Last Wednesday, the Ministers of Justice and of the Interior of 48 participating countries agreed to bolster the fight against child pornography by launching the Global Alliance Against Child Sexual Abuse Online (Global Alliance). In a declaration released on the launch, the ministers acknowledged that, “child sexual abuse online, a substantial problem worldwide, is a crime that is ubiquitous and knows no borders; that child pornography images circulate easily across jurisdictions, and efforts to reduce such circulation have failed to produce satisfactory results to date; that child pornography offenders are increasingly operating in international online groups that use sophisticated technologies and security protocols to frustrate the efforts of law enforcement to investigate their crimes; and that different laws and policies across jurisdictions also have created law enforcement vulnerabilities that these international offenders are exploiting.” “Behind every child abuse image is an abused child, an exploited and helpless victim. When these images are circulated online, they can live on forever. Our responsibility is to protect children wherever they live and to bring criminals to justice wherever they operate. The only way to achieve this is to team up for more intensive and better coordinated action worldwide,” said the EU Commissioner for Home Affairs Cecilia Malmstr?m. The Global Alliance Against Child Sexual Abuse Online was launched by Malmstr?m, together with US Attorney General Eric Holder. The declaration on the activities of the alliance was endorsed by the 27 EU Member States and 21 countries outside the EU. The Arab world was notably absent and only the presence of Turkey gave any voice to the Islamic world in the cooperation. The participating nations called on governments in other countries around the world to join the Global Alliance. Recognizing that child pornography crimes have a worldwide dimension, the Global Alliance promises joint efforts to combat them. It was agreed that prosecuting offenders is essential but it also important to prevent new crimes and to enhance efforts to identify victims, whose sexual abuse is depicted in child pornography, ensuring that they receive necessary assistance, support and protection. In that spirit, the Global Alliance will aim to reach the following operational goals and by April 1, 2013 will report on the specific actions to reach the objectives:
* Increase the number of identified victims in the International Child Sexual Exploitation images database (ICSE database) managed by INTERPOL by at least 10 percent yearly;
* Establish the necessary framework for the criminalization of child sexual abuse online and the effective prosecution of offenders;
* Improve the joint efforts of law enforcement authorities across Global Alliance countries to investigate and prosecute child sexual abuse online;
* Develop, improve or support public awareness campaigns or other measures to educate on the risks that children's online conduct poses and the steps that can be taken to minimize those risks;
* Share best practices among Global Alliance countries for effective strategies to inform the public about the risks posed by online, self-exploitative conduct in order to reduce the production of new child pornography;
* Encourage participation by the private sector in identifying and removing known child pornography material; and
* Increase the speed of notice and takedown procedures as much as possible without jeopardizing criminal investigations.
