A Maltese survivor-led organisation has raised serious concerns about the growing tendency to offer public visibility to individuals convicted of sexual crimes against children, warning that such decisions risk reopening trauma and eroding protections for victims.The Survival of Abuse with Resilience Service of the St Jeanne Antide Foundation (SJAF) issued the warning on Thursday following public backlash over a podcast episode hosted by Ricky Caruana featuring convicted sex offender Justin Haber. The foundation said the move crossed a critical line and undermined years of safeguarding work.SJAF stressed that presenting convicted abusers on influential platforms under the guise of dialogue or rehabilitation carries real and lasting harm for survivors.“When influential platforms, the media, institutional or state-adjacent, give airtime or legitimacy to people convicted of sexual offences against children, it does not represent neutrality, freedom of expression, or responsible rehabilitation. It represents revictimization,” SJAF executive director Melanie Piscopo said.“It sends a message that power can outlive accountability, that influence can override safeguarding, and critically, that children’s suffering is negotiable.”According to the foundation, these actions risk reframing abuse in ways that minimise its severity, while signalling to survivors that their experiences are secondary to public narratives centred on perpetrators.“We reject this entirely,” SJAF said.“Sexual violence against children is never a ‘mistake’, a ‘learning curve’ or a narrative to be publicly rehabilitated without survivor-centred safeguards.”Describing the moment as a turning point, SJAF urged institutions, media figures and organisations involved in safeguarding to take a clear and public stand.“This is an emergency call,” the foundation said, warning that “silence is not neutrality; it is alignment”.“We survived so that this line would be drawn. It is drawn now.”Do you agree?•