CHECK OUT THE WORK SECE HAS DONE OVER THE PAST FEW YEARS

In 2022, SECE completed a province by province diagnostic of the current policies and institutional structures in place to protect children from educator abuse.  This study includes substantive recommendations such the creation of an independent body(s) to adjudicate complaints and the establishment of a national registry of teachers found to have harmed children.  This research was co-released on November 2, 2022, by the Canadian Centre for Child Protection along with their study which determined the number of children still subject to teacher on student sexual abuse.  At least 548 children were sexually exploited by school educators or staff members between 2017 and 2021. Poor record keeping and low reporting rates mean that these numbers are significantly understated.

Further to this, the SECE study disclosed that, in most provinces and territories, the current system still relies on self-policing by actors who are both unqualified and in conflicts of interest.  Moreover, practices driven by collective bargaining and employment law often put the interests of accused perpetrators ahead of the interests of the children requiring protection.  These fundamental structural flaws in the system often result in dangerous teachers remaining in the school system by protecting their employment or hiding their damaging misconduct with the use of non-disclosure agreements. 

We concluded that weak and inconsistent record keeping and poor public disclosure of information means that Canadian parents have no way of knowing if this problem is getting better or worse. In essence, Canadian parents are mandated to put their children through an education program while not being informed of the risks to their child of sexual exploitation enabled by flawed administration of child-safeguarding.

While five provinces have quasi-independent bodies in place to adjudicate teacher misconduct, these institutions are marked by a lack of independence, conflicts of interest and in some cases weak procedure. The other provinces and territories have even weaker systems.  

SECE has leased with and advised the governments of Manitoba, Alberta and Saskatchewan on their current policies and practices and explored ways to improve safety.  As part of this work, SECE members have extensively lobbied local school districts and provincial regulatory bodies; both reporting incidences of abuse and seeking opportunities to educate local school districts on how to keep students safe today.  

In partnership with the Canadian Centre for Child Protection, SECE provided a Community Impact Statement to a Manitoba Court as part of a sentencing hearing for a teacher who sexually exploited students under his care. 

SECE has worked to make governments aware of the harms that historic pardons of offenders have on their members; both psychologically and on our ability to obtain police records related to our abuse jeopardizing our success in civil litigation.

SECE conducted a review of educator collective bargaining agreements in all provinces and found that most had personnel record destruction clauses with no exception for misconduct that puts students at significant risk of sexual exploitation by educators.

SECE has met multiple times with the Federal Ombudsman for Victims of Crime and his various staff members to raise awareness of current problems related to the safety of children in school settings.  

In January 2026 a SECE member provided advice to the River East Transcona School Division on how to improve their policies to protect children under their care.  

Two members of SECE are currently participating in a project with Little Warriors in Alberta to create a comprehensive strategy on a new way forward to prevent sexual abuse in Canada.

SECE participated in a workshop on November 18th, 2024, in Tofino, British Columbia entitled Vital Conversations on Community Response to Sexual Abuse Strategies; hosted by Clayoquot Biosphere Trust and Westcoast Community Resource Society. 

SECE members gave testimony and victim impact statements as inputs into the Federal Ombudsman for Victims of Crime 2025 report entitled Rethinking Justice for Survivors of Sexual Violence: A Systemic Investigation. 

SECE participated in a Panel at Calgary Communities Against Sexual Abuse (CCASA) two-day conference on October 23 and 24, 2025.  Focused on system failures and needed institutional reform.  

In March of 2023, a SECE member was asked to write the child safe-guarding policies for national sport program Spirit North for Indigenous Youth.

SECE participated in Sports for Life, Safety in Sports initiative in 2024 by sharing its knowledge of how to keep children safe in child serving organizations such as school settings and sports organizations.  

In 2025, SECE testified before the Future of Sport Commission on institutional solutions for keeping children safe in child serving organizations.

SECE participated in the National Summit on the Future of Sport on September 11 and 12, 2025.  During the two-day conference SECE shared its expertise on how to keep children safer in Child Serving Organizations.  

As of November 2025, a SECE member is working on a child-safety taskforce for Scouts Canada. 

Several SECE members were main subjects of and inspiration for the 2 season CBC podcast entitled "The Band Played On" and "The Banned Teacher".  These award-winning podcasts tell the story of how dozens of children were sexually abused by Canadian educators and how their school boards continuously failed in their duty to protect them.  

A SECE member was featured prominently in a Winnipeg Free Press series entitled Classroom Confidential by reporter Jeff Hamilton.  This multi-part series highlighted significant failures in school system that led to the sexual exploitation of children by their teachers.  

SECE members have authored the following books which help educate stakeholders and Canadians about the dire impacts on victims of teacher abuse and the systemic failures of the system.

•  The Village that Betrayed its Children (2024) by member Karen Lee M.A. C. Psych. Ret.

•  Teaching Bullies (2015) by member Jennifer Fraser

•  The Bullied Brain (2022) by member Jennifer Fraser

•  The Gaslit Brain (2025) by member Jennifer Fraser

•  53 articles were published in Psychology Today by member Jennifer Fraser 

Additionally, SECE members have participated in dozens of media articles and TV events focusing on public education and prevention.