According to the international studies, bullying is a widespread negative phenomenon, affecting more than 20% of the school students. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, bullying has more and more moved from the school yard towards the internet, increasing the number of the victims of cyberbullying. In addition, the anonymity of the Internet has scaled up the dimension of violence seen in bullying, and acts of cyberbullying increasingly fell into the realm of criminal offences which requires the involvement of law enforcement.
In this context, a webinar on cyberbullying trends, prevention strategies and role of law enforcement in preventing and combating the phenomenon, was organized by the Council of Europe, on 9 March 2021. The webinar that was joint initiative of the End Online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse @ Europe (EndOCSEA@Europe) project and the joint European Union and Council of Europe iPROCEEDS-2 project, was aiming to support the officials and policy makers responsible for protection of children against all forms of violence, including cyberbullying, as well as human rights specialists, criminal justice authorities (judges, prosecutors, law enforcement agencies), non-governmental organisations and researchers/academia with an interest in the subject.
The discussions focused on the efforts and actions taken in order to combat cyberbullying and on providing guidance to law enforcement and other relevant actors to identify cases of cyberbullying that would require further investigation. The activity also raised awareness on existing prevention measures and advised on mindfulness in relation to psychological aspects involving both victim and aggressor.