Implementation of national action plans or strategy to address childhood sexual violence

It remains the case that no country in the G7 has a comprehensive national action [lan to address childhood sexual violence, which adequately considers the three core tenets of prevention, healing, and justice for survivors.

While Canada has outlined efforts to address childhood sexual violence in a National Strategy for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation on the Internet, this strategy does not adequately address prevention, healing and justice. While Germany has previously developed a National Action Plan to tackle childhood sexual violence, implementation varies across states and municipalities (1). The United Nations Special Rapporteur has called for Germany to establish a comprehensive national child protection strategy with an oversight mechanism to harmonize approaches across the country (2).

The UK’s fragmented approach to national action plans creates protection and support gaps across regions. While devolved governments are showing signs of progress, as with Northern Ireland’s promising 2024-2031 Domestic and Sexual Abuse Strategy, the UK lacks a comprehensive nationwide framework that ensures equitable protection for all children regardless of national boundaries (3).

The US and Italy do not have  comprehensive national action plans to address childhood sexual violence which adequately addresses prevention, healing and justice (4)(5).

While Japan has established several National Action Plans, including the latest ‘Promotion of Comprehensive Measures to Prevent Sexual Violence Against Children’ developed in 2024, critical gaps remain regarding protections against child sexual abuse materials – including Manga, Anime, Virtual and/or AI-generated content (6).