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.

Nazaj How do we prevent and combat online child sexual exploitation and abuse?

New Council of Europe Baseline Mapping and Comparative Review of mechanisms for collective action

No single state can prevent and combat online child sexual exploitation and abuse alone. Under the Council of Europe Project “End Online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse @Europe (EndOCSEA@Europe)” supported by the Fund to End Violence Against Children, two new reports seek to identify practice examples of ways to respond to this crime. A Baseline Mapping of member states responses and a Comparative Review of mechanisms for collective action at international and Pan-European level and a child-friendly booklet for teenagers (ages 12+) "So this is sexual abuse" were published today during a workshop on OCSEA which took place within the framework of the Octopus Conference “Co-operation Against Cybercrime” (20-22 November 2019).

The Baseline Mapping of Member State Responses to Prevent and Combat Online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse identifies promising practices and common challenges faced by member states, as they work to reconcile multiple objectives:

To identify, rescue and support the child victims;
To ensure that harmful content is removed from the world wide web without delay; and
To preserve and secure the electronic evidence to ensure that perpetrators are apprehended and prosecuted.

The Comparative Review of Mechanisms for Collective Action to Prevent and Combat Online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse provides analysis and recommendations, with a particular focus on:

Mechanisms to report CSAM;
Strengthening governance structures and multi-stakeholder co-operation;
Implementing specific legislative and policy frameworks to criminalise OCSEA, identify perpetrators and uphold the rights of the child-victim.

These studies build on the comprehensive framework provided by the Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse (Lanzarote Convention), the Council of Europe Convention against Cybercrime and eight of the priorities identified in the WePROTECT Model National Response.

The EndOCSEA@Europe project promotes, facilitates and supports Council of Europe member States to prevent and combat child sexual exploitation and abuse enabled by Information and communication technologies (OCSEA). This project benefits all Council of Europe member states with a focus on ten countries, namely: 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.

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