Urgent: Stop the Child Sexual Abuse Crisis

Saatja: Isaline Wittorski <[email protected]>

Saadetud: 01.07.2024 14:24 Adressaat: SiM info <[email protected]>; <[email protected]>;

<[email protected]>; <[email protected]>; <[email protected]> Koopia: Barbara Haage <[email protected]>; <[email protected]>; <[email protected]>; <[email protected]>

Teema: Urgent: Stop the Child Sexual Abuse Crisis Manused: Outlook-2ow2wxh2.png; Outlook-Icon_www2.png; Outlook-Icon_FB.png;

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TÄHELEPANU! Tegemist on väljastpoolt asutust saabunud kirjaga. Tundmatu saatja korral palume linke ja faile

mitte avada!

Dear Prime Minister, Minister and Ambassador of Estonia, We are a coalition of more than 65 child rights’ organisations advocating for strong legislations in Europe to protect children against sexual abuse. Since May 2022, we are mobilised to call on EU leaders to support a strong EU Regulation to prevent and combat child sexual abuse. While we thank the Belgian Presidency for the tireless work and welcome the progress made in recent weeks, we regret that yet again negotiations have failed to achieve a balanced and effective approach to protect children from the online Child Sexual Abuse Crisis. For the past 2 years, while you have deliberated on the details of this crucial legislation, conservative estimates say that almost 200 MILLION pieces of content (images or videos) which feature a child being sexually abused have been reported to be circulating widely on the Internet. That’s 3 images or videos of child sexual abuse being shared online every second. 44% of this content featured a child under the age of 10 in 2023. And the online sexual solicitation of children increased by more than 300% between 2021 and 2023. By delaying the passing of this law, EU governments have effectively enabled perpetrators to continue to sexually abuse children online unrestricted. This Child Sexual Abuse Crisis is exacerbated by developments in new technology which are exploited by offenders. A particular challenge is the rise of text-to-image based Generative AI. The Internet Watch Foundation found 20,254 AI-generated images on just one dark web forum devoted to child sexual abuse material in a single month. Recently, the cases of the use of these technology for child sexual abuse have escalated, as seen in the US and Spain. These technologies can create new images in a matter of seconds and are further demonstration of why Europe desperately needs a l ong-term, comprehensive legislation to address Europe’s Child Sexual Abuse Crisis. We look forward to working with you and the Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the EU to ensure that the resulting EU Regulation effectively protects children from sexual abuse in accordance with the EU Charter and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Addressing this issue at scale will require every available solution, including a system of mandatory and voluntary detection, for all forms of abuse, including grooming, and in all online environments, including end-to-end encrypted spaces. We believe in your commitment to protect children and call on you to urgently reach an effective and comprehensive agreement in the Council of the EU.

Best regards,

ECLAG Steering Group*

*This letter was drafted by ECLAG Steering Group. The European Child sexual abuse Legislation Advocacy Group (ECLAG) is a coalition of over 65 child rights NGOs joining forces to fight to protect children from sexual violence and abuse. ECLAG Steering Group is formed by Brave Movement , ECPAT International , Eurochild , Missing Children Europe , Internet Watch Foundation , Terre des Hommes and Thorn .

-- Isaline Wittorski (she/her) Regional Coordinator - EU (Based in Belgium)

ECPAT International Working together to end the sexual exploitation of children www.ecpat.org For more information visit us at: