The 18th of November becomes the European Day on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse!

The 18th of November 2015 will mark the first European Day on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse. Save the date and join us in the fight against commercial sexual exploitation of children!

Capture d’écran 2015-09-15 à 15.20.50

The purpose of the European Day, initiated by the Council of Europe, is to raise public awareness and to open the discussion on the protection of children against sexual exploitation and abuse.

It will also offer the occasion to promote the Lanzarote Convention, a unique legally binding instrument for the criminalization of all forms of sexual abuse of children.

This Day is meant for children, parents, educators, decision-makers, NGO, etc. and for anybody that’s touched by  the protection of children.

Copyright ECPAT Belgique « Stop à l’exploitation sexuelle commerciale des enfants »

The “Global Monitoring Report” is now available in English!

What kind of protection is offered to children against commercial sexual exploitation in Belgium? What are the possible improvements of the system?

Capture d’écran 2015-09-02 à 12.19.59

ECPAT Belgium’s assessment of the situation in Belgium, is now available in English.

Copyright ECPAT Belgique « Stop à l’exploitation sexuelle commerciale des enfants »

Google, Facebook and Twitter to block ‘hash lists’ of child abuse

geants-d-internet-postWeb giants Google, Facebook and Twitter have joined forces with a British charity in a bid to remove millions of indecent child images from the net.

In a UK first, anti-abuse organisation Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) has begun sharing lists of indecent images, identified by unique “hash” codes.

 

The IWF, which works to take down indecent images of children, allocates to each picture it finds a “hash” – a unique code, sometimes referred to as a digital finger-print.

By sharing “hash lists” of indecent pictures of children, Google, Facebook and Twitter will be able to stop those images from being uploaded to their sites.

Online security specialists welcomed the move as a positive step, but said it would not block content on the “darknet” – a network with restricted access – where abusers often posted images.

Source: BBC

 

Copyright ECPAT Belgique « Stop à l’exploitation sexuelle commerciale des enfants »

 

Child Sexual Abuse Materials and the Internet: Influences and Motives of CSAM users online

Since their very beginning, new technologies have been used to perpetrate crimes related to child sexual abuse. Indeed, they provide for an ideal environment for the production, acquisition, possession and distribution of child sexual abuse materials, while guaranteeing anonymity to their users. Moreover, they allow individuals having a sexual attraction for children to meet, share their experience and find justifications to their deviant behaviour.

This analysis is the first part of a diptych dedicated to child sexual abuse materials on the Internet. It aims at throwing a closer look on the motives, influences and interactions between users of child sexual abuse materials and the justifications they use to minimize their behaviour.

ECPAT Belgium’s Annual Report 2014 is now online!

rapport-activites-post2014 has been a commemorative year for ECPAT Belgium: 10-year anniversary of the “Stop Child Prostitution” campaign, 20 years since ECPAT Belgium started and 25-year anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Find out more here about our activities in 2014. Best of: launch of the “I say STOP” website, signature of the Code of Conduct by ACCOR Belgium, final conference of the “Make-IT-Safe” project and publication of 15 analyses and one study on the topic.

 

Copyright ECPAT Belgique « Stop à l’exploitation sexuelle commerciale des enfants »

Insufficient protection for child victims of commercial sexual exploitation in Belgium

examen-periodique-universelThis is the main conclusion of the ECPAT Belgium’s report for the Universal Periodic Review undertaken by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Besides harmonizing its legislation to the international treaties regarding child prostitution and pornography, Belgium should enhance its efforts to better identify and protect child victims of commercial sexual exploitation.

Copyright ECPAT Belgique « Stop à l’exploitation sexuelle commerciale des enfants »

Child Sexual Abuse Materials and the Internet: Challenges for the Law Enforcement Agencies

Even if the extent of child sexual abuse materials on the Internet is difficult to evaluate, experts agree on the fact that it is huge and will increase in the years to come. Consequently, this second analysis on child sexual abuse materials and the Internet is focused on challenges faced by law enforcement agencies to quantify this phenomenon and find new materials but also on measures set up at the national, European and international level.

In the Shadows of the Internet: Child Sexual Abuse Materials in the Darknets

Darknets are private networks guaranteeing anonymity to their users for different activities, among them file sharing. The common philosophy adopted in this underground of the Internet being a complete rejection of any censorship, these networks are also used for the exchange and dissemination of child sexual abuse materials. Because of their hidden nature, they represent a constant challenge for law enforcement forces. Exploration of the dark face of the Internet…

Make-IT-Safe, a new website to surf safe!

ECPAT Belgium is proud to announce the launch of a new website, www.make-it-safe.net, containing online recommendations to surf safe, for teenagers, parents and teaching staff.

 

Logo-make-it-safe

 

What is sexting or grooming? How to react while confronted to cyber-bullying? How to secure a password? Answers to these questions can be found on the website, available in 7 languages (French, German, English, Dutch, Turkish, Arabic and Serbo-Croatian).

The information platform is the result of a two-year project led by 5 ECPAT groups in Austria, Germany, Belgium, The Netherlands and UK together with 90 peer experts and 45 coaches.

Press release

 

Copyright ECPAT Belgique « Stop à l’exploitation sexuelle commerciale des enfants »

World Day Against Child Labour

journee-mondiale-contre-le-travail-des-enfants-postEach year, about 2 millions children are victims of commercial sexual exploitation, one of the worst forms of labour.

Each year, from all international tourists, one third travels in the period from June to August. Being well aware of the prostitution of children in certain tourist destinations, more efforts are needed to sensitize the public about the harmful impact of sexual exploitation of children.

If you witness a suspicious situation of commercial sexual exploitation of children, report on www.isaystop.com or www.reportchildsextourism.eu. Let’s act together to end this contemporary form of slavery!

 

Copyright ECPAT Belgique « Stop à l’exploitation sexuelle commerciale des enfants »