COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS EU strategy for a more effective fight against child sexual abuse
Date: 2020-07-24
Institutions: Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs, European Commission
Subjects: child protection, computer crime, domestic violence, fight against crime, paedophilia, personal data, protection of privacy, sexual violence, virtual community, young person

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 24.7.2020  COM(2020) 607 final  COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS EU strategy for a more effective fight against child sexual abuse  
 
 
 
 
INTRODUCTION 

The  EU  Charter  of  Fundamental  Rights  recognises  that  children  have  the  right  to  such 
protection  and  care  as  is  necessary  for  their  well-being,  among  other  provisions.  The  1989 
UN Convention on the Rights of the Child  establishes the right of the child to be protected 
from all forms of violence1. 

Child sexual abuse is a particularly serious crime that has wide-ranging and serious life-long 
consequences for victims. In hurting children, these crimes also cause significant and long 
term  social  harm.  In  many  cases,  children  are  sexually  abused  by  persons  they  know  and 
trust,  and  on  whom  they  are  dependent2.  This  makes  these  crimes  particularly  difficult  to 
prevent  and  detect.  There  are  indications  that  the  COVID-19  crisis  has  exacerbated  the 
problem3,  especially  for  children  who  live  with  their  abusers4.  In  addition,  children  are 
spending  more  time  than  before  online,  possibly  unsupervised.  While  this  has  allowed 
them to continue their educational studies and stay in touch with their peers, there are signs of 
increased risk of children coming into contact with online predators5. With more offenders 
isolated at home, the demand for child sexual abuse material has increased (e.g. by 25% in 
some  Member  States6),  which  in  turn  leads  to  increased  demand  for  new  material,  and 
therefore new abuses7.  

The  Council  of  Europe  estimates  that  in  Europe,  one  in  five  children  fall  victim  to  some 
form of sexual violence8. Sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children can take multiple 
forms and they can occur both online (e.g. forcing a child to engage in sexual activities via 
live streaming or exchanging child sexual abuse material online) and offline (e.g. engaging 
in sexual activities with a child or causing a child to participate in child prostitution)9. When 
the  abuse  is  also  recorded  and  shared  online,  the  harm  is  perpetuated.  Victims  have  to  live 
with the knowledge that images and videos of the crimes showing the worst moments of their 
lives are being circulated and anyone, including their friends or relatives, may see them.  

The exponential development of the digital world has been abused making this crime a truly 
global one, and has unfortunately facilitated the creation of a global market for child sexual 
abuse material. The past few years have seen a dramatic increase in reports of child sexual 
abuse online concerning the EU (e.g. images exchanged in the EU, victims in the EU, etc.): 
from  23  000  in  2010  to  more  than  725  000  in  2019,  which  included  more  than  3  million 
images  and  videos10.  A  similarly  dramatic  increase  has  occurred  globally:  from  1  million 

1   Also of relevance for child sexual abuse  in the domestic context is the  Council of Europe Convention on 
preventing  and  combatting  violence  against  women  and  domestic  violence  (CETS.  210;  COM  2016(111) 
final). 

2   This includes in particular children with disabilities living in institutional care. 
3   Europol,  Exploiting  isolation:  Offenders  and  victims  of  online  child  sexual  abuse  during  the  COVID-19 

pandemic, 19 June 2020. 

4   WePROTECT Global Alliance, World Childhood Foundation, Unicef, UNDOC, WHO, ITU, End Violence 
Against Children and UNESCO, COVID-19 and its implications for protecting children online, April 2020. 
Ibid. 

5  
6   Europol,  Exploiting  isolation:  Offenders  and  victims  of  online  child  sexual  abuse  during  the  COVID-19 

pandemic, 19 June  2020. 

7   The number of child sexual abuse reports globally quadrupled in April 2020 (4.1 million reports) compared 
to April 2019 (around 1 million), as reported to the US National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children. 

8   Council of Europe, One in Five campaign. 
9   This strategy refers to child sexual abuse for simplicity but it should be understood as covering also child 
sexual exploitation and child sexual abuse material (referred to in legislation as “child pornography”). 
10   As  reported  to  the  US  National  Centre  for  Missing  and  Exploited  Children  (NCMEC).  US  law  requires 
internet companies based in the US to report to NCMEC any instances of child sexual abuse that they find 
in their networks. NCMEC then forwards those reports  to the relevant public authorities around the world 

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reports in 2010 to  almost 17 million in 2019, which included nearly 70 million images and 
videos11.  Reports  indicate  that  the  EU  has  become  the  largest  host  of  child  sexual  abuse 
material globally (from more than half in 2016 to more than two thirds in 2019)12.  

Recently,  an  investigation  into  child  sexual  abuse  in  Germany  resulted  in  the  discovery  of 
potentially  more  than  30 000  suspects  using  group  chats  and  messenger  services  to  share 
materials, incite each other to create new materials, and exchange tips and tricks on how  to 
groom victims and hide their actions13. The use of end-to-end encryption makes identifying 
perpetrators  more  difficult  if  not  impossible.  In  this  particular  example,  to  date,  only  72 
suspects in Germany have been identified and 44 victims. 

The introduction of end-to-end encryption, while beneficial in ensuring privacy and security 
of communications, also facilitates the access to secure channels for perpetrators where they 
can hide their actions from law enforcement, such as trading images and videos. The use of 
encryption  technology  for  criminal  purposes  therefore  needs  to  be  immediately  addressed 
through possible solutions which could  allow companies to  detect and report child sexual 
abuse in end-to-end encrypted electronic communications. Any solution would need to ensure 
both  the  privacy  of  electronic  communications  and  the  protection  of  children  from  sexual 
abuse and sexual exploitation, as well as the protection of the privacy of the children depicted 
in the child sexual abuse material.  
The fight against child sexual abuse is a priority for the EU. The European Parliament14 and 
the  Council15  have  both  called  for  further  concrete  action.  Similar  calls  have  been  made 
globally  in  multiple  forums16,  including  by  the  media17,  as  it  has  become  evident  that  the 
world as a whole is losing the battle against these crimes, and is failing to effectively protect 
the  right  of  each  child  to  live  free  from  violence.  The  EU  therefore  needs  to  reassess  and 
strengthen its efforts.  

The aim of this strategy is to provide an effective response, at EU level, to the fight against 
child  sexual  abuse.  It  provides  a  framework  for  developing  a  strong  and  comprehensive 
response to these crimes, both in their online and offline form. It sets out eight initiatives to 
implement and develop the right legal framework, strengthen  the law enforcement response 
and catalyse a coordinated multi-stakeholder action in relation to prevention, investigation 
and assistance to victims. The initiatives make use of all tools available at EU level, both as 
regards  substantive  EU  law  (section  I)  and  as  regards  funding  and  cooperation  (section 
II)18. This strategy is to be implemented over the next five years (2020-2025)19. 

for action. As the largest internet companies are based in the US, NCMEC de facto centralises the reporting 
of child sexual abuse globally. 

11   Ibid. 
12   Internet Watch Foundation, Annual Reports of 2016 to 2019.  
13   BBC,  Germany investigates 30,000 suspects over paedophile network, 29 June 2020; 

Frankfurter Allgemeine, Die schockierende Zahl des Tages: 30.000 Verdächtige, 29 June 2020. 
14   Resolution on the 30th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, November 2019. 
15   Council conclusions on combating the sexual abuse of children, October 2019. 
16   For  example,  at  the  December  2019  summit  of  the  WePROTECT  Global  Alliance  to  End  Child  Sexual 
Exploitation Online, or by the “Five Eyes” (US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand) in July 2019. 
17   See, for example, the series of New York Times articles published from September 2019 to February 2020, 

which exposed to the public the depth and complexity of the problem.    

