Standing with survivors: My call to strengthen EU child protection laws

It sounds unbelievable. Yet it is exactly the position that survivors of one of the most appalling of all crimes - child sexual abuse - find themselves in across the European Union.

Why? Because there are time limits on how long after certain crimes a perpetrator can be prosecuted. Countries have different reasons for imposing such limits, but surely, letting child sex abusers escape justice has never been one of them.

That is why my fellow MEPs on the European Parliament’s Civil Liberties Committee and I have fought for reforms to strengthen EU countries’ capacity to fight child sexual abuse.

The LIBE committee voted unanimously in favor of abolishing time limits on the prosecution of such crimes across the European Union, as well as in favor of other vital legal updates.

Besides ending time limits on the prosecution of child abusers, we need to make sure to criminalise new phenomena, including so-called “instruction manuals” that facilitate abuse and livestreamed abuse. We also need to tackle deep-fake child sexual abuse material and the tools to create such AI-images.

My colleagues and I also agreed on tougher punishments and improved mechanisms for reporting abuse. That includes raising the maximum penalties for a number of offences, including for sexual activities with children, recruiting children for exploitation in prostitution and possessing or distributing child sexual abuse material.

And we owe it to victims to support them properly through the legal process and ensure that justice is served. Child victim support should be free of charge and include medical and forensic examinations, assistance with documenting evidence, gender-sensitive healthcare and access to sexual and reproductive healthcare services.

We want this to be based on the Barnahus model, where services to support child victims are accessible under one roof. In addition, member states should ensure that hotlines - organisations that receive reports of potential CSAM from the public - can operate more effectively by enabling direct cooperation with online platforms in notice and takedown procedures.

In framing these proposals, I have been privileged to meet with survivors of child sexual abuse themselves and to listen to them. Their experiences and perspective have been incredibly valuable in shaping our understanding of these crimes and in formulating effective, future-proof measures. These are voices that us lawmakers must always hear.

Now it is up to all my fellow MEPs to hear them. This week’s expected adoption of these changes will not be the end of the journey. We will have to work even harder to convince the Member States about the importance of our reforms and ensure proper implementation subsequently.

But this vote will be a vital step along the way, and will be a strong signal that European Parliamentarians throughout the political spectrum are united behind the need to better protect all of our children, support survivors in their journey of healing and ensure that child abusers cannot count down the days to escape justice.