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Our work in Europe
Our youth advocates in Sweden, Poland and Portugal ask "what does online safety mean to you?".
Watch as they share statistics on online childhood sexual violence, and challenge others with "Did you know?", "Green flag or red flag?" and "True or false?"
Survivor-led policy campaigns
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#BeBrave G7 Scorecard 2025
Despite important progress in isolated areas, the world’s richest nations are fundamentally failing to address the escalating global crisis of childhood sexual violence.
By evaluating each G7 nation’s progress on vital policy measures we're drawing global attention to the global, silent pandemic of sexual violence against children.
Survivor Advocates Globally Empowered (SAGE)
Our blogs and news from Europe
News
Brave Movement welcomes announcement of French Survivor Council as key moment in fight to end all violence against children
The Brave Movement welcomes the announcement of the confirmation of a council of survivors in France.
News
Child Global and Brave Movement call for the European Union to end legal loopholes allowing child abusers to escape punishment
Last chance for a generation of European child abuse survivors to get justice
Blog
November 18th: World Day for the Prevention of and Healing from Child Sexual Exploitation, Abuse, and Violence
Imagine a world where there are almost no rules. Where police will never have the time or resources to fully protect children. And where the people in charge do little to keep them from harm. Welcome to the online world.
November 18, 2024
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News
Overwhelming vote by MEPs to end time limits on prosecuting child abusers is a major step towards keeping children safe
An overwhelming vote by the European Parliament in favour of ending time limits for the prosecution of child abusers has been welcomed by leading children’s rights organisations as a major step towards keeping children safe.
News
The Brave Movement welcomes the French PM’s support for the creation of a victims council
Support from France’s Prime Minister for the creation of a national survivor council has been welcomed by the Brave Movement as ” An essential step towards ending violence against children in France .” The announcement, made by François Bayrou today at the National Assembly in Paris brings closer the establishment of a body made-up of survivors of abuse, to advise on legislation, policies, and programs aimed at ending it. Brave stands ready to support the creation of a Council which can amplify survivor voices, provide an exchange platform for experts and survivors and serve as an invaluable resource in the development of policies tackling child sexual violence .” Constance Bertrand, French survivor spokesperson of the Saint-Dominique de Neuilly-sur-Seine survivors' group said: “ A National Council would be an initiative that gives victims a voice and a place.
News
EU steps closer to ending statutes of limitations for child sexual abuse crimes: Brave Movement statement on the EU Committee LIBE vote
The Brave Movement welcomes the first-ever vote by MEPs in favour of abolishing time limits in all EU countries for the prosecution of child-sex offenders.
News
"Nothing about us without us" - The Brave Movement welcomes the Council of Europe's publication of its policy on engaging with victims and survivors of child sexual exploitation and abuse
Washington, D.C., May 31, 2024 – The Brave Movement has welcomed the publication of “Nothing About Us Without Us” by the Council of Europe – a policy on engaging with victims and survivors of child sexual exploitation and sexual abuse.
News
Brave Movement calls on the EU to urgently pass robust legislation on child sexual abuse prevention and response
Childhood sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA) affects at least one in five girls and one in ten boys across socio-economic backgrounds.
Blog
The case for the Barnahus Model: Upholding children's rights to end childhood sexual violence
After offering my sincere congratulations to the Irish Government for their initiative to support child victims and witnesses of crime, I just had one question for them: “What was the point?” Why had they gone to such lengths? If you asked the Magistrate from Portugal “What is the point of a Barnahus?” You’d get a slightly different answer than if you asked the director of the Child Advocacy Centre in Alabama. Multidisciplinary interagency response models are a beautiful idea, bringing all the crucial aspects of the process to the child victim under one roof, but each agency, be it medical, law enforcement, judiciary, therapeutic, are all still just there to carefully extract, as sensitively as possible, whatever their department needs from the child. Police stations are for criminals - they are no place for a child. Courtrooms are for lawyers - they are no place for a child. For a growing number of child victims, there is progress. From the moment a child enters the Barnahus they can sense the warm supportive atmosphere of safety and dignity. The child feels cared for, and so they begin to learn that they have value in this world, because they witness that they are someone worth fighting for. The interview process happens only once, and the child feels believed. For every child that comes through a Barnahus door, something they could not even have imagined has already been done to them. Essentially, it doesn't really matter what colour we paint the walls, or how many cosy sofas we install, there is no part of this process that a child finds “friendly”. It’s taken me a few decades but I can really see it now, the point of a Barnahus, and it’s purely a matter of rights. I mean it’s up to us , the adults, every single person reading this, to do everything within our power to see children’s rights are upheld and a key tool in this fight is Barnahus, because it is the most effective way to help these wounded little ones find the way back to their path, towards the future that was stolen from them.