18   See the roadmap for this Communication for more details on the targeted consultations conducted. 
19   The implementation of this strategy will be coordinated with the implementation of other relevant strategies 
that  the  Commission  has  recently  adopted  or  will  soon  adopt,  including  on  the  rights  of  the  child,  on 
victims’ rights, on trafficking in human beings, on security union and on gender equality. 

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I.  IMPLEMENT  AND  DEVELOP  THE  RIGHT  LEGAL  FRAMEWORK  TO 
PROTECT CHILDREN 

In  2011,  the  EU  took  an  important  step  with  the  adoption  of  the  Child  Sexual  Abuse 
Directive (2011/93/EU20), whose implementation in Member States now has to be finalised 
as  a  matter  of  urgency.  In  parallel,  any  identified  legislative  gaps  need  to  be  addressed 
through the most appropriate means. 

1.  Ensure complete implementation of current legislation (Directive 2011/93/EU) 

The  Child  Sexual  Abuse  Directive  was  the  first  comprehensive  EU  legal  instrument 
establishing  minimum  rules  concerning  the  definition  of  criminal  offences  and  sanctions  in 
the area of sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children and child sexual abuse material, 
covering  the  prevention,  investigation  and  prosecution  of  offences,  and  assistance  to  and 
protection of victims.  

The  criminal  offences  cover  offline  and  online  situations  such  as  viewing  and  distributing 
child sexual abuse material online, grooming (i.e. establish an emotional connection with the 
child online with the purpose of sexual abuse) and webcam sexual abuse. Beyond substantive 
and  procedural  criminal  law,  the  Directive  also  requires  Member  States  to  put  in  place 
extensive administrative (i.e. non-legislative) measures, such as on the exchange of criminal 
records  between  Member  States  via  the  European  Criminal  Records  Information  System 
(ECRIS)  as  part  of  the  pre-recruitment  screening  for  positions  involving  direct  and  regular 
contacts  with  children,  or  training  of  professionals  likely  to  come  into  contact  with  child 
victims  of  sexual  abuse.  These  measures  require  the  involvement  and  coordination  of 
multiple  actors  from  various  areas  of  government  (e.g.  law  enforcement,  healthcare, 
education, social  services, child protection authorities, judiciary and legal  professionals), as 
well as private entities (e.g. industry and civil society). 

Member  States  have  made  substantial  progress  in  implementing  the  Directive.  However, 
there  is  still  considerable  scope  for  the  Directive  to  reach  its  full  potential  through  the 
complete implementation of all of its provisions by  Member States.  Challenges remain  in 
the  areas  of  prevention  (in  particular  prevention  programmes  for  offenders  and  for  people 
who  fear  that  they  might  offend),  criminal  law  (especially  the  definition  of  offences  and 
level of penalties), and assistance, support and protection measures for child victims21. In 
2019, to ensure complete implementation, the Commission opened infringement procedures 
against 23 Member States22.   

The Commission will continue to work closely with Member States to resolve all remaining 
issues  as  a matter of priority and ensure  complete implementation  of and  full compliance 

20   Directive 2011/93/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 2011 on combating 
the  sexual  abuse  and  sexual  exploitation  of  children  and  child  pornography,  OJ  L  335,  17.12.2011.  For 
simplicity, the document refers to this as “Child Sexual Abuse Directive”.  

21   For  more  details,  see  the  Report  from  the  Commission  to  the  European  Parliament  and  the  Council 
assessing the extent to which the Member States have taken the necessary measures in order to comply with 
Directive  2011/93/EU  of  13  December  2011  on  combating  the  sexual  abuse  and  sexual  exploitation  of 
children and child pornography, COM/2016/0871 final, as well as the  Report from the Commission to the 
European Parliament and the Council assessing the implementation of the measures referred to in Article 25 
of Directive 2011/93/EU of 13 December 2011 on combating the sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of 
children and child pornography, COM/2016/0872 final. 

22   All Member States except DK (not bound by the Directive), and CY, IE and NL (with which dialogue on 

conformity is ongoing).   

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with the Directive across the EU. The Commission will also support Member States’ work in 
this area by continuing to facilitate the exchange of best practices and lessons learned23.  

Key action: 

  Member States must finalise the implementation of the Child Sexual Abuse Directive as a 
matter of priority. The Commission will continue to make use of its enforcement powers 
under  the  Treaties  through  infringement  procedures  as  necessary  to  ensure  swift 
implementation.  

2.  Ensure that EU legislation enables an effective response  

The Commission will assess whether the Child Sexual Abuse Directive needs to be updated, 
taking into account the study referred to in initiative #3 below. In addition to the Child Sexual 
Abuse  Directive,  there  are  multiple  legislative  instruments  at  EU  level  that  support  and 
shape the fight against child sexual abuse, notably when it comes to the role that the private 
sector plays in preventing and combating child sexual abuse.  
The e-evidence proposals24, put forward by the Commission in April 2018, play a key role in 
facilitating  swift  access  to  key  evidence  held  by  the  private  sector,  such  as  the  identity  of 
individuals  who  have  uploaded  and  shared  child  sexual  abuse  material.  The  Commission 
reiterates its call for swift adoption. 
In addition, the relevant framework includes the e-commerce Directive25, which determines 
the existing liability  rules for online intermediaries and allows for the notice and takedown 
mechanisms for illegal content and the e-privacy Directive26. The Commission's proposal for 
a Regulation on Privacy and Electronic Communications27, currently being discussed by 
the  European  Parliament  and  the  Council,  will  update  the  legal  framework  and  replace  the 
ePrivacy Directive. As from December 2020, the e-privacy Directive will have an extended 
scope  as  a  result  of  the  Electronic  Communications  Code28.  This  would  prevent  certain 
companies  (in  the  absence  of  national  legislative  measures  adopted  in  accordance  with 
Article  15(1)  of  the  e-privacy  Directive)  from  continuing  their  own  measures  on  voluntary 
detection, removal and reporting of child sexual abuse online. The Commission considers that 
it is essential to take immediate action to address this. It will therefore propose a narrowly-

23   Since 2017 the Commission has organised six expert workshops to support Member States in implementing 

the Directive. Another workshop on prevention will take place by Q4 2020. 

24   Proposal  for  a  Regulation  on  European  Production  and  Preservation  Orders  for  electronic  evidence  in 

criminal matters, COM/2018/225; and  
Proposal for a Directive laying down harmonised rules on the appointment of legal representatives for the 
purpose of gathering evidence in criminal proceedings, COM/2018/226. 

25   Directive  2000/31/EC  on  certain  legal  aspects  of  information  society  services,  in  particular  electronic 

commerce, in the Internal Market ('Directive on electronic commerce'), OJ L 178, 17.7.2000. 

26   Directive  2002/58/EC  concerning  the  processing  of  personal  data  and  the  protection  of  privacy  in  the 
electronic  communications  sector  (Directive  on  privacy  and  electronic  communications),  OJ  L  201, 
31.7.2002. 

27   Proposal  for  a  Regulation  concerning  the  respect  for  private  life  and  the  protection  of  personal  data  in 
electronic communications (Regulation on Privacy and Electronic Communications), COM/2017/010 final. 
28   Directive  (EU)  2018/1972  establishing  the  European  Electronic  Communications  Code,  OJ  L  321, 
17.12.2018 This Directive extends the scope of the e-privacy Directive to over the top (OTT) inter-personal 
communication services such as messenger services and email.  The ePrivacy Directive does not contain a 
legal  basis  for  voluntary  processing  of  content  and  traffic  data  for  the  purpose  of  detecting  child  sexual 
abuse.  Providers  can  only  apply  such  measures  if  based  on  a  national  legislative  measure,  that  meets  the 
requirements of Article 15 of the Directive (proportionality etc.),  for restricting the right to confidentiality. 
In  the  absence  of  such  legislative  measures,  measures  to  detect  child  sexual  abuse  undertaken  by  these 
providers, which process content or traffic data, would lack a legal basis. 

