07/03/2014 Standing Committee
The Assembly Standing Committee has noted that there are still many cases of child abuse, including sexual abuse, which remain unreported and has called for information campaigns to raise public awareness of the problem. According to the parliamentarians, “the lack of public and professional awareness is the main explanation why many abuse cases go totally unnoticed”.
In keeping with the proposals made by the rapporteur (Valeriu Ghiletchi, Republic of Moldova, EPP/CD), the parliamentarians considered that professionals working with children should be enabled “to properly identify and assist child victims of sexual abuse”, and that they should be encouraged to establish rules for reporting suspicious cases.
They also considered that the reasons underlying decisions not to report should be tackled by building trust in the child protection system, through quick, effective and child-sensitive investigations.
Finally, legal protection should be provided for those who report suspicions of child sexual abuse in good faith, “including by limiting the duty of confidentiality of professionals”.