14 Amendments of Margarita DE LA PISA CARRIÓN related to 2024/0035(COD)
Amendment 37 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 2 a (new)
Recital 2 a (new)
(2 a) In Europe, one in five children are estimated to be a victim of some form of sexual violence, and between 70% and 85% of child victims know their abuser;1a Ensuring the best interests of the child must remain the foremost priority when implementing measures designed to shield children in accordance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, and the European Convention on Human Rights; _________________ 1a EPRS, PE 757.611; https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/ etudes/BRIE/2024/757611/EPRS_BRI(20 24)757611_EN.pdf
Amendment 61 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 22
Recital 22
(22) Solicitation of children for sexual purposes is a threat with specific characteristics in the context of the Internet, as the latter provides unprecedented anonymity to users because they are able to conceal their real identity and personal characteristics, such as their age. Online grooming predominantly affects girls, with a significant number of cases involving adolescents aged 13 to 17 1a however, studies have shown that sexual coercion extortion mainly affects boys1b In the last decade, the use of information and communication technologies has provided offenders with increasingly easy access to children, where the contact often starts with the offender luring the child, for example by pretending to be a peer or with other deceitful or flattering conduct, into compromising situations. This increased access to children has led to the rapid growth of phenomena such as ‘sextortion’ (i.e. the conduct of threatening to share intimate material depicting the victim to obtain money, child sexual abuse material or any other benefit), affecting children both below and above the age of sexual consent. There has been a surge in recent years of financially motivated sextortion by organised crime groups that target in particular teenage boys, which have led to multiple cases of those children taking their lives. It is therefore essential that all these phenomena are appropriately covered in Member States’s law. At the same time, Member States acknowledge the importance of also combating the solicitation of a child outside the context of the Internet, in particular where such solicitation is not carried out by using information and communication technology. Member States are encouraged to criminalise the conduct where the solicitation of a child to meet the offender for sexual purposes takes place in the presence or proximity of the child, for instance in the form of a particular preparatory offence, attempt to commit the offences referred to in this Directive or as a particular form of sexual abuse. Whichever legal solution is chosen to criminalise ‘off- line grooming’, Member States should ensure that they prosecute the perpetrators of such offences. _________________ 1a https://inhope.org/EN/articles/the- impact-of-online- grooming?utm_source=chatgpt.com 1b https://www.iwf.org.uk/annual-report- 2023/trends-and-data/sexually-coerced- extortion/
Amendment 66 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 24 a (new)
Recital 24 a (new)
(24a) Member States must pay particular attention to ensuring that sex education, in school or out-of-school settings, is not misused in order to promote the sexual abuse of children by exposing them to words or images of a sexual nature without taking into account their level of psychological maturity and their incapacity to consent to such exposure.
Amendment 80 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 36
Recital 36
(36) Measures to protect child victims in a comprehensive manner should be adopted in their best interest, taking into account an assessment of their needs. Effective child protection requires deep involvement on the part of a child's parents or legal representatives, in so far as they are not concerned by an investigation, but also a whole of society approach. With the child at the centre, all relevant authorities and services should work together to protect and support the child, in their best interests. The “Barnahus” model of providing a child- friendly environment staffed with specialists from all relevant disciplines is currently the most advanced example of a child-friendly approach to justice and to avoiding revictimisation. The relevant provisions of this Directive are built on the principles of that model. That model aims to ensure that all children involved in child abuse or child sexual exploitation investigations benefit from a high-quality assessment in child-friendly settings, appropriate psychosocial support and child protective services. This Directive attempts to ensure that all Member States uphold these principles, although it does not require the Member States to follow the Barnahus model as such. Where medical examinations of the child are necessary for the purposes of the criminal investigations, for example to gather evidence of abuse, these should be limited to the strictly necessary in order to limit retraumatisation. This obligation should not prevent other medical examinations necessary for the well-being of the child. Child victims should have easy access to child friendly justice, legal remedies and measures to address conflicts of interest where sexual abuse or sexual exploitation of a child occurs within the family. When a special representative should be appointed for a child during a criminal investigation or proceeding, this role may be also carried out by a legal person, an institution or an authority. 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. 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. All authorities involved in the proceedings should be trained in child friendly justice. 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. Where child victims participate in criminal proceedings, the court should take full account of their age and maturity in conducting the proceedings and should ensure that the proceedings are accessible and understandable to the child.