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targeted legislative solution with the sole objective of allowing current voluntary activities to 
continue. This solution would allow the time necessary for the adoption of a new longer-term 
legal  framework,  while  ensuring  the  respect  of  fundamental  rights,  including  the  rights  to 
privacy and the protection of personal data. 

The Commission  has committed to  make proposals  on the legislative framework for digital 
services, which would have implications for tackling child sexual abuse material online. The 
Digital  Services  Act  package,  to  be  proposed  by  end  of  202029,  will  clarify  and  upgrade 
liability and safety rules for digital services. In this context, the Commission will consider the 
need  to  remove  disincentives  for  voluntary  actions  to  address  illegal  content,  goods  or 
services intermediated online, in particular in what concerns online platform services.  

The  Commission  considers  that  the  fight  against  child  sexual  abuse  online  requires  clear 
mandatory obligations to detect and report child sexual abuse online to  bring more clarity 
and certainty to the work of both law enforcement and relevant actors in the private sector to 
tackle online abuse. It will start preparing sector-specific legislation in order to tackle child 
sexual  abuse  online  more  effectively,  in  full  respect  of  fundamental  rights,  including  in 
particular  the  right  to  freedom  of  expression,  protection  of  personal  data  and  privacy.  
Mechanisms to ensure accountability and transparency will be key elements of the legislation 
in which the centre referred to in initiative # 6 could be involved. 
The  Europol  Regulation30,  which  determines  the  scope  of  Europol’s  activities,  is  also  of 
relevance31.  The  Commission  has  announced  in  its  2020  work  programme  a  legislative 
proposal  to  strengthen  Europol’s  mandate  in  order  to  improve  operational  police 
cooperation.  Europol  has  encountered  limits  in  the  support  it  can  provide  because  of  the 
rapidly growing challenge of child sexual abuse. In addition, Europol’s ability to support the 
Member  States  is  hampered  by  its  inability  to  receive  personal  data  directly  from  the 
private sector, whose infrastructure is abused by perpetrators to host and share child sexual 
abuse  material.  The  European  Commission  will  further  assess  these  issues  as  part  of  the 
upcoming review of the Europol mandate, planned for adoption in Q4 2020. 

These  possible  legislative  changes  will  be  consistent  with  the  EU’s  policy  on  combating 
child  sexual  abuse  and  should  ensure  that  there  is  a  legislative  framework  to  enable  and 
support relevant stakeholders in preventing, detecting, reporting and acting effectively to 
protect children in any instance of child sexual abuse.  

29   The Commission launched an open public consultation on the Digital Services Act package on 2 June 2020. 
30   Regulation (EU) 2016/794 on the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol), OJ 
L 135, 24.5.2016. The Eurojust Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2018/1727 on the European Union Agency for 
Criminal Justice Cooperation (Eurojust) OJ L 295/138, 21.11.2018) is also of relevance.  

31   Also relevant in this framework are: 

-  Regulation  (EU)  2016/679  of  27  April  2016  on  the  protection  of  natural  persons  with  regard  to  the 
processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC 
(General Data Protection Regulation), OJ L 119, 4.5.2016, an in particular Articles 6, 23 and Recital 
50.  

-  Directive (EU) 2018/1808 of 14 November 2018 amending Directive 2010/13/EU on the coordination 
of  certain  provisions  laid  down  by  law,  regulation  or  administrative  action  in  Member  States 
concerning  the  provision  of  audiovisual  media  services  (Audiovisual  Media  Services  Directive),  in 
view  of  changing  market  realities,  OJ  L  303,  28.11.2018,  has  introduced  new  rules  requiring  that 
platforms  act  responsibly  with  regard  to  the  third  party  content  they  host  with  a  view  to  better 
protecting  the  public  from  the  dissemination  of  specific  illegal  or  harmful  content  (including  child 
sexual abuse material).  

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Key actions: 

  In  a  first  stage,  as  a  matter  of  priority,  the  Commission  will  propose  the  necessary 
legislation  to  ensure  that  providers  of  electronic  communications  services  can  continue 
their  current  voluntary  practices  to  detect  in  their  systems  child  sexual  abuse  after 
December 2020. 

  In a second stage, by Q2 2021, the Commission will propose the necessary legislation to 
tackle child sexual abuse online effectively including by requiring relevant online services 
providers  to  detect  known  child  sexual  abuse  material  and  require  them  to  report  that 
material to public authorities. 

3.  Identify legislative gaps, best practices and priority actions  

The  transposition  measures  that  Member  States  have  communicated  to  the  Commission 
include measures that are not specifically required by the Child Sexual Abuse Directive but 
which were considered as needed in the fight against child sexual abuse by Member States32. 
This  suggests  that  there  might  be  relevant  issues  that  the  Directive  does  not  sufficiently 
address. The Commission convened an expert workshop in September 2019 to gather more 
information  about  those  possible  legislative  gaps  and  concluded  that  further  work  was 
required to gather additional evidence.  

As  the  Directive  was  adopted  in  2011,  there  should  also  be  an  assessment  of  its 
implementation in practice, in terms of effectiveness, efficiency, relevance, coherence and 
EU  added  value,  among  other  criteria.  This  assessment  should  consider  in  particular  the 
online aspects of these crimes, where doubts exist as to whether the present framework is fit 
for  purpose  after  9  years  that  have  seen  significant  technological  changes  and  the 
exponential  growth  of  online  sharing.  Technology  has  made  it  easier  than  ever  before  for 
perpetrators  to  make  contact  with  children,  share  images  of  abuse,  hide  their  identity  and 
profits, and conspire with each other to avoid accountability and commit further crimes33. 

Furthermore, offenders have become increasingly sophisticated in their use of technology and 
technical capabilities including encryption and anonymity (e.g. peer-to-peer file sharing and 
the use of darknet). This criminal activity creates problems for society in general and for law 
enforcement in particular in its role of protecting society34.  

In light of the above, the Commission will launch as a matter of priority a study to identify 
legislative  and  implementation  gaps,  best  practices  and  priority  actions  at  EU  level, 
assessing:  

  whether the current  EU legislation solves the issues for which  it was put in place; 

and 

  whether  there  are  new  issues  in  relation  to  these  crimes  that  the  current  legislation 

addresses only partially or not at all.  

The study will take into account the ongoing work by the  Council of the EU to ensure the 
effective implementation of its October 2019 conclusions on combatting child sexual abuse, 

32   For  example,  measures  mandating  employers  in  professions  that  involve  direct  and  regular  contact  with 

children to request the criminal records of candidates when recruiting for a position. 

33   ECPAT.org - What we do, accessed on 5 April 2020.  
34   Europol,  Internet  Organised  Crime  Threat  Assessment  (IOCTA)  2019;  Independent  Inquiry  into  Child 
Sexual  Abuse,  The  Internet  Investigation  Report  2020;  Virtual  Global  Taskforce  Online  Child  Sexual 
Exploitation, 2019 Environmental Scan.  

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which  could  lead  to  the  creation  or  update  of  national  action  plans  to  coordinate  action  at 
national  level.  It  will  also  take  into  account  the  November  2019  European  Parliament 
resolution35,  the  December  2017  European  Parliament’s  report  on  the  transposition  of  the 
Child  Sexual  Abuse  Directive36,  and  the  work  of  the  Council  of  Europe’s  Lanzarote 
Committee37. 

Key action: 

  The Commission will launch by the end of 2020 an extensive study to identify legislative 
gaps,  best  practices  and  priority  actions  at  EU  level  in  the  fight  against  child  sexual 
abuse online and offline.  

