Europees Parlement keurt nieuwe richtlijnen tegen seksueel misbruik kinderen goed (en)

Met dank overgenomen van Pools voorzitterschap Europese Unie 2e helft 2011 i, gepubliceerd op zaterdag 29 oktober 2011.

A total of 541 votes were cast in favour and two against today in the European Parliament to pass the Directive on combating sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children and child pornography.

Minister of Justice Krzysztof Kwiatkowski presented the draft Directive at a European Parliament plenary session in Strasbourg. Members of the European Parliament supported him, as proven by today’s vote.

‘This is a hugely important draft. The Directive introduces solutions for strengthening child protection by expanding the array of acts sanctioned by prosecution measures to include those using modern technologies. Today’s vote is a major success for the Polish Presidency,’ said Minister Krzysztof Kwiatkowski. ‘Thanks to the vote on the Directive in the European Parliament, we have paved the way for having the instrument formally adopted by the Council of the European Union. The draft should be signed and tabled for publication before the end of the Polish Presidency,’ he added.

The purpose of the Directive is to introduce minimum standards with regard to definitions of crimes and sanctions in the field of sexual child abuse, and to enact joint legislation strengthening the prevention of crime and protection of its victims.

Previous solutions have been expanded to include the following measures:

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    Criminalising acts of sexual abuse of children not recognised in the framework decision, with special attention paid to acts committed with the use of information technology,
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    Facilitating the prosecution of perpetrators in cross-border cases (options of applying investigation techniques, expanding legislative grounds to include inter alia the combating of sexual tourism),
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    Providing better protection for victims of crime, especially in criminal prosecution (inter alia ensuring appropriate conditions for hearings),
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    Introducing mechanisms for handling individuals with a propensity to commit crimes of a sexual nature,
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    Preventing the employment of individuals previously charged with and sentenced for sexual crimes (including crimes committed abroad),
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    Permitting deletion and blocking of child pornography websites,
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    Introducing protection and assistance measures for victims of crime and their families.

The Directive introduces baseline sentences for an approximate number of 20 crimes involving sexual abuse of children - many more than the formerly binding EU legal regulations.

After the Directive is enacted, sanctions shall be tightened throughout the Union, especially in cases of adults abusing trust, power, and/or influence over children (such as in the case of acts committed by family members, guardians, or teachers), and in cases of abusing children of special sensitivity, such as children with mental or physical disabilities, or under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

Forcing a child to engage in sexual activity or prostitution shall carry a sentence of no less than ten years of imprisonment. Creators of child pornography shall be penalised by no less than three years of imprisonment. Watching child pornography on the Internet shall carry a sentence of no less than one year of imprisonment.

Throughout the territory of the European Union, new forms of crime have been introduced, such as grooming (i.e. actions taken to befriend and establish emotional connections with children to reduce their resistance and sexually abuse them, including forced prostitution and/or child pornography).

Joanna Debek

Press Spokesperson of the Minister of Justice