The Innocent Box, an educational game created to detect early possible cases of child sexual abuse, could arrive this year in Figueres. The project was promoted three years ago by Susan Pezantes, mother and creator of the initiative, after having suffered sexual abuse in her childhood.
The tool is designed to work through symbolic play. It consists of a box with cloth dolls, a boy and a girl, and colored stickers so that minors can identify which body parts other people can touch and which cannot. Its objective is to facilitate children's expression in contexts where verbalizing certain experiences is especially difficult.
"I got tired of being silent. I got tired of the fear. I got tired of seeing how the same thing was repeated over and over again, in other girls and boys, in other homes, in other lives" - Susan Pezantes, creator of The Innocent Box
A resource designed to open difficult conversations
Pezantes remembers that the origin of the project came after a personal stage of liberation. "It was a very liberating summer," she explains about the moment she made the decision to give shape to the idea. She also recounts how she transferred the initial impulse to her closest environment. "I ran to my husband and told him we had to make this game, that we had to create it."
The basis of the proposal is simple, but oriented towards delicate and supervised use. The Innocent Box is already used in therapeutic processes, by specialized professionals, families, and some pioneering educational centers. The project was consolidated with the support of psychology professionals and the Conciencia association.
Pezantes insists that the resource does not replace specialized intervention. She emphasizes that she is not a psychologist or a lawyer, and that the material should be understood as a way to favor detection and communication, not as a closed tool for diagnosis or intervention.
"When children play, they explain things that no one had been able to hear before" - Susan Pezantes, creator of The Innocent Box
Figueres studies to incorporate it into awareness activities
The sociologist Cristina Vila already has the resource and is studying incorporating it this year into awareness activities about child sexual abuse planned in Figueres. That possible implementation would open a new stage for a project that already has a trajectory outside Catalonia.
Currently, The Innocent Box has official licenses in Spain and Mexico, while its creator works on the expansion to new countries. The approach stems from a reality that, in her opinion, remains too hidden. "Many people know it exists, but don't want to talk about it. It's a very closed topic," she maintains.
A network of support to refer cases
Alongside the development of the game, Pezantes has promoted a support network formed by psychologists and legal professionals. The intention is to be able to refer cases and guarantee emotional care and legal defense for minors and their families when a situation of special vulnerability emerges.
That accompaniment has become one of the legs of the project. The creator defends that opening the door for a child to be able to express what is happening to them must be accompanied by subsequent resources capable of supporting the family and protecting the minor.
The diagnosis of his son and a second social project
Two years ago, when The Innocent Box was beginning to consolidate, Susan Pezantes' youngest son was diagnosed with leukemia. The situation represented a personal and family blow that also marked the direction of her social activity.
"Life gives you a hard blow. With my son, I can assure you it hurts me a thousand times more than my trauma. That's why I no longer have so much pain. What happened with the abuse has somewhat taken a back seat" - Susan Pezantes, creator of The Innocent Box
As a result of the child's illness, he/she launched the movement Mientras Tanto, aimed at helping families with children in oncology who lack immediate resources. The initiative seeks to cover basic needs in moments of economic and emotional urgency.
"While some help arrives, in the meantime you have to eat, get dressed, have diapers. That's what we do, urgent help for families" - Susan Pezantes, promoter of Mientras Tanto
Despite that family context, Pezantes assures that she could not abandon The Innocent Box because she felt it "like another child" and for its usefulness to protect childhood, open impossible conversations and break silences that leave a mark. With the possible arrival in Figueres, the project now seeks to expand its scope without losing the focus with which it was born, to turn the game into a gateway to listening and to the protection of minors.