II.  STRENGTHEN  THE  LAW  ENFORCEMENT  RESPONSE  AND  ENHANCE 
COOPERATION AMONG ALL STAKEHOLDERS  

The fight against child sexual abuse needs to be fought on many fronts, including by society 
at large. Real progress can only be made when work is stepped up in relation to prevention, 
reporting,  referral,  investigation,  protection  and  identification,  treatment  and  follow-up  of 
each  and  every  case.  Social  services,  health-care  professionals,  academics,  researchers, 
educators,  the  judiciary,  law  enforcement,  children,  families,  NGOs,  media  and  broader 
society each have a role to play, in a true multi-stakeholder, multi-disciplinary approach.  

4.  Strengthen law enforcement efforts at national and EU level  

Child  sexual  abuse  requires  a  competent  and  comprehensive  law  enforcement  response, 
both at national and at European level. The COVID-19 crisis has brought to light the need to 
improve the digital capabilities of law enforcement and judicial authorities to preserve their 
ability to protect citizens effectively, as the May 2020 Recovery Plan highlighted38.  

Law enforcement agencies in Member States vary in structure when it comes to addressing 
child sexual abuse. To ensure the protection of children within and beyond their borders, it is 
important that Member States can rely on specialised units that are properly equipped and 
staffed  with  well-trained  officers  in  national  policing  structures.  In  response  to  a  recent 
wave  of  large-scale  cases,  a  number  of  Member  States  have  chosen  to  increase  their  staff 
working  on  preventing  and  combating  child  sexual  abuse,  which  the  Commission  warmly 
welcomes. 

As  part  of  these  units,  Member  States  should  consider  setting  up  national  victim 
identification  teams.  Where  these  teams  already  exist,  Member  States  should  consider 
extending the national level capacity to the relevant regional and local teams.  

To  fight  these  crimes  effectively,  Member  States  should  also  be  able  to  participate  in 
collaborative EU and  international  efforts to identify children with  Europol’s European 
Cybercrime  Centre  (EC3)  or  through  the  International  Child  Sexual  Exploitation  (ICSE) 
database hosted at Interpol. The resources each Member State assigns to counter the threat of 
child  sexual  abuse  should  also  take  into  account  the  country's  capacity  to  support 
international collaboration in this area. 

35   European  Parliament  Resolution  of  26  November  2019  on  children’s  rights  on  the  occasion  of  the  30th 

anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, 2019/2876(RSP). 

36   European Parliament Report on the implementation of Directive 2011/93/EU, December 2017. 
37   https://www.coe.int/en/web/children/lanzarote-committee.  
38   Europe's moment: Repair and Prepare for the Next Generation, COM(2020) 456. 

7 

 
 
                                                           
Child  sexual  abuse  cases,  especially  those  involving  digital  materials,  are  rarely  limited  to 
one Member State. In addition to maintaining national intelligence databases, Member States 
should therefore invest  in systematically channelling  relevant  intelligence to  Europol, as a 
central EU criminal information hub, to support each other in tackling cross-border cases39.  

Effectively fighting child sexual abuse also requires cutting edge technical capacities. Some 
national  investigation  teams  lack  the  necessary  knowledge  and/or  tools  e.g.  to  detect  child 
sexual  abuse  material  in  a  vast  number  of  seized  photos  or  videos,  to  locate  victims  or 
offenders, or to conduct investigations in the darknet or in peer to peer networks. To support 
the development of national capacities to keep up with technological developments, the 
Commission provides funding to Member States through the Internal Security Fund (ISF-
Police)40. In addition, the Commission also provides funds under ISF-Police through Union 
Actions, which include, for example, calls for proposals and procurement to fight the online 
and  offline  aspects  of  child  sexual  abuse41.  A  new  call  for  proposals  in  the  area  of 
combatting child sexual abuse will take place by the end of 2020. The Commission also funds 
research projects under Horizon 2020 to support the development of national capacities (in 
law  enforcement  and  other  areas)  to  fight  against  child  sexual  abuse42.  Future  calls  for 
proposals  to  fight  these  crimes  will  open  under  the  new  Horizon  Europe  framework 
programme on research and innovation43.  

The use of  online undercover investigation techniques is  an important asset in  infiltrating 
the networks that are concealed behind this kind of technology. These methods have proven 
very  effective  in  understanding  offender  behaviour  and  interaction  on  online  service 
providers, and have ultimately facilitated the shutting down of communication channels used 
by  these  offenders,  as  well  as  their  prosecution.  An  increasingly  important  need  for  law 
enforcement  activity  in  these  spaces  is  the  ability  to  effectively  infiltrate  particularly 
dangerous  online  groups  of  offenders.  This  can  be  enabled  through  a  number  of  different 
methods that are currently only available to  a small number of  Member States  and  non-EU 
partners. Consideration should be given to making this capability available across the EU to 
more effectively target these offenders without being dependent on other partners. EU values 
and fundamental rights shall stay in the core of any future measures. 
Europol  will  set  up  an  Innovation  Hub  and  Lab44  to  facilitate  Member  State  access  to 
technical  tools  and  knowledge  developed  at  EU  level.  This  initiative  will  also  allow  the 
identification  of  needs  in  Member  States  to  tackle  the  challenges  of  digital  investigations, 
which  will  help  determine  the  allocation  of  EU  funding  for  research,  innovation  and 
development of police capacities.  

The  Innovation  Hub  and  Lab  will  further  facilitate  Member  States’  access  to  the  resources 
and  experience  of  Europol’s  European  Cybercrime  Centre  (EC3).  EC3  has  played  an 
important role in supporting Member States in combating sexual abuse of children, ever since 
its creation. This support takes various forms, for example: 

  EC3 has contributed to victim identification efforts since 2014. Collaborative actions 
with the Member States and partners with operational agreements through the Europol 

39   Cross-border  cases  may  require  the  support  of  Eurojust.  Also,  it  is  important  that  judicial  authorities  are 

trained to handle child sexual abuse cases, including on the online aspects of the problem.  

40   More information is available here. 
41   Examples of projects funded in the 2018 call for proposals include AviaTor, 4NSEEK and VERBUM_SAT. 
42   Examples of projects include ASGARD, GRACE, LOCARD and INSPECTr. 
43   See here for an example of call for proposals on research, open until 22 August 2020.   
44   As discussed in the Justice and Home Affairs Council, 7-8 October 2019. 

8 

 
 
                                                           
Victim  Identification  Task  Forces45  and  use  of  various  investigative  approaches 
including the ICSE database have led to the identification of almost 360 children and 
150 offenders.   

  Europol  (frequently  in  cooperation  with  Eurojust)  has  helped  coordinate  numerous 

successful investigations46. 

  Specific  Operational  Action  Plans  (OAPs)  on  combating  child  sexual  abuse  and 
exploitation,  are implemented  each  year  under the EU Policy  Cycle /  EMPACT for 
the fight against serious and international organised crime, supported by Europol47. 

  Europol  has  been  instrumental  in  the  gathering,  collation  and  publication  of  reports 
such  as  the  Serious  and  Organised  Crime  Threat  Assessment  (SOCTA)48  and 
Internet  Organised  Crime  Threat  Assessment  (IOCTA)49  reports,  which  include 
specific sections on the fight against child sexual abuse.  

  Europol has also worked with its international partners to provide online safety advice 
for parents and carers50 to help keep children safe online during the COVID19 crisis, 
in addition to three weekly intelligence reports for targeted audiences 51.  

Key action: 

  Europol  will  set  up  an  Innovation  Hub  and  Lab  and  the  Commission  will  provide 
funding to facilitate the development of national capacities to keep up with technological 
developments and ensure an effective response of law enforcement against these crimes.  

