About us
Action Innocence is a private Foundation, recognised by decree of the Geneva State Council to be of public interest.
It was founded in Geneva in 1999 by Valérie Wertheimer following a trip to Thailand in 1997, during which she was confronted with a burgeoning new business facilitated by the birth of the Internet: tourists booking holidays online to feed their perversions by performing sexual acts on children.
In its early days, Action Innocence sought to draw attention to the emerging harmful effects of the Internet and speak out against this new trend in paedophile crime. Up 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 users of child pornography.
Another of the Foundation’s earliest initiatives was to develop a prevention programme aimed at children, informing them of various risks associated with the Internet: the exposure to disturbing and/or illegal images, the disclosure of personal data, dangerous encounters, sexting, cyber-bullying, Internet addiction and so on.
The programme has gradually expanded. In addition to children, it is now aimed at teenagers, special-needs groups, parents, and professionals in education, health 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.