Under the framework of the Council of Europe Project to End Online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse @ Europe (EndOCSEA@Europe) and the Project on Combatting Violence Against Children in the Republic of Moldova, Ms Rajka Vlahovic, and Ms Maria Andriani Kostopoulou, Council of Europe international experts led an online webinar, on 11 February 2021, on OCSEA for the national police, judges and prosecutors in the Republic of Moldova. The purpose of this activity was to present key concepts of the Lanzarote and Budapest Conventions and related practices to tackle OCSEA and build the capacities of law enforcement and the judiciary and increase interagency cooperation. The involvement  of Mr Boris Talpa, judge and trainer at the National Institute of Justice on Cybercrime in Chisinau was instrumental to present progress made at national level in this respect with positive legal reforms while also identifying areas where there is a need for further and continuous improvements.

The topics discussed concerned the substantive legislation and trends regarding OCSEA, with a focus on child sexual abuse material and grooming, investigative measure using electronic evidence, and child-friendly justice measures in the course of investigations.

The event was attended successfully  by over 50 participants including judges, prosecutors, criminal investigation officers from several regions, as well as representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Police Academy “Ștefan cel Mare”, and the National Institute of Justice of the Republic of Moldova. Representatives of  civil society organisations, working in the area of OCSEA to support victims and witnesses, were also present.

A follow-up and more extensive training will take place in the course of May 2021.

Acknowledgements:

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