5.  Enable Member States to better protect children through prevention  

Some  of  the  articles  of  the  Child  Sexual  Abuse  Directive  in  which  Member  States  are 
incurring in more delays to fully implement are those that require putting in place prevention 
programmes52, where multiple types of stakeholders need to take action.  

As regards prevention targeted  at  (potential) offenders, Member States’ difficulties concern 
programmes at all stages: before a person offends for the first time, in the course of or after 
criminal proceedings, and inside and outside prison.  

Research into what motivates individuals to become offenders is scarce and fragmented and 
the communication between practitioners and researchers is minimal:  

  The current lack of research makes it difficult to draw up and put in place effective 
programmes  at  all  stages.  The  few  programmes  that  are  in  place53  are  rarely 
evaluated to assess their effectiveness.  

45   More information is available in these press releases from Europol of 27/05/2019 and 25/10/2019.  
46   See for example these press releases from Europol of  12/03/2020, 31/03/2020, and 21/04/2020, as well as 

Eurojust Annual Report 2019, e.g. p.13. 

47    May  2017  Council  conclusions  on  setting  the  EU’s  priorities  for  the  fight  against  organised  and  serious 

international crime between 2018 and 2021. 
48   The latest SOCTA report is available here. 
49   The latest IOCTA report is available here. 
50   More information is available here. 
51   Other  important  initiatives  at  EU  level  on  protecting  children  during  COVID  19  include  the 

52  

Betterinternetforkids.eu COVID19 campaign.  
In particular Articles 22, 23 and 24. For more details, see the Report from the Commission to the European 
Parliament  and  the  Council  assessing  the  extent  to  which  the  Member  States  have  taken  the  necessary 
measures  in  order  to  comply  with  Directive  2011/93/EU  of  13  December  2011  on  combating  the  sexual 
abuse and sexual exploitation of children and child pornography, COM/2016/0871 final. 

9 

 
 
                                                           
 

In addition, the various types of practitioners in this field (e.g. responsible authorities 
providing prevention programmes for people who fear that they might offend, public 
authorities in charge of prevention programmes in prisons, NGOs offering prevention 
programmes to  support the reintegration in  the  community of sex offenders)  do not 
communicate  sufficiently  with  each  other  on  the  effectiveness  of  the  programmes, 
including lessons learned and best practices.  

To address these difficulties, the Commission will work on setting up a prevention network 
of relevant and reputed practitioners and researchers to support Member States in putting 
in  place  usable,  rigorously  evaluated  and  effective  prevention  measures  to  decrease  the 
prevalence  of  child  sexual  abuse  in  the  EU  and  facilitate  the  exchange  of  best  practices. 
Specifically, the network would: 

1.  Enable a virtuous cycle of practice to research and research to practice:  

  Researchers  would  provide  practitioners  with  scientifically  tested  initiatives,  and 
practitioners would provide researchers with continuous feedback on the prevention 
initiatives to further contribute to strengthen the evidence base. Victims’ perspectives 
and views would be also brought into the network’s work. 

 

  Although the network’ work would cover all areas related to preventing child sexual 
abuse, it would have a strong focus on  prevention programmes for offenders and 
for people who fear that they might offend, as this is the area where Member States 
struggle the most.  
It is known that not all offenders have a paedophilic disorder54 (other motivations to 
offend  include  exploitation  for  financial  gain),  and  not  everyone  who  has  a 
paedophilic disorder ends up being an offender (some people seek support in dealing 
with their paedophilia). Substantial research is needed to understand the process by 
which  a  person  ends  up  offending,  including  risk  factors  and  triggers.  Some 
statistics  suggest  that  up  to  85%  of  those  who  view  child  sexual  abuse  images  also 
physically  abuse  children55.  Viewing  child  sexual  abuse  material  is  also  a  criminal 
offence,  which  generates  demand  for  new  material  and  therefore  new  physical 
abuse56.  

  The network would follow a scientific approach to prevention. Although prevalence 
data  is  scarce,  studies  indicate  that  around  3%  of  the  male  population  could  have  a 
paedophilic disorder. Practitioners recognise that tackling the problem at its root by 
acknowledging that difficult fact and putting in place preventive measures, is the most 
effective  way  to  protect  victims  and  alleviate  the  workload  of  law  enforcement 
authorities.  

2.  Support Member States’ work to raise awareness by creating focused media campaigns 

and training materials: 

53   For an overview of prevention programmes in the EU and third countries, see Di Gioia R., Beslay, L. (2018) 
Fighting  child  sexual  abuse:  prevention  policies  for  offenders  –  Inception  Report,  EUR  29344  EN, 
doi:10.2760/48791. 

54   In  a  self-report  survey  with  a  sample  of  1,978  young  adult  males  from  Sweden,  4.2  %  reported  they  had 
ever viewed child sexual abuse material (Seto, et al, 2015). In another self-report survey with a sample of 
8,718 adult males in Germany, 2.4% of respondents reported using that material (Dombert, et al, 2016). 

55   https://childrescuecoalition.org/the-issue/. 
56   The Atlantic, I, Pedophile, David Goldberg, 26 August 2013. 

10 

 
 
                                                                                                                                                                                     
 

It  would  facilitate the exchange of information  on  training materials and capacity 
building  and  collect  ‘best  practice’  examples  to  inspire  media  campaigns  and 
training  across  Member  States.  It  would  help  avoid  duplication  of  efforts  by,  e.g. 
facilitating the adaptation and translation to the national context of materials created 
in other Member States.  

  The  Commission,  supported  by  the  network,  would  also  launch  and  support 
awareness raising campaigns to help inform children, parents, carers and educators 
about  risks  and  preventive  mechanisms  and  procedures.  These  would  be  developed 
with the network. 

  Prevention  efforts  are  necessary  in  relation  to  organisations  that  work  with 
children – sports centres and clubs, religious institutions, healthcare services, schools, 
afterschool activities – to raise awareness and to inform them about ways to prevent 
abuse, e.g. by providing focused  training57, ensuring they have in place appropriate 
procedures  and  making  use  of  their  legal  empowerment  under  EU  law  to  request 
criminal  records  across  borders  via  the  European  Criminal  Records  Information 
System58.  This  highly  effective  EU  system  is  crucial  in  the  prevention  of  sexual 
abuses  as  it  allows  to  make  background  checks  of  an  individual’s  possible  criminal 
history  when  recruiting  for  professional  or  organised  voluntary  activities  involving 
direct  and  regular  contacts  with  children.  Professionals  from  all  sectors,  who  might 
come  in  contact  with  children,  need  to  be  trained  and  equipped  with  the  tools  to 
prevent and detect early signs of possible sexual violence and abuse, and to interact 
with children and their families in an appropriate manner, driven by the specific needs 
and  the  best  interests  of  the  child.  This  also  includes  law  enforcement  authorities 
and the judiciary where child victims are involved in criminal investigations against 
their  abusers.  Families  and  carers,  professionals  and  broader  society  need  to 
understand  the  seriousness  of  these  crimes  and  the  devastating  effect  they  have  on 
children,  and  be  given  the  support  needed  to  report  these  crimes  and  support  child 
victims. This requires specialised information, media campaigns and training. 

