Press Pause is a sexual abuse prevention organization in Aotearoa New Zealand. Its mission is to help adults understand, recognize, and respond to young people’s concerning sexual behaviors. Press Pause provides education on healthy boundaries, online behavior, pornography, sexual images and language, and unwanted sexual touch. The organization uses a traffic-light metaphor to distinguish between acceptable and unacceptable behaviors, with orange representing “the messy middle”—those behaviors where early, thoughtful intervention has the greatest chance of preventing escalation into harmful sexual behavior.

In this webinar, Rebekah Fraser and Nikki Friar share how their work at Press Pause uses a structured approach to address this “messy middle,” offering ideas for practitioners seeking to prevent harm. These include:

•  “Now” considerations: immediate safety steps for everyone involved
• “Later” considerations: planning follow-up conversations, supports, and boundaries so that behavior does not repeat or escalate
• Practical approaches, such as PACE (Playfulness, Acceptance, Curiosity, Empathy), naïve enquiry, and straightforward scripts (for example, “name it – stop it – move on”) that help adults speak clearly about behavior without shaming the young person

This webinar provides attendees with new ways to support adults in helping young people through connection and exploration of the challenges they face.