Intergroup VP & NGOs representatives sat down with HRH the Countess of Wessex to discuss concrete solutions to end child sexual abuse and exploitation                                                                                                                               

On 8 December 2021, MEP Antonio López-Istúriz chaired the Intergroup on Children’s Rights roundtable discussion with Her Royal Highness, the Countess of Wessex GCVO and a number of NGOs representatives, spanning from several EU Member States.

The breakfast meeting marked the end of a short trip of HRH the Countess to Brussels, where she delivered a keynote speech at the Intergroup on Children’s Rights High-Level event on Tackling Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse: enhancing the global response, on 7 December 2021.

“The fight against Child Sexual Abuse online requires a global coordinated response. Only one child victim is one too many. We have a unique opportunity as EU to show leadership in this global fight and set a precedent with the upcoming EU legislation to combat and prevent child sexual exploitation and abuse by legally mandating Electronic Services Providers to detect child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA) online, remove the illegal material and report it to the authorities.” – said MEP Antonio López-Istúriz  (EPP), First Vice-Chair of the Intergroup on Children’s Rights and Secretary General of the EPP.

Child-focused organizations – children hotlines and cyber-tiplines in Europe and across the world – play a critical role in identifying child victims of sexual abuse and exploitation and carry out an essential work in classifying the child sexual abuse material, whilst also providing an accurate overview of the scale and severity of these crimes.

“I am in awe of the work carried out by civil society organizations in this fight. We would never be able to make things right without the expertise of many heroes out there who work on the ground and work every day in pursuit of restoring justice for children. As politicians, we are called upon to provide answers to our citizens and take informed decisions based on facts. A new independent EU Centre to combat and prevent child sexual abuse and exploitation will help build an expertise in-house, cooperate with law-enforcement authorities in investigations, whilst also assisting Member States in preventing programmes and victims assistance programmes.”-  concluded MEP Antonio López-Istúriz (EPP).