  Children themselves need to have the knowledge and tools that could help them not 
to  be  confronted  with  the  abuse  when  possible  (e.g.  on  how  to  use  the  web  safely), 
and  they  need  to  be  informed  that  certain  behaviours  are  not  acceptable.  The 
Commission-funded  network  of  Safer  Internet  Centres59  raises  awareness  on  online 
safety  and  provides  information,  resources  and  assistance  via  helplines  and  hotlines 
on a wide range of digital safety topics including grooming and sexting60. The One in 
Five  campaign  by  the  Council  of  Europe61  and  Europol’s  “#SayNo”  initiative62  are 
further examples of how this can be done. When abuse occurs, children need to feel 
secure and empowered to speak up, react and report63, even when the abuse comes 
from within their circle of trust (i.e. loved ones or other people they know and trust), 
as  it  is  often  the  case.  They  also  need  to  have  access  to  safe,  accessible  and  age-
appropriate channels to report the abuse without fear. Prevention efforts also need to 
take  into  account  the  specific  circumstances  and  needs  of  various  groups  of 

57   See, for example, Erasmus+, the EU's programme to support education, training, youth and sport in Europe. 
58   European Criminal Records Information System (ECRIS). More information is available here. 
59    More information is available here. 
60   See for example the Irish Safer Internet Centre here.  
61   More information is available here.  
62   More information is available here.  
63   The upcoming Digital Education Action Plan will also cover child sexual abuse online. 

11 

 
 
                                                           
children who are particularly exposed to the risks of sexual abuse, such as children 
with  disabilities64,  children  in  migration  (in  particular  unaccompanied  minors)  and 
children victims of trafficking (the majority of whom are girls).  

The  aim  is  to  organise  the  network  in  working  groups  that  will  facilitate  the  exchange  of 
best practices and the work on concrete initiatives to generate tangible output. The working 
groups  could  be  organised  by  practice  (i.e.  by  professional  background,  e.g.  healthcare 
practitioners,  social  workers,  education  practitioners,  law  enforcement,  judicial  authorities, 
prison authorities, policy makers and researchers) and by programme (i.e. by type of target 
group  of  the  prevention  programme,  e.g.  offenders  and  people  who  fear  that  they  might 
offend,  or  training  and  awareness  raising  programmes  for  children,  families  and  the 
community).  

Maximising work to prevent child sexual abuse is essential. The exponential increase of child 
sexual abuse reports has overwhelmed law enforcement in the EU and globally, reaffirming 
the  consensus  among  practitioners  (including  law  enforcement)  that  this  problem  is 
impossible  to  solve  through  law  enforcement  action  only  and  requires  multi-agent 
coordination. 

The  network  would  aim  at  strengthening  the  capacity  in  the  EU  on  prevention  of  child 
sexual  abuse  and  would  have  a  global  reach  to  draw  on  all  relevant  expertise  within  and 
outside of the EU. It would also have an important online presence to facilitate sharing its 
work  within  the  EU  and  globally  so  that  all  countries  could  benefit  from  state-of-the-art 
research and approaches. 

In  summary,  the  prevention  network  would  enable:  a)  more  effective  action  in  the  fight 
against child sexual abuse (online and offline) in the EU; b) more effective and efficient use 
of the existing (limited) resources in the EU allocated to preventing child sexual abuse; and 
c)  more  effective  cooperation  with  partners  globally,  so  that  the  EU  can  benefit  from 
global expertise without duplicating efforts.  

Key action: 

  The Commission  will  start  immediately  to  prepare a prevention network  at  EU level  to 
facilitate  the  exchange  of  best  practices  and  support  Member  States  in  putting  in  place 
usable,  rigorously  evaluated  and  effective  prevention  measures  to  decrease  the 
prevalence of child sexual abuse in the EU. 

6.  A European centre to prevent and counter child sexual abuse  

The  Commission  will  start  working  towards  the  possible  creation  of  a  European  centre  to 
prevent  and  counter  child  sexual  abuse,  based  on  a  thorough  study  and  impact  assessment. 
The  centre  would  provide  holistic  support  to  Member  States  in  the  fight  against  child 
sexual  abuse,  online  and  offline,  ensuring  coordination  to  maximise  the  efficient  use  of 
resources and avoiding duplication of efforts.  

The  European  Parliament  called  for  the  creation  of  a  centre  in  its  November  2019 
resolution65, and Member States highlighted in their October 2019 Council conclusions the 
need  for  a  coordinated  and  multi-stakeholder  approach66.  The  centre  could  build  on  the 
best  practices  and  lessons  learned  from  similar  centres  around  the  world,  such  as  the 

64   EU Fundamental Rights Agency Report: Violence against children with disabilities, 2015. 
65   November 2019 Resolution on the 30th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. 
66   October 2019 Council conclusions on combating the sexual abuse of children. 

12 

 
 
                                                           
National  Centre  for  Missing  and  Exploited  Children  (NCMEC)  in  the  US,  the  Canadian 
Centre for Child Protection and the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation.  

To  ensure  holistic  support  to  Member  States  in  the  fight  against  child  sexual  abuse,  and 
subject to further assessment, the centre’s functions could cover three areas:  

1.  Law enforcement: Europol is a key actor in the fight against child sexual abuse, notably 
through the analysis and channelling of reports of abuse received from the U.S. Building 
on Europol’s role and experience, the centre could work with law enforcement agencies 
in the EU and in third countries to ensure that victims are identified and assisted as soon 
as possible and that offenders are brought to justice.  It could support Member States by 
receiving  reports  in  relation  to  child  sexual  abuse  in  the  EU  from  companies  offering 
their services in the EU, ensure the relevance of such reports, and forward these to law 
enforcement  for  action.  The  centre  could  also  support  companies  by,  for  example, 
maintaining  a  single  database  in  the  EU  of  known  child  sexual  abuse  material  to 
facilitate  its  detection  in  companies’  systems,  in  compliance  with  EU  data  protection 
rules.  In  addition,  the  centre  could  also  support  law  enforcement  by  coordinating  and 
facilitating  the  takedown  of  child  sexual  abuse  material  online  identified  through 
hotlines.  

The centre could operate according to strict control mechanisms to ensure accountability 
and transparency. In particular, the centre could potentially play a role in helping ensure 
that  there  is  no  erroneous  takedown  or  abuse  of  the  search  tools  to  report  legitimate 
content  (including  misuse  of  the  tools  for  purposes  other  than  the  fight  against  child 
sexual  abuse)  and  in  receiving  complaints  from  users  who  feel  that  their  content  was 
mistakenly  removed.  Accountability  and  transparency  will  be  key  elements  of  the 
legislation referred to in the key actions of initiative #2. 

2.  Prevention:  building  on  the  work  of  the  prevention  network,  the  centre  could  support 
Member  States  in  putting  in  place  usable,  rigorously  evaluated  and  effective  multi-
disciplinary prevention measures to decrease the prevalence of child sexual abuse in the 
EU, taking account of differing vulnerabilities of children according to their age, gender, 
development  and  specific  circumstances.  It  could  facilitate  coordination  to  support  the 
most efficient use of resources invested and expertise available on prevention across the 
EU,  avoiding  duplication  of  efforts.  A  hub  for  connecting,  developing  and 
disseminating research and expertise, it could facilitate and encourage dialogue among 
all  relevant  stakeholders  and  help  develop  state-of-the-art  research  and  knowledge, 
including better data. It could also provide input to policy makers at national and EU 
level on prevention gaps and possible solutions to address them. 

3.  Assistance to victims: the centre could work closely with national authorities and global 
experts  to  ensure  that  victims  receive  appropriate  and  holistic  support,  as  the  Child 
Sexual Abuse Directive and the Victims’ Rights Directive67 require68. It could also work 
on supporting the exchange of best practices on protection measures for child victims. It 
could also support Member States by carrying out research (e.g. on short and long-term 

67   Directive  2012/29/EU  of  25  October  2012  establishing  minimum  standards  on  the  rights,  support  and 
protection  of  victims  of  crime,  OJ  L  315,  14.11.2012.  This  Directive  complements  with  general  victims’ 
rights  the  specific  provisions  for  victims  of  child  sexual  abuse  contained  in  the  Child  Sexual  Abuse 
Directive. 

