DIRECTIVE 2011/93/EU OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT​​ AND OF THE COUNCIL​​ of 13 December 2011 on combating the sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children and child pornography, and replacing Council Framework Decision 2004/68/JHA

Recital 24 Secondary victimisation should be avoided for victims of offences referred to in this Directive. In Member States where prostitution or the appearance in pornography is punishable under national criminal law, it should be possible not to prosecute or impose penalties under those laws where the child concerned has committed those acts as a result of being victim of sexual exploitation or where the child was compelled to participate in child pornography.

Recital 30 Furthermore, participation in criminal proceedings by child victims should not cause additional trauma to the extent possible, as a result of interviews or visual contact with offenders. A good understanding of children and how they behave when faced with traumatic experiences will help to ensure a high quality of evidence-taking and also reduce the stress placed on children when carrying out the necessary measures.

Recital 6 Serious criminal offences such as the sexual exploitation of children and child pornography require a comprehensive approach covering the prosecution of offenders, the protection of child victims, and prevention of the phenomenon. The child’s best interests must be a primary consideration when carrying out any measures to combat these offences in accordance with the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Framework Decision 2004/68/JHA should be replaced by a new instrument providing such comprehensive legal framework to achieve that purpose.

Recital 30 Measures to protect child victims should be adopted in their best interest, taking into account an assessment of their needs….​​

Article 18 1. Child victims of the offences referred to in Articles 3 to 7 shall be provided assistance, support and protection in accordance with Articles 19 and 20, taking into account the best interests of the child….

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Article 15. 4. Member States shall take the necessary measures to enable investigative units or services to attempt to identify the victims of the offences referred to in Articles 3 to 7, in particular by analysing child pornography material, such as photographs and audiovisual recordings transmitted or made available by means of information and communication technology.

Article 18 2. Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure that a child is provided with assistance and support as soon as the competent authorities have a reasonable-grounds indication for believing that a child might have been subject to any of the offences referred to in Articles 3 to 7.

3. Member States shall ensure that, where the age of a person subject to any of the offences referred to in Articles 3 to 7 is uncertain and there are reasons to believe that the person is a child, that person is presumed to be a child in order to receive immediate access to assistance, support and protection in accordance with Articles 19 and 20.

Article 19.5. Member States shall take measures, where appropriate and possible, to provide assistance and support to the family of the child victim in enjoying the rights under this Directive when the family is in the territory of the Member States. In particular, Member States shall, where appropriate and possible, apply Article 4 of Framework Decision 2001/220/JHA to the family of the child victim.

Recital 31 Member States should consider giving short and long term assistance to child victims. Any harm caused by the sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of a child is significant and should be addressed. Because of the nature of the harm caused by sexual abuse and sexual exploitation, such assistance should continue for as long as necessary for the child’s physical and psychological recovery and may last into adulthood if necessary. Assistance and advice should be considered to be extended to parents or guardians of the child victims where they are not involved as suspects in relation to the offence concerned, in order to help them to assist child victims throughout the proceedings.

Article 19.2. Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure that assistance and support for a child victim are not made conditional on the child victim’s willingness to cooperate in the criminal investigation, prosecution or trial.

Article 18 1. Child victims of the offences referred to in Articles 3 to 7 shall be provided assistance, support and protection in accordance with Articles 19 and 20, taking into account the best interests of the child….

Article 19.1Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure that assistance and support are provided to victims before, during and for an appropriate period of time after the conclusion of criminal proceedings in order to enable them to exercise the rights set out in Framework Decision 2001/220/JHA, and in this Directive. Member States shall, in particular, take the necessary steps to ensure protection for children who report cases of abuse within their family….

4. Child victims of any of the offences referred to in Articles 3 to 7 shall be considered as particularly vulnerable victims pursuant to Article 2(2), Article 8(4) and Article 14(1) of Framework Decision 2001/220/JHA.EN 17.12.2011 Official Journal of the European Union L 335/

Article 19 (1)… Member States shall, in particular, take the necessary steps to ensure protection for children who report cases of abuse within their family.

Article 20. 1. Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure that in criminal investigations and proceedings, in accordance with the role of victims in the relevant justice system, competent authorities appoint a special representative for the child victim where, under national law, the holders of parental responsibility are precluded from representing the child as a result of a conflict of interest between them and the child victim, or where the child is unaccompanied or separated from the family.

Article 20.2. Member States shall ensure that child victims have, without delay, access to legal counselling and, in accordance with the role of victims in the relevant justice system, to legal representation, including for the purpose of claiming compensation. Legal counselling and legal representation shall be free of charge where the victim does not have​​ sufficient financial resources.

Article 16. 1. Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure that the confidentiality rules imposed by national law on certain professionals whose main duty is to work with children do not constitute an obstacle to the possibility, for those professionals, of their reporting to the services responsible for child protection any situation where they have reasonable grounds for believing that a child is the victim of offences referred to in Articles 3 to 7. 1.​​

Article 16.2 Member States shall take the necessary measures to encourage any person who knows about or suspects, in good faith that any of the offences referred to in Articles 3 to 7 have been committed, to report this to the competent services.

Article 15​​ 1. Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure that investigations into or the prosecution of the offences referred to in Articles 3 to 7 are not dependent on a report or accusation being made by the victim or by his or her representative, and that criminal proceedings may continue even if that person has withdrawn his or her statements.

(c) interviews with the child victim are carried out by or through professionals trained for this purpose;

(d) the same persons, if possible and where appropriate, conduct all interviews with the child victim;

(e) the number of interviews is as limited as possible and interviews are carried out only where strictly necessary for the purpose of criminal investigations and proceedings;

(f) the child victim may be accompanied by his or her legal representative or, where appropriate, by an adult of his or her choice, unless a reasoned decision has been made to the contrary in respect of that person.

