation and abuse is evolving. Offenders exploit travel, voluntourism, new digital platforms and poverty‑driven vulnerabilities. Cultural stigma, and limited resources remain major barriers. APLE focuses on high‑impact, sustainable interventions to meet these challenges.
Disrupting Harm Cambodia (2022) found 11% of internet-using children faced OCSEA risks. APLE identifies and detects via its Internet Hotline, analyzes URLs, preserves digital evidence, issues INHOPE notice‑and‑takedown, escalates to police/ISPs, supports survivors, and prevents harm through training, parental guidance, knowledge dissemination, and campaigns.
OCSEA
Identifying, Detecting, Preventing, and Responding to Online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse
ECPAT’s Global Study documented SECTT in 100+ countries, with offenders increasingly domestic. APLE strengthens criminal justice capacity by training police and justice professionals, conducting joint operations, evidence-led case building, and industry reporting via The Code. APLE helps to secure victim-centered prosecutions and coordinates cross-border cooperation.
SECTT
Strengthening Criminal Justice Capacity to Combat Sexual Exploitation of Children in Travel and Tourism
In Cambodia, 77% of children in residential care have living parents (MoSVY/UNICEF, 2017), and unvetted volunteering increases grooming risks. APLE trains communities, NGOs and tour operators on screening and codes of conduct, establishes reporting lines to police, monitors access to children, and runs campaigns discouraging orphanage visits and promoting The Code compliance.
Voluntourism
Promoting Collective Actions against Child Sexual Exploitation in the Context of Voluntourism
Our History
APLE History & Timeline
-
Start Here
Founded
APLE began in 2003 as an international NGO in Cambodia with a clear mission: protect children, support survivors, and strengthen justice against sexual exploitation and abuse. Over time, APLE evolved into a multidisciplinary organization—localizing leadership and governance, expanding prevention and survivor services, launching a national Internet Hotline, and driving policy and legal reform. Today, APLE is a Cambodian local NGO, rooted in communities and connected to global networks, delivering child-friendly, trauma‑informed support and systems change.
2003-2008
Focus: Strengthening criminal justice responses to child sexual exploitation and abuse, supporting investigations and prosecutions. Practice shifts: Promoting child‑friendly procedures. Survivor support: Early court accompaniment and basic psychosocial assistance to reduce re‑traumatization and help families navigate the system. Partnerships: Initial collaboration with police, prosecutors, social services and emerging child‑protection NGOs.
-
Launch of the APLE Internet Hotline with INHOPE
2015
Hotline operations: Established a secure, anonymous channel to report child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and online child exploitation. Global routing: Joined INHOPE, the global network of 54 internet hotlines across 50 countries, enabling rapid cross‑border notice and takedown with ISPs, platforms and law enforcement. Digital capability: Built analyst capacity for content assessment, evidence handling and partnership workflows with Cambodian authorities.
2009-2014
Comprehensive casework: Formalized Victim Support and Assistance, including counseling, legal guidance, and coordinated referrals. Case management: Introduced structured, child‑centered case management and standard operating procedures (SOPs) aligned with government pathways. Community engagement: Launched targeted awareness for children, youth, caregivers and local leaders to recognize risks and seek help. Industry outreach: Began training in travel and tourism and other at‑risk sectors to prevent facilitation and strengthen reporting. Government coordination: Deepened relationships with MoSVY/DoSVY and other line ministries to improve identification, protection and referrals.
-
Community, media and industry engagement at scale
2016
Prevention first: Expanded child‑friendly education on body safety, digital safety, grooming and sextortion for students and youth. Caregiver and leader training: Equipped parents, teachers, community leaders and local authorities to identify risks, report safely and coordinate early interventions. Industry standards: Promoted The Code of Conduct for the Protection of Children in Travel and Tourism (The Code); trained hotels, guesthouses, tour operators, taxi/tuk‑tuk drivers, market vendors and local guides. Media and tech: Supported ethical reporting, privacy protection and the use of appropriate terminology (for example, “child sexual abuse material—CSAM”) and streamlined platform reporting pathways.
2022-Present
Multi‑sector coordination: Reinforced joint working groups with ministries, law enforcement, social services, schools, media and industry to move policy from paper to practice. Public awareness and reporting: Scaled child‑friendly campaigns and hotline promotion to increase safe, anonymous reporting and faster takedowns of illegal content. Quality and accountability: Strengthened monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL), safeguarding audits and continuous professional development across teams.