Chapter IV of the Lanzarote Conventioncomprises protective measures and assistance to victims, requiring Parties to “establish effective social programmes and set up multidisciplinary structures to provide the necessary support for the victims, their close relatives and for any person who is responsible for their care.” These general principles are to be achieved by:

• ensuring that confidentiality obligations of certain professionals called to work in contact with the victim are not an obstacle to their reporting of sexual abuse;
• encouraging and supporting the set-up of information services, such as telephone or Internet helplines, able to guarantee confidentiality and anonymity to the victims;
• providing assistance to the victims, in the short and long term, in their physical and psycho-social recovery.