What is The Prevention Project?
How our original curriculum inspired one of Canada’s leading prevention education tools.
The Prevention Project, Inspired by Tiana Sharifi’s curriculum and scripted using her expertise.
What Is The Prevention Project?
The Prevention Project is a school-based animated video series and curriculum created to educate children and youth from grade 3-12 on the realities of sexual exploitation, online grooming, sextortion, and human trafficking.
Now used across Canada and internationally, it has reached audiences in over 80 countries within months of its release.
But behind the animations and educator guides is a deeper story- one that began long before the videos, and one that’s deeply rooted in our original classroom-based prevention programs.
The Origin: Inspired by Our Proven Curriculum
The Prevention Project was directly inspired by the pre-existing online curriculum and live student presentations developed and delivered by our team at the Center for Exploitation Education (formerly Exploitation Education Institute).
As an expert in this field with extensive experience in both frontline and educational contexts, I had already developed and delivered student prevention programs that reached over 50,000 youth across Canada. Our sessions were known for being trauma-informed, culturally relevant, and focused on root causes—not fear tactics.
In 2022, when Ontario’s Ministry of Education mandated human trafficking prevention into the provincial curriculum, a forward-thinking school district approached us to develop the first-ever online curriculum complete with structured lesson plans and educator resources. That curriculum became the model and inspiration behind what would soon evolve into The Prevention Project.
At the time, I had trained a charity that was new to the anti-trafficking space in Canada- Ally Global. Their team and organizations focus was rooted in building safe houses overseas and they were looking to enter the Canadian space.
After learning about my contract for developing online curriculum, Ally and Veto expressed the desire to be involved by recording and editing my curriculum videos. It was not feasible, but they came back with another offer to create a project of high production quality that they would raise funds for.
My Role in Bringing The Prevention Project to Life
Veto- the creative agency- began by reviewing our original curriculum, approach, and delivery framework.
My job as the expert in this collaborative project was to develop the concepts behind each animated video story, to script them, provide instruction on tone of the actors, and write all of the educator facilitator guides.
I wrote the peer safety videos using the questions that we commonly asked by students during my presentations. I then carefully crafted the replies to speak to the psychology behind the vulnerabilities leading to those questions.
The animated scenario videos were based off of disclosures and stories I had received through my work, alongside some creative and fun concepts I had for cartoons.
This was my life’s work that I put into the project and it was incredible to see it come to life.
Our Approach to Prevention
What makes The Prevention Project—and all of our curriculum—so different is the depth of our approach. We don’t teach “stranger danger.” We don’t rely on shame or fear.
Instead, our prevention work is rooted in five key principles:
1. Root Cause Education
We address the conditions that allow exploitation to happen—such as isolation, low self-worth, family dysfunction, digital manipulation, and systemic inequality.
2. Psychological Literacy
Our scripts help youth understand power, manipulation, and coercion. We teach how and why exploitation happens, not just what it looks like.
3. A Culture of Consent
Consent isn’t a one-time lesson- it’s a cultural value. We encourage youth to internalize consent as a daily practice rooted in respect, empathy, and mutual awareness.
4. Empathy and Critical Thinking
We humanize victims and deconstruct harmful norms without judgment. This creates space for both survivors and those at risk of harming others to reflect and grow.
5. Digital Relevance
Because…well…we live in a digital world!
Our Online Curriculum and Digital Learning Platform
At the Center for Exploitation Education (CEE), we’ve incorporated The Prevention Project materials directly into our broader school-based curriculum and digital learning portal for educators.
This means the project is not just a set of videos—it’s part of a comprehensive, guided prevention program. By integrating The Prevention Project into our full curriculum delivery model, we ensure that the videos are supported, contextualized, and expanded upon- creating deeper learning and long-term retention and ready to implement at scale.
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About the Author
Tiana Sharifi is the founder of the Center for Exploitation Education and the creator and lead writer of The Prevention Project. A national expert in online harms, sexual exploitation, and trafficking prevention, her programs have reached over 150,000 students, parents, and professionals. Her work continues to shape prevention education across Canada.
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