The European Commission’s latest strategy for fighting child sexual abuse highlights a harsh reality that, globally, we are ‘losing the battle’ against online child sexual abuse and exploitation (OCSEA). Various projects funded through the EU are working diligently to identify the source of CSAM on both the Clearnet and Darknet and are establishing stronger awareness of the needs and requirements of LEAs to fight the overloading volume of images, text, media files, etc. However, the IOCTA 2021 report also brings a chilling honesty that the prevalence of materials shows no sign of slowing or stabilising.

The adage that prevention is better than the cure never seemed more fitting. Let us stress – 2PS project condemns all forms of sexual abuse and exploitation – and there are no excuses that justify behaviours and actions that harm or victimise children. However, to reduce the number of abused children and those at risk of exploitation, we need to address various challenges. Several of those relate to the Minor Attracted Persons (MAPs) and their needs for support and guidance to prevent them from abusing. 2PS, which stands for Prevent & Protect Through Support is a highly innovative action offering a paradigm shift in the approach to tackling child sexual abuse and exploitation (CSAE) across Europe.

The highly qualified and diverse consortium – together with leading global actors – are committed to laying the foundations for new coherent modus operandi that complement the reactive approaches currently favoured. By addressing the support needs of MAPs, engaging Individuals at Risk (IAR), sharing the best practices for guidance, therapy and treatment methods – combined with new training and awareness for frontline support workers and LEAs – we can begin to move preventive actions to the forefront, offering alternative courses of action to existing offenders
and IAR – including MAPs.