Mizzi appointed S&D spokesperson on fighting child exploitation

Labour MEP Marlene Mizzi has been appointed as the Socialists and Democrats (S&D) spokesperson on the CULT’s committee opinion on combating the sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children and child pornography.

“Internet and development of new technologies have taken child pornography, sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children to a whole new level,” Mizzi said.

“The scale of the problem is massive and definitely out of control with millions of child abuses images on the internet and almost no convicted criminals or ways to control and remove the distribution of those pictures. As politicians we have the duty to defend and protect our children, who are the pillars of our society."



The Global Alliance against Child sexual Abuse Online reports that every day, countless children around the world are sexually abused and exploited, and images and videos of the abuse are circulated on the internet. 50,000 new child abuses images are added each year to the internet and 70% of the reported images feature children below 10 years of age.



Commenting on these figures labour MEP Marlene Mizzi said that the problem goes even beyond publishing the picture, as those images can never be deleted or disappear from the web. "Child victims have to face their offenders and deal with the psychological and physical consequences of the sexual abuses and child pornography at a very vulnerable stage of their lives that can scar them forever. Moreover, these pictures or videos follow them later on in live, so once again they can become potential victims to cyberbullying and further ostracization and this could in turn lead to depression, social isolation and even suicidal tendencies".

Mizzi said that children should not be afraid or ashamed to report sexual abuses and exploitation.

“Children also need to feel safe on the internet, therefore raising awareness campaigns and educational programs for children, parents and teachers providing the right tools and information for safe use of the internet and new technologies, are of particular importance to ensure responsible behaviour in the social media," she said, adding that an effective response and stronger protection was needed.

“Children are the pillars of society, the adults of tomorrow, and we can only have a healthy society – physically and psychologically – if we ensure that our children live in a safe environment where they can enjoy their childhood without the horrors of sexual abuse and exploitation.”