Matthew McVarish

Matthew McVarish first came to MAF as a client in 2008. The foundation supported him and his family throughout the successful court case against his uncle, Terence McMonagle. 

The support from MAF continued, as Matthew then began to speak out against child sexual abuse in various ways. His campaigns include an off-broadway play, a feature film and a 10,000mile walk. He has addressed all forty-seven nations of the Council of Europe, chaired international discussions at the United Nations and developed the world’s first Global Survivor Forum, for ECPAT International in Bangkok. Matthew has given lectures to the Scottish Government, Police Scotland, The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal, as well as to various foreign governments, such as Japan, Iceland and Montenegro, and a personal audience with Pope Francis. 

With an international group of formidable survivor activists, led by Dr Daniela Ligiero, Matthew co-founded ‘The Brave Movement’ , a global mobilization of survivors focused on high-level government advocacy to end childhood sexual violence. For the first time in history, Brave managed to secure ‘ending child sexual abuse’ on the agenda of the G7 world leaders summit. Matthew helped to draft the new international standards for child-finely justice (Barnahus) and was then invited to give the keynote at their launch during the 2025, United Nations Human Rights Council. He now has a permanent seat in Strasbourg, contributing to the discussions of Council of Europe’s ‘Lanzarote Committee, overseeing the world’s most comprehensive treaty on tackling childhood sexual violence.