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 Strengthening Multi-sectorial cooperation to prevent and combat online child sexual exploitation and abuse

Strengthening Multi-sectorial cooperation to prevent and combat online child sexual exploitation and abuse
Information and communication technologies can both empower children to exercise their rights in new ways and increase the risks of violations of their rights to privacy and to a life free from all forms of violence. The risks of becoming a victim of online child sexual exploitation or abuse (OCSEA) increase with internet usage, but equally so do the opportunities to strengthen resilience to OCSEA.

From the moment an image is discovered or reported, throughout investigations, prosecutions and criminal proceedings the child-victim will interact with a wide range of stakeholders. The burden of upholding the child’s rights and protecting the child-victim from any form of re-traumatisation or re-victimisation falls on the law enforcement officers, teachers, healthcare professionals, psychologists, lawyers, prosecutors, judges and victim-support services, with whom the child will interact. Only through comprehensive and effective co-ordination can this wide range of stakeholders work together to provide holistic, end-to-end support to the child-victim and secure safe-convictions of perpetrators.

To explore the challenges and opportunities for such co-operation, an international conference on “Multi-sectorial cooperation to prevent and combat online child sexual exploitation and abuse” took place in Strasbourg, France on 16-17 May 2019. This conference was organised in context of the project to End Online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse@Europe.

In total, 76 participants from 22 countries were present, including representatives from the following sectors: Law enforcement agencies, Ministry of Justice, Specialist judges and prosecutors, Child protection agencies, Ministry of Education, Ombudspersons for children, as well as representatives of leading international inter-governmental and non-governmental organisations.
Discussions focused on strengthening understanding of how multi-sectorial co-operation can promote and uphold the rights of the child in the digital environment. Ways to protect children in the digital environment were also discussed, including use of technologies and co-operation with the private sector. An exchange of views and experiences as regards policies, strategies and procedures to prevent and combat OCSEA took place to identify common challenges faced by member states. As a result of the discussions the participants agreed on several priority areas for action to improve protection of the rights of child-victims of OCSEA through multi-sectorial co-operation.

The strategic priorities identified include:

• Strengthen co-operation and collaboration between law enforcement and social services, to include a coordinated approach to uphold the rights of the child victim during procedures and investigations of OCSEA.
• Implement up-to-date, initial and on-going training for specialised law enforcement units dealing with OCSEA and strengthen understanding among prosecutors and judges of OCSEA, especially as regards: forensic techniques, electronic evidence, victim identification, online harms and child rights approach during proceedings.
• Develop and strengthen capacities among law enforcement, judges and prosecutors to implement child friendly procedures and up-hold the rights of the child-victim throughout reporting, investigation, prosecution and criminal proceedings.
• Implement long-term awareness raising campaigns in co-operation with all stakeholders (ministries, agencies, private entities and industry) and address all levels of society including children, vulnerable children, parents, teachers, policy makers and frontline professionals working with children.

The full meting report and list of the strategic priorities are available below.

Relevant Council of Europe initiatives to support such efforts, above and beyond the scope of the project EndOCSEA@Europe, include the European day on the protection of children against Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, which takes place each year on 18 November and the campaign Free to Speak, Safe to Learn.
 
The Council of Europe Project to End Online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse @ Europe (EndOCSEA@Europe Project), in accordance with the criminal law benchmarks to address OCSEA set down in the Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse (Lanzarote Convention), the Council of Europe Convention against Cybercrime and 8 of the capabilities identified in the WePROTECT Model National Response, provides assistance to all Council of Europe Member States to prevent and combat OCSEA. The project focuses on strengthening responses in: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Republic of Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia, Turkey and Ukraine.

Acknowledgements: The Council of Europe gratefully acknowledges the financial support provided for this programme by the Fund to End Violence Against Children.
 
 

Project Webpage

Meeting Report

Strategic Priorities

European day on the protection of children against Sexual Exploitation and Abuse

Strasbourg 12 august 2019
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Resources

 

 

Awareness Materials: “So, this is sexual abuse ?” video explanation - English version

 

Awareness Materials: “So, this is sexual abuse ?” video explanation - Hungarian version

 

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