One of the priorities of the European Union (EU) is to prevent and combat child sexual abuse and exploitation (CSAE). At the policy level, the EU has several initiatives focusing on preventing and combating CSAE. In addition to the identification and prosecution of perpetrators, there is also a desire to prevent these crimes before they (re)occur in the first place.

The Joint Research Centre (JRC), the European Commission’s science and knowledge service, prepared Scientific Information Systems and Databases report dedicated to this issue. Based on case studies, the publication illustrates how the classification criteria and tags can support knowledge around child sexual abuse help-seeker and perpetrator prevention initiatives by adopting a common taxonomy for several stakeholders. This publication demonstrates how classification criteria can be used to describe prevention initiatives in a structured way.

The report supports the formulation of prevention policies, knowledge sharing, and possible replication in different societal contexts. All of this is thanks to the updated mapping, case studies, and common taxonomy. This taxonomy also supports Member States and other stakeholders experiencing difficulties in implementing prevention programmes by providing a source of structured and reliable information.

You can find the full report on the European Commission’s website: https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC131323