Combating the sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children and child sexual abuse material. Recast

ECPAT International is a global network of civil society organisations working towards the vision of ending the sexual exploitation of children. With a Secretariat based in Bangkok (Thailand), driving strategic direction, producing key research and working on global advocacy; together with the on-the-ground efforts of members in 104 countries, the network approach bridges local communities, governments and the…

ECPAT Austria, the Working Group for the Protection of Children's Rights against Sexual Exploitation, welcomes the European Commissions proposal for a recast of the Directive 2011/93/EU on combating the sexual abuse and the sexual exploitation of children and child sexual abuse material.

European Centre for Law and Justice (ECLJ) wishes to draw the European Commission’s attention to the need to take into account and combat children’s exposure to online pornography. There is no question of underestimating or dedramatising in any way the odious sexual abuse of all kinds committed against children, but precisely to recognise all forms of such abuse.

Filed in French · English published by the European Commission

Hope For Children CRC Policy Center (HFC) welcomes the opportunity to provide feedback on the proposed recast of Directive 2011/93/EU on combating the sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children and child pornography. As an organization dedicated to protecting the rights and well-being of children, we recognize the importance of updating and strengthening legal frameworks to better address these heinous crimes.

UNICEF welcomes the recast proposal of Directive 2011/93/EU. Child sexual abuse and exploitation are a serious violation of childrens rights with devastating immediate and long-term impacts on children. National laws should protect children from abuse and ensure their access to justice and effective remedies when their rights are violated in line with States obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of the…

Defence for Children - ECPAT Netherlands is pleased to contribute to the European Commission's revision of the Directive aimed at combating the sexual abuse and exploitation of children. As a leading child rights organization, we support the proposed Directive and its efforts to update the legal framework to address the challenges posed by technological advancements.

Victim Support Europe (VSE) is the leading European umbrella organisation advocating on behalf of all victims of crime, no matter what the crime, no matter who the victim is. VSE represents 78 member organisations, providing support and information to more than 2 million people affected by crime every year in 36 countries.

Missing Children Europes contribution to the public consultation on the European Commissions proposal for an update of the criminal law rules on child sexual abuse and sexual exploitation under the recast of Directive 2011/93/EU.

The German Digital Opportunities Foundation welcomes the European Commissions initiative to recast and amend the existing Directive. Since their came in effect diction and perception of some circumstances changed as well as CSA online rapidly increased. On the whole we support this proposal, but we want to stress some points out and raise the awareness of the European Commission for further improvement.

Terre des Hommes Netherlands welcomes the Commission's Proposal for a Directive on combating the sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children and child sexual abuse material and replacing Council Framework Decision 2004/68/JHA (recast).

WeProtect Global Alliance (the Alliance) is supportive of the European Commission's (EC) proposal to revise and update Directive 2011/93/EU (the Recast) to bolster the fight against child sexual exploitation and abuse, particularly with regard to the nature of online harm which has been exponentially growing since the Directive was originally introduced.

The Federation of Catholic Family Associations in Europe (FAFCE) is an umbrella organisation of family associations from all over Europe. Our General Secretariat is based in Brussels, Belgium. Please find attached our contribution.

eco is the Association of the Internet Industry, representing roughly 1,000 members (based in Germany and abroad). Tackling illegal content (including combatting CSAM) is an important topic for the whole society. eco and its members are committed to contributing to this, e.g.

ECPAT Sweden welcomes the Commissions proposal for a recast of directive 2011/93/EU and its commitment to combat and prevent child sexual abuse and exploitation online and offline. The recast is an important step towards harmonizing national legislation among Member states regarding substantial criminal law, procedural law, prevention, care and support as well as victims rights to compensation.

COFACE Families Europe is a pluralistic network with 50+ member organisations in 23 European countries which represents millions of families, volunteers, and professionals. Based on a multi-generation approach, COFACE member organisations respond at national or regional level to the needs of all families, without discrimination.

We explicitly welcome that the Commission's proposal to revise Directive 2011/93/eu better accounts for the specificities of child sexual abuse and exploitation offences and addresses insufficient criminalisation. IJM supports the EU Commission in its effort to acknowledge sexual exploitation as a cross border crime, increase victim assistance and cover the phenomenon livestreaming as a sexual offence.

We explicitly welcome that the Commission's proposal to revise Directive 2011/93/eu better accounts for the specificities of child sexual abuse and exploitation offences and addresses insufficient criminalisation. IJM supports the EU Commission in its effort to acknowledge sexual exploitation as a cross border crime, increase victim assistance and cover the phenomenon livestreaming as a sexual offence.

QUEST welcomes this directives mention of the need for a whole society approach to guarantee child protection. This starts from early ages on as an investment towards the creation of a culture of peace, cooperation and respect of human rights, including childrens rights, reproduced and strengthened by the new generations.

Protect Children ry. (Protect Children) is grateful for the opportunity to provide feedback on the proposed Directive. Protect Children is a non-governmental organisation based in Helsinki, Finland, working globally to prevent and end all forms of sexual violence against children.

Save the Children Europe, representing several Save the Children members, welcomes the recast of Directive 2011/93/EU and many of the updates made in the proposal by the European Commission. Overall, the updated Directive will be an important step in ensuring that legislation in the EU protects children and their rights and that laws are able to keep up with the technological aspect of the sexual abuse of children…

The European Confederation of Police (EuroCOP) is the umbrella organisation for police unions and staff organisations in Europe. We are representing member countries of the European Union or the Council of Europe, which translates currently into over 230,000 police officers in 25 European countries.

