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The volume of online child sexual abuse materials (CSAM) and frequency of grooming activities, increasingly targeting younger children, is rising sharply. On 11 May 2022, the European Commission adopted a proposal for mandatory legislation to combat what is an escalating problem. Reporting of suspected online child sexual abuse increased by 35 % in 2021 compared with 2020, representing a historical peak. Most of the activities detected were hosted in Europe. The Commission proposal would require ...

The Commission demonstrates that child sexual abuse online is a serious problem that needs to be tackled. It frames the problem for the purpose of this IA in a narrow way, focusing on the legal fragmentation of the internal market for service providers. The root causes of the serious societal problem of offenders sexually abusing children – which leads to the production of CSAM – are not further examined. The IA considered five cumulative options; however, the formulation of the general objective ...

Violence against women is a violation of human rights and a form of gender-based discrimination. Rooted in inequalities between men and women, it takes many forms. Estimates of the scale of the problem are alarming. Such violence has a major impact on victims and imposes a significant cost burden on society. The instruments put in place by the United Nations and Council of Europe, including the latter's 'Istanbul Convention', to which the EU plans to accede, are benchmarks in efforts to combat violence ...

The Monthly Highlights publication provides an overview, at a glance, of the on-going work of the policy departments, including a selection of the latest and forthcoming publications, and a list of future events.

Child sexual exploitation and sexual abuse are among the worst forms of violence against children, and constitute serious crimes that know no borders. The constant rise in child sexual exploitation and abuse, exacerbated by the COVID 19 pandemic, underscores the importance of harmonised national legislation and international cooperation to prevent these offences, protect the victims and prosecute the perpetrators. The European Day helps to raise awareness to this end. This is an update of a publication ...

The Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention) is the first instrument in Europe to set legally binding standards specifically to prevent gender-based violence, protect victims of such violence and punish perpetrators. EU accession to the Istanbul Convention is a priority in the EU 2020-2025 gender equality strategy. The EU signed the Convention in June 2017. Accession now requires a Council Decision and prior consent ...

This study, commissioned by the European Parliament’s Policy Department for Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs at the request of the FEMM Committee, provides an overview of the legislative frameworks for victims (including children) of gender-based violence in the 27 Member States. It provides analysis of measures in place at both Member State and EU level, and recommendations to prevent and combat gender-based violence.

Since 2016 and the start of the 'refugee crisis', alarming numbers of migrant and refugee children have been reported missing after arriving in Europe. It is feared that many have been exploited and abused for sexual or labour purposes. The European Parliament has repeatedly stressed the need to address the disappearance of migrant children in the EU. The conflict in Ukraine and the subsequent mass displacement have made the situation even worse, creating opportunities for criminal networks to take ...

Gender-based violence, including violence against women and domestic violence, breaches human rights and is an extreme form of gender-based discrimination. However, violence against women and domestic violence are pervasive throughout the European Union (EU). While the full scale of the problem is not known due to a lack of data, the results of the most comprehensive survey on violence against women at EU level to date, published by the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) in 2014, provide an indication ...

This briefing provides an initial analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the European Commission's impact assessment (IA) accompanying the above-mentioned proposal, submitted on 8 March 2022 and referred to the European Parliament's Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality (FEMM). European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced in her political guidelines for the Commission's 2019-2024 term that the EU accession to the Council of Europe's Istanbul Convention on preventing ...