Europe’s hidden crisis: Child sexual abuse online at unprecedented levels
On this World Day for the Prevention and Healing from Child Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Violence, a coalition of 77 organisations working on children right’s, urgently call on policy-makers to pass critical laws to protect children against sexual abuse and exploitation, online and offline.
Children across Europe face unprecedented levels of sexual violence. Studies show that, as well as increasing in scale, child sexual abuse is increasing in obscenity and severity. Younger and younger children are targeted, with victims as young as a couple of months old, whose horrific abuse circulates freely online.
Over 100 million images or videos of children being sexually abused were found online last year, and this is likely just the tip of the iceberg. Behind these images there are real children who are experiencing the trauma of not just their abuse but knowing that images or videos of their abuse are being circulated online for the gratification of sex offenders. Without strong EU legislation, sex offenders will be able to abuse children online without being detected, with impunity.
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which EU countries are signatories, and General Comment 25 of the Child Rights Committee is clear that the best interests of the child should always be front and centre in decisions relative to children. We urge EU policymakers to act in full respect of international standards when deciding on these pieces of legislation.
Together these tools can effectively tackle the current Child Sexual Abuse Crisis and create a safer internet, and childhood, for children in Europe.
