In September 2024, ECLAG (The European Child Sexual Abuse Legislation Advocacy Group), of which COFACE is member, organised a breakfast in Strasbourg to welcome newly elected MEPs and encourage them to use their position to fight the ongoing Child Sexual Abuse Crisis affecting millions of children across Europe. Europe is facing an alarming child sexual abuse crisis, with over 100 million images and videos of child sexual abuse reported online in 2023 alone.
Hosted by MEP Javier Zarzalejos, many MEPs joined the ECLAG coalition to show their commitment to protecting children from child sexual abuse from different angles and political perspectives. While the dedication shown was inspiring, now it is the moment to take their words into action: the children of Europe are counting on Members of the European Parliament to safeguard their right to be protected from all forms of abuse. They called on our newly elected politicians to defend and support strong EU legislation combating this heinous crime.
Members of the European Parliament have a duty to protect children from violence. Opinion polls and Eurobarometer surveys point out that 4 in 5 EU citizens support our call that online platforms should be obliged to use this technology. More than half of the caregivers surveyed in the VOICE research believed that existing measures are insufficiently protecting children from online child sexual exploitation and abuse.