(a) the hearing take place without the presence of the public;

(b) the child victim be heard in the courtroom without being present, in particular through the use of appropriate communication technologies.

Recital 36 Professionals likely to come into contact with child victims of sexual abuse and sexual exploitation should be adequately trained to identify and deal with such victims. That training should be promoted for members of the following categories when they are likely to come into contact with child victims: police officers, public prosecutors, lawyers, members of the judiciary and court officials, child and health care personnel, but could also involve other groups of persons who are likely to encounter child victims of sexual abuse and sexual exploitation in their work.

Article 23.1 Member States shall take appropriate measures, such as education and training, to discourage and reduce the demand that fosters all forms of sexual exploitation of children.

Article 23. 3. Member States shall promote regular training for officials likely to come into contact with child victims of sexual abuse or exploitation, including front-line police officers, aimed at enabling them to identify and deal with child victims and potential child victims of sexual abuse or exploitation.

Article 23. 3. Member States shall promote regular training for officials likely to come into contact with child victims of sexual abuse or exploitation, including front-line police officers, aimed at enabling them to identify and deal with child victims and potential child victims of sexual abuse or exploitation.

Recital 45 Member States should take appropriate action for setting up information services to provide information on how to recognise the signs of sexual abuse and sexual exploitation.

Article 23. 2. Member States shall take appropriate action, including through the Internet, such as information and awareness- raising campaigns, research and education programmes, where appropriate in cooperation with relevant civil society organisations and other stakeholders, aimed at raising awareness and reducing the risk of children, becoming victims of sexual abuse or exploitation.

Recital 34 see above awareness raising/ & research & education… child friendly materials… establishment of help lines and hotlines

Recital 37 intervention programmes or measures.

Article 21 measures against advertising child sex tourism​​

Article 22 Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure that persons who fear that they might commit any of the offences referred to in Articles 3 to 7 may have access, where appropriate, to effective intervention programmes or measures designed to evaluate and prevent the risk of such offences being committed.

Article 23 1. Member States shall take appropriate measures, such as education and training, to discourage and reduce the demand that fosters all forms of sexual exploitation of children.

2. Member States shall take appropriate action, including through the Internet, such as information and awareness- raising campaigns, research and education programmes, where appropriate in cooperation with relevant civil society organisations and other stakeholders, aimed at raising awareness and reducing the risk of children, becoming victims of sexual abuse or exploitation.

​​ 3. Member States shall promote regular training for officials likely to come into contact with child victims of sexual abuse or exploitation, including front-line police officers, aimed at enabling them to identify and deal with child victims and potential child victims of sexual abuse or exploitation.

Article 25. 1. Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure the prompt removal of web pages containing or disseminating child pornography hosted in their territory and to endeavour to obtain the removal of such pages hosted outside of their territory.

2. Member States may take measures to block access to web pages containing or disseminating child pornography towards the Internet users within their territory. These measures must be set by transparent procedures and provide adequate safeguards, in particular to ensure that the restriction is limited to what is necessary and proportionate, and that users are informed of the reason for the restriction. Those safeguards shall also include the possibility of judicial redress.

Right to compensation: Article 20 (2). Member States shall ensure that child victims have, without delay, access to legal counselling and, in accordance with the role of victims in the relevant justice system, to legal representation, including for the purpose of claiming compensation.

Right to non-prosecution/non-punishment:​​ Recital 30 Moreover, child victims should be protected from penalties, for example under national legislation on prostitution, if they bring their case to the attention of competent authorities.

Article 14 Member States shall, in accordance with the basic principles of their legal systems take the necessary measures to ensure that competent national authorities are entitled not to prosecute or impose penalties on child victims of sexual abuse and sexual exploitation for their involvement in criminal activities, which they have been compelled to commit as a direct consequence of being subjected to any of the acts referred to in Article 4(2), (3), (5) and (6), and in Article 5(6).

Removing/blocking images:

(46) Child pornography, which constitutes child sexual abuse images, is a specific type of content which cannot be construed as the expression of an opinion. To combat it, it is necessary to reduce the circulation of child sexual abuse material by making it more difficult for offenders to upload such content onto the publicly accessible web. Action is therefore necessary to remove the content and apprehend those guilty of making, distributing or downloading child sexual abuse images. With a view to supporting the Union’s efforts to combat child pornography, Member States should use their best endeavours to cooperate with third countries in seeking to secure the removal of such content from servers within their territory.

(47) However, despite such efforts, the removal of child pornography content at its source is often not possible when the original materials are not located within the Union, either because the State where the servers are hosted is not willing to cooperate or because obtaining removal of the material from the State concerned proves to be particularly long. Mechanisms may also be put in place to block access from the Union’s territory to Internet pages identified as containing or disseminating child pornography. The measures undertaken by Member States in accordance with this Directive in order to remove or, where appropriate, block websites containing child pornography could be based on various types of public action, such as legislative, non-legislative, judicial or other. In that context, this Directive is without prejudice to voluntary action taken by the Internet industry to prevent the misuse of its services or to any support for such action by Member States. Whichever basis for action or method is chosen, Member States should ensure that it provides an adequate level of legal certainty and predictability to users and service providers. Both with a view to the removal and the blocking of child abuse content, cooperation between public authorities should be established and strengthened, particularly in the interests of ensuring that national lists of websites containing child pornography material are as complete as possible and of avoiding duplication of work. Any such developments must take account of the rights of the end users and comply with existing legal and judicial procedures and the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. The Safer Internet Programme has set up a network of hotlines the goal of which is to collect information and to ensure coverage and exchange of reports on the major types of illegal content online.