About us
Action Innocence is a private Foundation, recognised by decree of the Geneva State Council as being of public interest.
It was established in Geneva in 1999 by Valérie Wertheimer following a trip to Thailand in 1997, during which she witnessed the emergence of a disturbing new industry facilitated by the advent of the Internet: tourists booking holidays online to gratify their perversions by engaging in sexual acts with children.
In its early years, Action Innocence sought to draw attention to the emerging harmful effects of the Internet and denounce this new form of paedophile crime. Until 2018, the Foundation ran a programme known as AntiPedoFiles, developing tracking software and making it freely available to police forces, leading to the arrest of thousands of child pornography users.
Another of the Foundation’s earliest initiatives was the creation of a prevention programme for children, designed to inform them about various risks associated with the Internet: the exposure to disturbing and/or illegal images, the disclosure of personal data, harmful online encounters, sexting, cyberbullying, Internet addiction and more.
The programme has gradually expanded and now also targets teenagers, individuals with special needs, parents, and professionals in education, healthcare and social services.
Alongside this grassroots work, Action Innocence runs extensive prevention campaigns in the media to raise public awareness.
Mission statement
Objectives
- Promote healthy and moderate use of screens.
- Promote safe, responsible, and civic use of digital technologies.
- Fight child pornography on the Internet.