ABOUT

During lockdown, abused Children who could usually be spotted in school or in the sports club they attend were suddenly trapped at home. For them, staying at home meant no escape or possibility to alert about what they endure. They were forced to live full time a few meters away from their torturer.. Enfant Bleu, a youth protection association, could not let abused children helpless. To reach these kids, the association went to the only place still frequented by children during this period: Fortnite, the most popular video game among youngsters. As Fortnite is not played by adults, they do not check what their kids do or who they talk to when playing it, Enfant Bleu created its own character in this video game . Controlled by volunteers from the association, the character was not here to win the game, but to talk with other players and detect cases of child abuse. Using the in-game chat and microphone, thirty new kids talked with daily, as they were informed by gaming influencers of the character’s existence. Thanks to these young influencers, it helped the avatar being known by children while staying discreet at the same time. Adults would have banned the game from home if they were aware. Moreover, this endorsement gave kids trust in our character, in order to talk in a place they know and feel safe in. After the lockdown ended, we revealed our character to the public. Adrien Taquet, the French State secretary for children and families quickly understood the issues and its importance. He launched a taskforce with the police, game editors, and Enfant bleu to find solutions against child abuse using video games. The taskforce made ten legislative proposals to the government. Some of them, such as police officers going undercover in video games, are already being applied. More over, the project draws Europol attention. This law enforcement agency of the European Agency awarded the character an innovation award. It opened UE doors: Some European police have been very interested in the system and how to extend it. Enfant Bleu has been invited to present the project to the UE Commission in Bruxelles next May.