In a society where child sexual abuse is shrouded in secrecy and denial, the

vast majority of abused children and adult survivors remain silent about the

abuse they have suffered. Coercive techniques (grooming) of child sexual

abuse offenders and the failure of child protection systems to protect victims

and support disclosure exacerbate the situation. The abuse continues when

photographic evidence of child sexual abuse is circulated through new

technologies and child protection systems fail to coordinate their actions to

identify and protect the victims.

Save the Children has been active for many years in raising awareness about

the issue of child abuse and has implemented programmes to combat child

abuse in all its forms.Within this programme framework, Save the Children

provides direct help to children who have suffered sexual abuse by providing

support through appropriate therapeutic projects.

Since the mid 1990s six members of the Save the Children Europe group1

have been engaged in combating the digital distribution of images depicting

the sexual abuse of children and in raising awareness about child sexual abuse

and exploitation via the Internet and other new technologies. These

organisations have worked together to implement hotlines, awareness raising

campaigns and advocacy activities calling for increased and improved efforts

at national and international levels to fight sexual abuse of children and the

production and distribution of child abuse images (”child pornography”).

The full report can be accessed below.