© European Parliament
26 March 2025, Brussels - Child sexual exploitation and abuse is a global pandemic that thrives in silence and secrecy with more than 300 million children being subject to online abuse every year. These shocking figures point to the collective failure of the international community to shield children from harm.
On 26 March 2025, Alexandra Martins, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)’s Global Team Leader, Ending Violence Against Children, joined a high-level panel at the event on “Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse: Global Action to Combat a Global Crime”, co-organized by the UK Government and the European Parliament’s Intergroup on Children’s Rights. It was held at the European Parliament in Brussels.
The event featured a keynote address delivered by Her Royal Highness, the Duchess of Edinburgh, as patron of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) and Plan International UK. Key interventions were delivered by MEP Caterina Chinnici, Magnus Brunner, EU Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration, and Jess Phillips, UK Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls.
MEP Chinnici emphasized the critical responsibility of lawmakers in guaranteeing the utmost protection and security for children in the digital realm.
“Child sexual abuse is a horrific crime that is impacting more and more children, victims, and survivors in all of our communities across the world and the effects can last a lifetime”, added Ms. Phillips. The transnational nature of this serious crime against children means that victims may be exploited in their own homes by offenders living in a different country using platforms headquartered elsewhere. As emphasized by the Duchess of Edinburgh “neither the UK’s Government nor that of any other country can do it alone”.
Dr. Martins stressed “The child abusers are winning. To better protect our children, both the private and public sectors need to channel more energy into child protection than the offenders invest in abuse”.
Financial institutions as key allies to break the cycle of violence
Child sexual abuse is a big business that sees perpetrators emboldened with ever increasing economic gains. UNODC is working to break this cycle by deepening engagement with financial institutions, including banks, credit card companies, payment providers and other entities that facilitate the global transfer of funds.
“As exploitation becomes more visible to the financial sector, institutions are positioned to play a critical role in disrupting and preventing harm”, said Dr. Martins. She elaborated on the gains to be made by institutions withdrawing services provided to digital platforms upon reports of failures to protect children and cited examples of such actions leading to significant reforms in platforms’ content. Financial institutions are additionally uniquely placed to identify and flag suspicious transactions linked to child sexual abuse. Effectively disrupting these economic transactions serves as a key preventive measure.
“Protecting children will take a collective effort by all, including governments, technology companies, regulators and legislators, civil society and law enforcement” underlined the Duchess of Edinburgh “I implore you now, on behalf of the children of today and tomorrow, to redouble your efforts in prioritizing their safety and well-being”.
Background
UNODC is mandated to support Member States in their efforts to protect children from crime and violence, including sexual exploitation and abuse online and offline. To address these issues, the Office, together with the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary General on Violence Against Children (OSRSG VAC), has developed a Strategy to End Violence Against Children (2023-2030). The Strategy addresses four critical contexts in which children are more vulnerable: insecurity, justice systems, cyberspace and being on the move.
UNODC’s mandate was reinforced in 2023 with the adoption of the UN GA resolution 77/233, by which UNODC was asked to support efforts in “strengthening national and international efforts to protect children from sexual exploitation and abuse online and offline”.
In 2023, upon the request of the UK, and with their valuable assistance, UNODC convened an expert group resulting in a Call to Action through which 75 States committed to support urgent efforts to proactively remove and combat child sexual exploitation and abuse material online.
The new UN Convention against Cybercrime, adopted by the General Assembly on 24 December 2024, will be the first global treaty on cybercrime, and the first international agreement to expand criminal law protections for children against sexual violence facilitated by ICTs.