68   To  ensure  a  coherent  approach  to  EU  victims’  rights  policy,  the  centre  could  also  cooperate  with  the 
Victims’  Rights  Platform  set  up  under  the  EU  Strategy  on  victims'  rights  (2020-2025),  COM/2020/258 
final. 

13 

 
 
                                                           
effects of child sexual abuse on victims) to support evidence-based policy on assistance 
and  support  to  victims  and  serving  as  a  hub  of expertise  to  help  coordinate  better  and 
avoid  duplication  of  efforts.  The  centre  could  also  support  victims  in  removing  their 
images and videos to safeguard their privacy, including through  proactively searching 
materials online and notifying companies69.  

The  centre  could  bring  together  all  the  initiatives  in  this  strategy  by  enabling  more 
effective cooperation between public authorities (including law enforcement), industry and 
civil  society  in  the  EU  and  globally,  and  becoming  the  reference  entity  in  the  EU  for 
expertise in this area: 

  Legislation-focused  initiatives:  the  centre  could  assist  with  its  expertise  the 
Commission on its role to support Member States on the implementation of the Child 
Sexual Abuse Directive. This expertise, which would increase with time as the centre 
continues to identify gaps and best practices in the EU and beyond, would facilitate 
evidence-based policy by the Commission that could also ensure that EU legislation 
is up to date to enable an effective response. 

  Cooperation and funding-focused initiatives: working closely with the Commission 
and similar centres in other countries and with the WePROTECT Global Alliance to 
end  child  sexual  exploitation,  the  centre  could  ensure  that  all  Member  States  have 
immediate and centralised access to global best practices, and that children around 
the  world  can  benefit  from  EU’s  best  practices.  The  centre  could  also  draw  on  the 
results of the prevention network, and the experience of the Safer Internet Centres. 

The  Commission  will  work  closely  with  the  European  Parliament  and  Member  States  to 
explore the various implementation options, including making use of existing structures 
for the centre’s functions where appropriate, with a view to maximising the centre’s added-
value,  effectiveness,  and  sustainability.  The  Commission  will  carry  out  an  impact 
assessment,  with  a  study  to  be  launched  immediately,  to  identify  the  best  way  forward 
including the best funding mechanisms and legal form that this centre should take. 

Key action: 

  The  Commission  will  launch  immediately  a  study  to  work  towards  the  creation  of  a 
European  centre  to  prevent  and  counter  child  sexual  abuse  to  enable  a  comprehensive 
and effective EU response against child sexual abuse online and offline. 

7.  Galvanise industry efforts to ensure the protection of children in their products  

Providers of certain online services are uniquely well placed to prevent, detect and report 
child sexual abuse that occurs using their infrastructure or services.  

At present, a number of  companies voluntarily detect child sexual abuse. NCMEC received 
almost 17 million reports of child sexual abuse from those companies in 2019 alone70. These 
reports include not only abusive images and videos but also situations that pose an imminent 
danger  to  children  (e.g.  details  of  arrangements  to  meet  to  physically  abuse  the  child  or 
suicide  threats  by  the  child  following  blackmail  by  the  offender).  These  reports  have  been 

69   The centre could also serve as an advocate for child victims to ensure that their voices are heard and taken 
into account in policymaking at EU and national level, raising awareness of children’s rights and of child 
victims’ needs. 

70   See  here the list of companies that reported to NCMEC in 2019, and the number of reports submitted by 

each of them.  

14 

 
 
                                                           
instrumental for years in rescuing children in the EU from ongoing abuse. They have led 
to, for example:  

 

 

 

 

 

 

the  rescue  of  11  children,  some  as  young  as  2  years  old,  who  were  exploited  by  a 
network of abusers in Sweden71; 
the single largest operation ever against child sexual abuse in Denmark72; 

the  rescue  of  a  9  year-old  girl  in  Romania,  who  had  been  abused  by  her  father  for 
more than a year73; 

the rescue of a 4 year-old girl and her 10 year-old brother in Germany, who had been 
abused by their father74; 

the arrest of an offender in France who groomed 100 children to obtain child sexual 
abuse material from them75; 

the rescue of 2 girls in Czechia, abused by a 52 year-old man, who recorded the abuse 
and distributed it online76. 

The efforts that companies make to detect and report child sexual abuse vary significantly. 
In 2019, a single company, Facebook, sent almost 16 million reports (94% of the total that 
year), while other US-based companies sent fewer than 1 000 reports, and some fewer than 
1077.   

Last year, Facebook announced plans to implement end-to-end encryption by default in its 
instant messaging service. In the absence of accompanying measures, it is estimated that this 
could  reduce the number of  total  reports  of  child sexual  abuse in  the EU (and  globally)  by 
more than half78 and as much as two-thirds79, since the detection tools as currently used do 
not work on end-to-end encrypted communications. 

Given the key role that certain online services play in the distribution of child sexual abuse 
material,  and  the  actual  and  potential  importance  of  the  industry  in  the  fight  against  child 
sexual abuse, it is essential that it takes responsibility for protecting children in its products, 
in line with EU fundamental rights, including on privacy and personal data protection.  

In 2020, the Commission has begun work on supporting industry efforts in the fight against 
child sexual abuse online under the EU Internet Forum. The forum, which brings together 
all  EU  Home  Affairs  Ministers,  high-level  representatives  of  major  internet  companies,  the 
European Parliament and Europol, has served since 2015 as a model for a successful cross-
sector collaboration in the fight against terrorist content online and has now expanded to also 
cover child sexual abuse online.80   

In addition to continuing to support the fight against terrorist content online, the EU Internet 
Forum will provide a common space to share best practices and the challenges that private 
and  public  actors  encounter  in  their  fight  against  child  sexual  abuse  online,  to  increase 

71   Swedish Cybercrime Centre SC3, Swedish Police.  
72   2018 Internet Organised Crime Threat Assessment, Europol, page 32. 
73   As reported in the Romanian media, see here and here. 
74   As reported by the German Federal Police (BKA). 
75   As reported by the French police. 
76   As reported by the Czech police. 
77   National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children, 2019 Reports by Electronic Service Providers.  
78   National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children, End-to-end encryption: ignoring abuse won’t stop it. 
79   The New York Times, An Explosion in Online Child Sex Abuse: What You Need to Know, 29/09/2019. 
80   2019 Internet Organised Crime Threat Assessment, Europol, page 34. 

15 

 
 
                                                           
 
mutual understanding and find solutions together. It will also enable high-level political 
coordination to maximise the efficiency and effectiveness of actions across the EU. 

One  of  the  specific  initiatives  under  the  EU  Internet  Forum  in  2020  is  the  creation  of  a 
technical expert process to map and assess possible solutions which could allow companies 
to  detect  and  report  child  sexual  abuse 
in  end-to-end  encrypted  electronic 
communications,  in  full  respect  of  fundamental  rights  and  without  creating  new 
vulnerabilities  criminals  could  exploit.  Technical  experts  from  academia,  industry,  public 
authorities  and  civil  society  organisations  will  examine  possible  solutions  focused  on  the 
device, the server and the encryption protocol that  could  ensure the privacy and security of 
electronic  communications  and  the  protection  of  children  from  sexual  abuse  and  sexual 
exploitation.  

Key action: 

  Under  the  EU  Internet  Forum,  the  Commission  has  launched  an  expert  process  with 
industry to map and preliminarily assess, by the end of 2020, possible technical solutions 
to  detect  and  report  child  sexual  abuse 
in  end-to-end  encrypted  electronic 
communications,  and 
to  address  regulatory  and  operational  challenges  and 
opportunities in the fight against these crimes. 

