End Online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse @ Europe (EndOCSEA@Europe)

The EndOCSEA@Europe project is implemented by the Children’s Rights Division of the Council of Europe, in co-operation with the Cybercrime Office (C-PROC) in Bucharest, Romania.

Objectives

The ever increasing use of information and communication technologies whilst providing additional opportunities for children to exercise their rights also exposes them to greater risks of sexual exploitation and abuse facilitated by online technologies. Online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (OCSEA) is a crime that has far reaching, long-term consequences for the victims, survivors and the wider community. Preventing and combatting this crime is a complex challenge that requires constant action by every member state of the Council of Europe.

To support member states to prevent and combat OCSEA, the Council of Europe has launched a new project “End Online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse @ Europe” (EndOCSEA@Europe). This project seeks to address the contextual challenges identified at pan-European and country levels by promoting, facilitating and supporting national efforts and actions to prevent and combat OCSEA. This project will support global efforts in this area, including actions towards SDG 16.2 and SDG 5.2 as well as the implementation of relevant international and European standards, in particular the Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse (Lanzarote Convention), and 8 of the capabilities identified in the WePROTECT Model National Response.

Newsroom on EndOCSEA@Europe project

Back Pilot Training on Online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse for Judges, Prosecutors, and the National Police in Ukraine

8-11 December 2020

The new training on online child sexual exploitation and abuse (OCSEA) for judges, prosecutors, and the national police in Ukraine, which was prepared by the EndOCSEA@Europe Project, was piloted on 8-11 December 2020 in Ukraine in cooperation with the CyberEast Project of the Council of Europe Cybercrime Office in Bucharest (C-PROC) and the project on Combatting Violence against Children in Ukraine (Phase II) of Children’s Rights Division.

The Council of Europe independent experts who designed the content of the module, Rajka Vlahovic, Mark Cameron and Maria Andriani Kostopoulu led a series of four practical sessions with local and active stakeholders in this area. The training was very successful in achieving its main objectives to give a practical and tailor-made overview of relevant international standards and procedures, in particular the Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Abuse ( The Lanzarote Convention) and the Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime (The Budapest Convention) in light of the current situation in Ukraine and by using relevant examples from several countries presented in case studies and reinforced through practical exercises.

Around 80 participants including judges, prosecutors, representatives of the national police, of the National Academy for Internal Affairs and other national institutions from multiple regions of Ukraine attended the training course over these 4 days and actively engaged in the practical exercises presented.

The training module on OCSEA by the EndOCSEA@Europe project shall be piloted in its two other pilot countries: Armenia and Azerbaijan in 2021. The piloting of the module will enable to improve and finalise its content which will be made available by June 2021 in different languages.

Acknowledgements:

The Council of Europe gratefully acknowledges the financial support provided for this programme by the End Violence Fund.

Strasbourg 22 December 2020