Network for the Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse

Stepping up efforts at EU level to prevent child sexual abuse and exploitation

Prevention is crucial to fight child sexual abuse and exploitation, and to stop these crimes before they occur. As things stand:

• At least one in five children falls victim to sexual violence during childhood.
• In 2024, online service providers sent more than 20 million reports of suspected child sexual exploitation, up from 1 million in 2010.
• The number of reports concerning grooming has multiplied by 12 in the last 3 years, with the abuse that originates from it becoming more and more extreme.

On the 29 July 2025, the European Commission adopted a Decision that formally establishes a Network for the Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse. The Network is an official Commission expert group to share best practices, inform research, and support the development and implementation of rigorously evaluated, effective prevention measures in a multidisciplinary, integrated, and comprehensive approach to child protection.

About the Network

Purpose

The purpose of the Network is to provide expertise and advice to the European Commission concerning all areas related to preventing child sexual abuse and exploitation online and offline. Particularly, it focuses on prevention aimed at offenders and persons who fear they might offend, to reduce the likelihood that they offend against children, and on measures aimed at children and their environment, to reduce the likelihood of children becoming victims.

The Network seeks to establish a virtuous cycle of practice to research and research to practice. Researchers are encouraged to share scientifically tested initiatives, which practitioners can use in their work and provide researchers with feedback to help identify further research needs to strengthen the evidence base of the practice.

The Network will help strengthen the capacity in the EU on prevention of child sexual abuse. At the same time, it will have a global reach to draw on the expertise of all relevant experts within and outside the EU.

Composition

The Network for the Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse brings together policymakers, researchers, frontline practitioners and other stakeholders working in the field of prevention of child sexual abuse and exploitation. It provides a common space to experts from the EU and third countries to meet, exchange ideas, knowledge, experiences and work together to produce concrete deliverables, to strengthen the prevention of child sexual abuse in the EU.

It will be composed of Member States’ competent authorities, individuals appointed in a personal capacity, organisations active in the field of child sexual abuse prevention and other public entities including third countries’ authorities, Union bodies, offices or agencies and international organisations. Individual experts and organisations are selected through regular calls for applications (see section below).

Call for Applications

Following the formal creation of the Network, the Commission issued a Call for Applications for the selection of its members.

Learn more about the Call for Applications and the selection criteria.

The following supporting documents are required for a complete application:

1. Individuals applying in personal capacity:

• Cover letter
• Curriculum vitae (CV) in the Europass CV format
• Annex I – Classification form
• Annex II – Selection criteria form
• Annex III – Standard declaration of interests (‘DOI’) form

2. Organisations:

• Cover letter
• Curriculum vitae (CV) in the Europass CV format of all the nominated representatives
• Annex I – Classification form
• Annex II – Selection criteria form

In addition, organisations should also bear in mind the need to register on the Transparency Register. Organisations that are not yet registered on the Transparency Register at the time of the application and, therefore, who do not have a Transparency Register identification number, may still apply. However, should the applicants be selected, they must register in the Transparency Register as a condition to be appointed as members.

Find here the Annexes in editable format. 

Activities

The Network is one of the initiatives of the EU Strategy for a more effective fight against Child Sexual Abuse, which has prevention as one of its pillars.

The Network supports EU Member States to put in place usable, rigorously evaluated and effective prevention programmes and measures.

Specifically, the Prevention Network’s activities include facilitating research, data collection, transfer of expertise and policy recommendations, assisting in monitoring and evaluating intervention programmes in the EU and in third countries, facilitating trainings for professionals, assisting with the development and conducting awareness raising and education campaigns both for children, families and educators, and for perpetrators and people who fear they might offend.

The Network will rigorously peer-evaluate existing solutions, enable the exchange of best practices among different stakeholders (e.g. public authorities such as those in charge of prisons, academics, NGOs etc.), and research new solutions for existing gaps and new emerging challenges.