8.  Improve protection of children globally through multi-stakeholder cooperation   

Child sexual abuse is  a global reality across all countries and social groups and it happens 
both offline and online. It is estimated that, at any given moment, across the world there are 
more than 750 000 predators online exchanging child sexual abuse material, streaming live 
abuse  of  children,  extorting  children  to  produce  sexual  material  or  grooming  children  for 
future sexual abuse81.  

The following map shows the real time downloads in a given day of a sample of child sexual 
abuse material82: 

81   U.N. General Assembly, Human Rights Council,  Report of the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, 

child prostitution and child pornography, 13 July 2009. 

82   Child Rescue Coalition, real time downloads of a sample of child sexual abuse  material on  13 July 2020. 
The different colours of the dots indicate different networks from which the material was downloaded. 

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There  is  also  evidence  that  offenders  travel  to  third  countries  to  take  advantage  of  more 
lenient legislative frameworks or fewer enforcement capacities and to commit abuse without 
fearing  law  enforcement.  The  ability  to  require  those  who  commit  sexual  offences  against 
children  to  register  and  comply  with  certain  conditions  imposed  by  the  court  or  probation 
services after their release from prison plays an important role in protecting children83.  
The  Commission  has  supported  global  efforts  through  multi-stakeholder  cooperation84  for 
years,  well  aware  that  it  takes  a  network  to  defeat  a  network.  One  example  is  the  
Commission-funded  ICSE database, hosted at  Interpol,  which holds more than 1.5 million 
images  and  videos  and  has  helped  identify  20  000  victims  worldwide,  through  the 
collaborative  efforts of the more than 60 countries  (and Europol) that  are connected to  it85. 
The  Commission  also  co-funds  the  INHOPE  network  of  hotlines86  from  more  than  40 
countries to facilitate the removal of child sexual abuse material online anonymously reported 
by  the  public87.  The  Commission  will  continue  supporting  global  action  with  funding  to 
enhance international cooperation. In particular, the EU will continue to support the EU-UN 

83   See recital 43 of the Child Sexual Abuse Directive (2011/93).  
84   For  example,  the  Alliance  to  better  protect  minors  online  brings  together  the  European  Commission, 
leading ICT and media companies, NGOs and UNICEF to improve the online environment for children and 
young people by focusing on user empowerment, enhanced collaboration, and awareness raising. 

85   Interpol’s International Child Sexual Exploitation database, as of May 2019. 
86   For  over  20  years,  as  part  of  the  Safer  Internet  policy  (see  European  Strategy  for  a  Better  Internet  for 
Children, COM/2012/0196, Pillar 4), the EU has supported cooperation between law enforcement, internet 
industries and NGOs, in the EU and globally, to combat this crime, including with EU funding to hotlines.     
87   Commission  funding  to  the  hotlines  and  to  the  central  hashes  database  “ICCAM”  is  currently  provided 
under  Connecting  Europe  Facility;  future  funding  has  been  proposed  by  the  Commission  under  Digital 
Europe  Programme.  The  hotlines  analyse  the  reports  and  the  location  of  hosting  service  providers,  and 
forward details of confirmed CSAM to the relevant law enforcement agency, for criminal investigation and 
victim  identification,  and  to  the  hosting  service  providers  for  content  removal.  See  here  for  more 
information. 

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Spotlight Initiative88, to prevent and eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls 
across five regions around the globe89.  

In 2012, the Commission co-founded with the competent US authorities the Global Alliance 
Against Child Sexual Abuse Online90, which brought together 54 countries to improve victim 
protection,  identify  and  prosecute  offenders,  raise  awareness,  and  reduce  the  availability  of 
child  sexual  abuse  material  online.  This  initiative  merged  with  a  similar  one  from  the  UK, 
WePROTECT,  created  in  2014,  which  brought  governments  together  with  industry  and 
NGOs.  In  2016,  both  initiatives  agreed  to  join  forces  and  form  the  WePROTECT  Global 
Alliance to End Child Sexual Exploitation Online, which currently includes 97 governments, 
32 global technology companies, 33 civil society organisations and international institutions, 
and 5 regional organisations91. At the end of 2019, the organisation became an independent 
legal entity in the form of a foundation with limited liability, set up in the Netherlands.  

The  WePROTECT  Global  Alliance  has  advanced  countries’  commitment  towards  a  more 
coordinated  response  to  the  global  fight  against  child  sexual  abuse,  based  on  global  threat 
assessments, and a model national response. These have helped to clarify the challenges and 
assist member countries in setting achievable practical goals. 

The Commission will continue to support the alliance as a member of its policy board, given 
its  co-founder  status,  including  with  funding.  This  will  allow  the  Commission  to  ensure 
coherence with  global initiatives  (in particular  regulatory ones), which  in turn  will support 
and strengthen the effectiveness of actions within the EU by providing Member States access 
to  global  best  practices.  In  particular,  by  participating  in  the  policy  board  of  the 
WePROTECT Global Alliance, the Commission actively contributes to increase standards for 
the  protection  of  children,  the  identification  of  perpetrators,  and  support  for  child  victims 
across the globe. This facilitates the EU’s efforts to share best practices with and to support 
national  authorities  in  third  countries  in  implementing  international  standards  in  the  online 
space  (i.e.  protection  of  children),  in  line  with  the  EU  Action  Plan  on  Human  Rights  and 
Democracy 2020-202492. The Commission has supported this type of global cooperation for 
years  and  considers  the  WePROTECT  Global  Alliance  as  the  central  organisation  for 
coordinating  and  streamlining  global  efforts  and  regulatory  improvements,  and  bringing 
about a more effective global response. 

Key action: 

  The  Commission  will  continue  contributing  to  increase  global  standards  for  the 
protection of children against sexual abuse by promoting multi-stakeholder cooperation 
through the WePROTECT Global Alliance, and through dedicated funding.  

NEXT STEPS 

This  strategy  presents  a  framework  to  respond  in  a  comprehensive  way  to  the  increasing 
threat  of  child  sexual  abuse,  both  in  its  online  and  offline  form.  This  strategy  will  be  the 
reference framework for EU action in the fight against child sexual abuse for the 2020-2025 

88   More information about the Spotlight Initiative is available here.  
89   The EU will also engage with civil society organisations (Joining Forces Initiative) in Sub-Saharan Africa 
to reduce levels of violence, abuse, exploitation and neglect against children and adolescents, especially in 
countries most affected by COVID-19. 

90   More information about the Global Alliance Against Child Sexual Abuse Online is available here. 
91   As of 17 June 2020. More information about WePROTECT Global Alliance is available here. 
92   More information about the EU Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy 2020-2024 is available here. 

18 

 
 
 
                                                           
period.  It  will  also  inform  related  Commission  initiatives  such  as  the  EU  strategy  on  the 
rights of the child, to be adopted in early 2021.  

The  Commission  will  work  closely  with  companies,  civil  society  organisations,  academia, 
practitioners,  researchers,  law  enforcement  and  other  public  authorities,  and  other  relevant 
stakeholders,  in  the  EU  (including  the  European  Parliament  and  the  Council)  and  globally, 
during the coming months and years to ensure an effective exploration and implementation 
of the eight initiatives presented in the strategy.  

The right legal framework should be implemented to enable an effective response, including 
on  investigations,  prevention  and  assistance  to  victims,  by  the  relevant  actors,  including 
companies. 

Child  sexual  abuse  is  a  complex  issue  that  requires  the  maximum  cooperation  from  all 
stakeholders, which have to be able, willing, and ready to act. The Commission will spare no 
efforts to ensure that this is the case, given the urgent need to take effective action.  

Our  children  are  our  present  and  our  future.  The  Commission  will  continue  using  all 
available tools to ensure that nothing steals that future from them. 

19