March 6, 2025
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Blog
Time for justice - why Europe must unite to make sure child sex abusers never escape
A statute of limitation in relation to childhood sexual violence defines the maximum amount of time a victim can wait before starting legal proceedings against the perpetrators. Setting this limit for survivors of childhood sexual abuse is harmful as it means that many do not recieve justice if they can’t speak up within the imposed deadline, which is usually an arbitrary amount of time. Governments retaining these harmful statutes of limitation for survivors of childhood sexual abuse is not only deeply unfair to victims but dangerous for future generations and extremely costly for society. For these reasons it's not surprising that the complete elimination of statutes of limitations in relation to childhood sexual violence of is one of the highest priorities of the global survivor movement. Unfortunately for them, evidence obtained from countries that have no statutes of limitations in relation to childhood sexual violence disprove that claim. There are some types of evidence that survive the passage of time such as a criminals' confessions, DNA, child sex abuse material, the internal archives of institutions that have shielded abusers (i.e. catholic church, boy scouts) or multiple victims who describe the same modus operandi committed by a common perpetrator. The European commission and the European Parliament want to change this outrageous situation by including a legally binding common standard on the new directive against child sexual abuse. On Tuesday 17th of June, the European Parliament will vote their proposal to establish in the new directive that there should be no criminal or civil statute of limitations in child sexual abuse cases.
June 4, 2025
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Blog
Standing with survivors: My call to strengthen EU child protection laws
Imagine being the victim of a crime so traumatising it takes you years, even decades, to be able to tell anyone about it. Then imagine that when you are finally able to do so, nothing can be done. You are told it is too late for justice.
June 17, 2025
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Blog
15 years of the Lanzarote Convention: hope, dignity and progress
For far too long, child sexual abuse was something whispered about, hidden, denied, or if dealt with at all it was behind closed doors. Fifteen years ago, something quietly powerful happened in Europe that changed the course of child protection forever. But for those of us who are survivors of childhood sexual abuse, something monumental had taken place: the Lanzarote Convention officially came into force. The Lanzarote Convention began to shatter the silence. This comprehensive Convention marked the first time in human history that nations gathered to focus solely on tackling sexual violence against children. Its full title is a bit dry: “The Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse”. Called the Lanzarote Convention because nations were first invited to sign it on the peaceful island of Lanzarote, and for those who did, its commanding measures came into force in 2010. Since 2010, 48 countries have ratified the Lanzarote Convention—and with that signature, each nation committed to putting children first. They agreed to take real, practical steps: training teachers, doctors, and police officers; protecting children online; criminalising grooming and live-streamed abuse; and ensuring children can testify in safe, trauma-informed ways. I’ve witnessed how the Convention has led to tangible reforms—interviews with child victims now recorded to spare them the trauma of repeating testimony; specialised police units trained to sensitively handle abuse cases; public campaigns educating parents and children about grooming and digital safety. Every country that joins the Lanzarote Convention sends a message: that child protection isn’t optional. If your country hasn’t yet ratified the Lanzarote Convention, be kind.
June 25, 2025
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Resources
Resource
EU campaigning for ending childhood sexual violence: strategies & tactics
We are brave so that children can be safe
Movement building
Resource
Justice without borders
All EU member states should abolish the criminal and civil SOLs for all child sexual abuse crimes.
Resource
Justice unleashed: Ending limitations, protecting children
With this report, we showcase why the criminal statutes of limitation for child sexual abuse crimes should be abolished across all member states of the Council of Europe. It recommends amending the Lanzarote Convention to include an Optional Protocol to achieve this goal.
Media coverage in the EU
Why the EU needs new child protection laws
Keep ‘them and us’ politics out of abuse, pleads stepdaughter of paedophile David Tweed
'We've been talked over, talked about and talked for - now we're talking for ourselves'
Víctimas de abusos piden a PSOE y Sumar que “dejen de bloquear” la imprescriptibilidad de delitos de pederastia
Las víctimas de pederastia protestan por la falta de avances en la ley para hacer imprescriptible la violencia sexual en la infancia
Patricia Cardona, una superviviente mallorquina en la Red Europea para la Prevención del Abuso Sexual Infantil Published by Ultima Hora
Las víctimas de pederastia exigen su “derecho al tiempo” en todos los países de la UE: “La ley española es profundamente mediocre”
Violences sexuelles sur mineurs : un rapport pour l’imprescriptibilité pénale et civile
Brave Movement takes over London’s Outernet with powerful special build
Child sexual abuse: Time limits to prosecute are fragmented across the EU
New campaign in Renfrewshire to tackle child exploitation
