Moonshot’s ‘Adapting Violence Prevention to the Digital World: A Framework for Action’ highlights the current disconnect between online and offline violence prevention, and therefore the urgent need to enhance prevention across the online environment.

Ten years ago, Moonshot launched the first pilot approaches to reach people at risk of violence online and offer access to critical prevention services to prevent violence. Through a decade of structured experimentation, working in partnership with governments and tech platforms, we developed a robust framework for delivering violence prevention online. This approach is now delivered around the world, from Albania, Australia, and Bangladesh to Canada, New Zealand, and the United States. The approach has been adapted to prevent terrorism, targeted violence, and gender-based violence.

Reflecting on a decade of online prevention, the report covers the following areas of focus to support a framework for action:

• Secondary prevention in practice: The report explains the appropriateness of ‘secondary’ prevention online – emphasising the importance of referral systems, assessment, triage and service provision as core capabilities for secondary prevention. These are critical steps which should be adapted for online delivery.
• Adapting to the digital world: The report highlights the importance of building an infrastructure that adapts offline strategies for the digital environment, including the importance of creating a skilled provider network, designing effective online outreach strategies, and methods of initiating service delivery in virtual settings.
• Ethical program design: The report offers ten key principles for designing ethical and evidence-based violence prevention programs – ensuring they respect human rights, implement best practices and avoid harm.

The report contributes critical insight into the urgency for building online intervention capabilities. Sharing ten years of case studies bridging the gap between the online and offline, this research offers guidance to inform the design and delivery of online prevention programs that are both safe and sustainable.