Amendment 93 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 43
Recital 43
(43) Member States should establish or strengthen policies to prevent sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children, including measures to discourage and reduce the demand that fosters all forms of sexual exploitation of children, including the practice of child marriage, which is a human rights violation and a harmful practice that primarily affects women and girls, and measures to reduce the risk of children becoming victims, by means of, information and awareness-raising campaigns, including for parents and carers and society at large, and research and education programmes. In such initiatives, Member States should adopt a child-rights based approach. Care should be taken to ensure that awareness-raising campaigns aimed at children are appropriate and sufficiently easy to understand , and tailored to the specific needs of children of different age groups, including pre-school children. Prevention measures should take a holistic approach to the phenomenon of child sexual abuse and sexual exploitation, by addressing its online and offline dimensions and mobilizing all relevant stakeholders. In particular for the online dimension, measures should include the development of digital literacy skills, including critical engagement with the digital world, to help users identify and address attempts of online child sexual abuse, seek support and prevent its perpetration. Particular attention should be paid to prevention of child sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children that are cared for in a group facility rather than in the context of family-based care . Where not already in place, the establishment of dedicated help-lines or hotlines should be considered.
Amendment 104 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 56
Recital 56
(56) Child sexual abuse material 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 material . Notes the growing trend of self-generated child sexual abuse, where a child is persuaded, coerced or tricked by a perpetrator into carrying out acts via a webcam or handheld device. With a view to supporting the Union’s efforts to combat child sexual abuse material , 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.
Amendment 120 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 3 – point a
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 3 – point a
(a) any material or representation that visually depicts a child engaged in, or any part of the child’s body, engaged in sexually explicit conduct that is real, or simulated sexually explicit conductgenerated and simulated by artificial intelligence or created through any other computerised means;
Amendment 123 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 3 – point d
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 3 – point d
(d) realistic images , including those generated by artificial intelligence or created through any other computerised means, reproductions or representations of a child engaged in sexually explicit conduct, or of the sexual organs of a child, for primarily sexual purposes;
Amendment 169 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 4 – paragraph 7 a (new)
Article 4 – paragraph 7 a (new)
7 a. Coercing or compelling a child to share intimate material featuring the child, in order to obtain money, child sexual abuse material, or any other benefit under the threat of sharing the material without the depicted person's consent, shall be punishable by a maximum prison term of no less than 8 years.
Amendment 182 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 6 – paragraph 1 – point a
Article 6 – paragraph 1 – point a
(a) proposing , by means of information and communication technology, to meet a child either online or in person , for the purpose of committing any of the offences referred to in Article 3(4) , (5), (6) and (7) and Article 5(6), where that proposal was followed by material acts leading to such a meeting, shall be punishable by a maximum term of imprisonment of at least 12 year;
Amendment 278 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 23 – paragraph 3 – point a
Article 23 – paragraph 3 – point a
(a) at least 205 years from the date the victim has reached the age of majority for the offences punishable under this Directive by a maximum penalty of at least 3 years;
Amendment 280 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 23 – paragraph 3 – point b
Article 23 – paragraph 3 – point b
(b) at least 2530 years from the date the victim has reached the age of majority for the offences punishable under this Directive by a maximum penalty of at least 5 years;
Amendment 282 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 23 – paragraph 3 – point c
Article 23 – paragraph 3 – point c
(c) at least 305 years from the date the victim has reached the age of majority for the offences punishable under this Directive by a maximum penalty of at least 8 years.
Amendment 287 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 28 – paragraph 2
Article 28 – paragraph 2
2. Member States shall take appropriate action, including through the Internet, such as information and awareness-raising campaigns, research, education and training programmes or material , where appropriate in cooperation with relevant civil society organisations, such as family associations, and other stakeholders, aimed at raising awareness and reducing the risk of children, becoming victims of sexual abuse or sexual exploitation. Where these preventive activities take place in school or out-of- school settings, they shall ensure that the parents or legal representatives of the child are involved.