by Mary Honeyball, for Public Service Europe
Studies suggest that 10 to 20 per cent of European children will suffer some form of sexual abuse when growing up - it is time for the EU to take action, writes MEP
The internet has become an integral part of our daily lives, an indispensable resource. Sadly though, it has opened an all-too accessible front for child abuse. All of us are only too aware that criminals and paedophiles are able to use websites around the world to distribute and share child abuse content.
That is why Emma McClarkin, Vicky Ford, Timothy Kirkhope, Silvia Costa, Richard Howitt, Gay Mitchell, Roberta Angelilli, Iva Zanicchi, Maria Da Graça Carvalho, Seán Kelly and Diane Dodds, and I have co-signed a European Parliament written declaration on the subject of online child abuse.
The laws governing illegal online content differ from country to country, which makes taking down abusive content and prosecuting the criminals responsible time-consuming and difficult. In many cases, there is also a commercial dimension to online child abuse content with the distribution of illegal material being profitable for organised crime.
In 2010, it was estimated that more than 200 images of child pornography were put into circulation every day and that the victims were getting younger - and the content more violent and graphic. Other studies suggest that 10 to 20 per cent of European children will suffer some form of sexual abuse as a child. This is an issue, which is growing in severity and impact. The European Commissioner for Home Affairs Cecilia Malmström hit the nail on the head when she said: "The response of the European Union cannot be too clear or too resolute. Whatever the EU can possibly do against that, the EU must do and will do."
There is, of course, strong agreement about the appalling nature of child abuse on the internet and the need to tackle it across Europe. The internet knows no boundaries and therefore has to be viewed internationally.
Images of children being abused are not simply evidence of the abuse. They actually represent a further abuse of their rights every time that image is viewed or downloaded from the internet. The police and internet service providers should be doing everything they can to stop people accessing illegal images and track down and prosecute the creators, publishers and the people downloading them.
Ideally, once such images are discovered, they would be deleted from their host server and investigated by the relevant police force. This is indeed what happens in a lot of instances. But there are difficulties sometimes in getting the images deleted because internet service providers in other countries are not responsive to reports of illegal content on their servers.
There is little if anything we can do at the moment to compel servers in third countries to remove illegal images. This means that though the authorities may be aware of abuse images, they cannot stop them from being viewed within their own territory. So in effect they must stand by and allow images of child abuse to continue to be viewed and downloaded within their own country, hoping that the images will eventually be removed. This might never happen.
It just goes to show that global action is needed in the fight against online child abuse. This written declaration is a cross-party project involving members from every main European political grouping. Ending child abuse is an issue that transcends party lines and enjoys support across the political spectrum. I hope we will see huge support from the European Parliament. Please read the full text of the written declaration below and encourage your MEP to sign if they have not already done so.
Written declaration on online child abuse
1. Child sexual abuse content is one of the most abhorrent types of content available and the production, possession or distribution of such content is universally considered a criminal act
2. The cross-border nature of most online child sexual abuse content shows that strong international cooperation is necessary
3. The commercial distribution of such content could potentially be profitable for organised crime structures
4. Behind every image of child sexual abuse there is a real victim
5. The most effective way to deal with such content is to remove it at source in cooperation with law enforcement agencies
6. It is therefore important to share internationally information and expertise regarding the fight against online sexual abuse content
7. Adequate reporting and take-down mechanisms in respect of child sexual abuse content in every country are crucial
8. The European Commission is called upon to consider developing as well as developed countries when establishing international cooperation to combat online child sexual abuse content
9. The commission is called upon to support the creation of online child sexual abuse reporting mechanisms that meet acceptable global standards regarding transparency and freedom of expression
Mary Honeyball is a British Labour Party MEP and a member of the Socialists and Democrats group in the European Parliament