The Council of Europe has launched a new online training course on the protection of children against sexual exploitation and sexual abuse. It was unveiled during the 44th plenary meeting of the Committee of the Parties to the Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse (Lanzarote Committee) that concluded on 6 March.
Freedom from violence for all children is one of the six key priorities of the Council of Europe's Strategy for the Rights of the Child (2022-2027). Child sexual exploitation and sexual abuse are among the worst forms of violence against children. The nature of the crime, coupled with the special vulnerability of its victims, makes it particularly difficult to tackle. Sexual offences against children also take many forms, including those facilitated by rapidly evolving information and communication technologies.
The course aims to enhance the knowledge of legal, justice and other professionals about this phenomenon and the ways to effectively address it. It covers applicable international standards through the lens of the requirements of the Lanzarote Convention, highlighting the promising practices in its implementation by State Parties.
"I particularly encourage legal professionals to follow this course," Maria José Castello-Branco (Portugal), Chairperson of the Lanzarote Committee, said. "At the same time, I believe that anyone who works with and for children and wonders how to put an end to sexual offences against them will find this training valuable and applicable to their everyday work."
The new course is part of the Council of Europe's flagship Human Rights Education for Legal Professionals (HELP) Programme. It is available in English and French in a self-learning format (free of charge, self-paced, with a completion certificate) on the HELP Online Learning Platform. It complements the range of other HELP courses on children's rights, including those on child-friendly justice; family law & human rights; refugee and migrant children; transition of migrant and refugee children to adulthood; deportation of children during armed conflicts.
By the end of 2024, the Council of Europe HELP Programme offered 56 online courses covering a wide range of human rights topics, with 683 national versions available online. The platform registered over 220,000 enrolments from 146,000 users, with more than 57,000 of them (some 31%) completing the courses and obtaining certificates. The top ten Council of Europe member states with the highest number of HELP course users are Türkiye, Ukraine, Italy, Spain, France, Greece, Portugal, Romania, Georgia and the United Kingdom.
