Deadline: 23-Nov-21
European Commission is calling for proposals for the Prevention of Child Sexual Exploitation Programme.
Scope
- Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE), including the increasing amount of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) detected online as well as the online solicitation of children for sexual purposes, remains a serious threat.
- During the first wave of the global pandemic of COVID-19, there was an increased online activity in dedicated forums by offenders exploiting opportunities to engage with children who were more vulnerable due to isolation, greater online exposure and less supervision.
- This further highlighted the importance of CSE prevention, early detection and effective actions, both online and offline. Research is needed to better understand the process leading to offending in all its various forms (e.g. from watching CSAM to sexually abusing a child), i.e. what triggers the behaviour of potential offenders, which approaches in addressing their behaviour work and which not, which profiles of offenders can be generated, etc.
Funding Information
Grant amount is equal to or greater than EUR 500 000 except for:
- public bodies (entities established as a public body under national law, including local, regional or national authorities) or international organisations; and
- cases where the individual requested grant amount is not more than EUR 60 000 (lowvalue grant).
Expected Outcomes
Projects’ results are expected to contribute to some or all of the following outcomes:
- Increased understanding of security practitioners and policy-makers of the prevalence and of the process leading to child sexual abuse and child sexual exploitation;
- Enhanced understanding of the characteristics and key differences between offending and non-offending Minor Attracted Persons;
- Innovative and effective solutions, including training curricula, are validated and adopted by European Police Authorities and relevant Civil Society Organisations to prevent, detect and effectively act on child sexual exploitation, both offline and online, by providing necessary assistance to potential offenders, as well as by providing adequate preventative campaigns to reach vulnerable groups;
- Developed cross-culturally validated risk assessment tools for child sexual offenders; Enhanced perception by the citizens that Europe is an area of freedom, justice and security thanks to increased security of children;
- Improved cooperation between European Police Authorities and relevant Civil Society Organisations in preventing this form of crime, taking into account fundamental rights;
- Improved evidence-based policy-making related to the prevention of child sexual exploitation.
Eligibility Criteria
- Any legal entity, regardless of its place of establishment, including legal entities from non-associated third countries or international organisations (including international European research organisations) is eligible to participate (whether it is eligible for funding or not), provided that the conditions laid down in the Horizon Europe Regulation have been met, along with any other conditions laid down in the specific call topic.
- A ‘legal entity’ means any natural or legal person created and recognised as such under national law, EU law or international law, which has legal personality and which may, acting in its own name, exercise rights and be subject to obligations, or an entity without legal personality.
- To be eligible for funding, applicants must be established in one of the eligible countries, i.e:
- the Member States of the European Union, including their outermost regions;
- the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) linked to the Member States;
- eligible non-EU countries:
- countries associated to Horizon Europe
- low- and middle-income countries
For more information, visit https://bit.ly/2SOHwbc