ECPAT Germany welcomes the proposed changes of the European Commission to Directive 2011/93/EU on combating the sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children and child sexual abuse material. While many adaptions are satisfactory from a children rights perspective, there are some aspects where we still see necessity of improvement. Those are explained in detail in the attached statement.

Child sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children are extremely serious crimes with consequences throughout the victims’ lives. Tackling these crimes, both offline and online, is a top priority and a better response is needed.

Filed in French · English published by the European Commission

INHOPE welcomes the European Commission's proposed recast directive on combating child sexual abuse and sexual exploitation, adopted on February 6th, 2024. This legislative proposal marks a significant step forward in the global fight against child sexual abuse.

The Federal Bar Association gives its opinion on the European Commission’s proposal for a directive on combating sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children in the attached document. It warmly welcomes the intention of the proposal and the innovations it envisages in the field of prevention and education.

Filed in German · English published by the European Commission

Contribution from the Government of the Azores, via the attached Regional Secretariat for Health and Social Security. Work resulting from the collaboration of the Regional Directorate for the Promotion of Equality and Social Inclusion and the Commission of the Azores for Children.

Filed in Portuguese · English published by the European Commission

Child sexual abuse is a serious violation of the fundamental rights of children, which can cause long term physical, psychological and social harm to the victim. In order to adequately address all forms of sexual abuse in different settings, and ensure effective prevention initiatives, protection and support to victims are in place, Lumos is of the opinion that a new legislative framework, building on the existing…

The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) is an international hotline based in the UK, funded by the internet industry and European Commission, which provides a secure and anonymous place for 2.5 billion people globally to report suspected child sexual abuse material in their local language through the 48 reporting portals we operate around the world.

The Ordo Iuris Institute recognizes the need to strengthen Member States' efforts in the areas of prevention, investigation, prosecution and victim support. The proposed roadmap Option 2 - Complementing existing legislation with non-legislative measures may have a positive effect.

Victim Support Europe (VSE) is the leading European umbrella organisation advocating on behalf of all victims of crime, no matter what the crime, no matter who the victim is. VSE represents 62 member organisations, providing support and information to more than 2 million people affected by crime every year in 30 countries.

ECPAT International welcomes the opportunity to provide feedback on the roadmap for the review of EU rules on combating child sexual abuse. As the world’s largest network solely focused on ending the sexual exploitation of children - an international organisation with 122 members in 104 countries - ECPAT has broad and deep understanding of the global dimensions of this significant societal problem.

Terre des Hommes Netherlands works to prevent (online and offline) child exploitation and to protect children. We welcome the EU initiative to review Directive 2011/93/EU on combating the sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children. We strongly believe that holistic EU regulation and policies are needed to address the issue of child exploitation and harm online.

>>Challenges: GISAD welcomes the European Commission's initiative to tackle child sexual abuse. However, GISAD has already argued extensively at https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/12618-Regulation-enabling-temporary-continuation-of-specific-child-protection-measures-by-certain-communications-services- that new legislation will not be sufficient and may even counterproductively…

Missing Children Europe is the European federation of 31 grassroot organisations working for the prevention, protection, and support of missing children’s cases. Missing Children Europe welcomes the Commission’s proposal to review Directive 2011/93/EU on combating the sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children and child pornography. Every year an estimated two hundred thousand children go missing in Europe.

Suojellaan Lapsia ry / Protect Children extends a warm thank you to the Commission for its invaluable work in the field of child protection. Moreover, Protect Children wants to kindly thank for the opportunity to provide feedback on this initiative. Protect Children is a non-governmental and not-for-profit organization based in Helsinki, Finland.

ETNO welcomes the opportunity to comment on the European Commission’s roadmaps on Combatting child sexual abuse material, and on the forthcoming Better Internet for Children Strategy. We welcome the Commission’s commitment to combatting child sexual abuse material online, based on the EU strategy for a more effective fight against child sexual abuse .

We welcome the opportunity to provide feedback on the European Commission’s proposed review of EU Directive 2011/93. We welcome the renewed focus on attempts to achieve an EU-wide approach to tacking CSA and CSE online as part of the EU strategy for a more effective fight against child sexual abuse.

AMBER Alert Europe is a foundation that assists in saving missing children at risk by connecting law enforcement with other police experts and with the public across Europe. It advocates that one missing child is one too many and aims for zero missing children in Europe.

The ICT Coalition for children Online welcomes the opportunity of providing its feedback on this very important topic. The origins of the “ICT Coalition for Children Online” go back to 2011. Its creation was driven by the willingness of different digital industry players to share a common vision and work together to improve safety of children online.

Thorn welcomes the opportunity to provide feedback on the Commission's review of Directive 2011/93. Thorn is a US-based nonprofit organization that builds technology to defend children from sexual abuse and online exploitation. At Thorn, we believe in the power and potential of government, NGOs, and tech companies working together to eliminate child sexual abuse material online.

eco is the Association of the Internet Industry, representing more than 1,100 members (based in Germany and abroad). Tackling illegal content is an important topic for eco and its members. Therefore, eco is operating a German hotline (eco Complaints Office) to report illegal and harmful content, incl. child sexual abuse material (CSAM), for 25 years.