Out of the Shadows

The Out of the Shadows Index (OOSI) is the first global benchmark looking at how countries are addressing child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA). An Ignite Philanthropy research program, designed and developed by Economist Impact, the index examines how stakeholders are preventing and responding to CSEA in 60 countries, which covers approximately 85% of the global child population.

Rather than attempting to measure the scale of CSEA, the Out of the Shadows Index (OOSI) focuses instead on how stakeholders are approaching the problem on a national level. The index not only ranks countries in effectiveness and preparedness in their existing CSEA strategies, but it also presents the need for heightened government accountability, legislative reform and child-centric policies.

The Challenge

The team behind the Out of the Shadows Index partnered with our friends at Hyperakt, an New York-based agency focused on branding for nonprofits, to design and brand the new OOSI website. Hyperakt needed a strong development partner that could implement their designs and data visualizations ideas, which is where Clearfire came in.

The data for the index was compiled in a complex set of spreadsheets, with tons of datapoints. We needed to first export the large dataset out of the spreadsheets into a format that we could leverage for the website.

In addition, the website needed a content management system for easy management of pages, resources, images, and data structures.

The Solution

OOSI’s previous website was busy and cluttered, so we collaborated with Hyperakt to ensure the new site built on Craft CMS was simplified and offered more intuitive navigation and design.

The highlight of OOSI’s updated site is the global index, which is a new interactive way to view the organization’s detailed data. The index uses 100+ indicators, grouped into numerous categories across multiple pillars, to measure the extent to which countries are implementing measures to prevent and respond to CSEA.

The Prevention Pillar looks at legislation, policies and programs, and a country’s capacity and commitment to understand the scope of the problem and build effective prevention measures. The Response Pillar takes into account both government-led and civil society support systems, measuring the capacity of justice systems and how children are protected.

A user can see each country’s overall index score, as well as individual indicator scores by country. A tab bar at the top allows you to filter by each pillar indicator, as well as categories within those indicators – such as Medical Care under the Response Pillar. Users can also compare different countries or regions.

This graphical representation of information and data is called data visualization. By using visual elements like charts, graphs, and maps, data visualization tools provide an accessible way to see and understand trends and patterns across a set of data.

Incorporating the extensive global research and assessments compiled by the OOSI team into an interactive website map was an intensive process for Clearfire. But the results speak for themselves.

The Result

The data visualization was the most complex piece of this project.

We first took the raw data from the OOSI data tables in the Excel spreadsheet and developed a custom script to export the data into JSON format. This would then allow us to more easily implement the dataset into the site.

Using the Chart.js and D3.js javascript libraries, we created logic to parse the JSON data and render it into interactive Vue components on the site. These components are what power the map, accordions, cells, and other data visualization areas.

Because OOSI’s new site is built on Craft CMS, it is flexible for their team as they continue to collect data, add new resources for users, and focus on their mission. By publicly releasing this data in an interactive and easy-to-use world map, the orgainzation hopes the findings and analysis of the index will help build the framework for a holistic, government-led and civil society and private sector-supported approach to ending child sexual abuse around the world.