Each year, the Council of Europe invites its partners to focus on a specific topic on the occasion of the European Day.

The 2023 edition of the European Day focuses on “Learning from victims/survivors of childhood sexual violence to inspire policy change”.

This will be an opportunity to highlight the importance of engaging with victims/survivors at national and local level, to learn from them and their traumatic experiences, to understand what could have been done better to react, report and to support them. 

The Council of Europe partners with a wide audience to mark the European Day including member states, civil society organisations and national parliaments. This webpage provides access to the various initiatives organised by these partners (displayed below under Activities) allowing all to share their products to generate good practices.

Sexual exploitation and sexual abuse affects children everywhere. The majority of abuse happens in the child’s circle of trust. In many cases it is never reported to the police. According to victims/survivors, common barriers to disclosure or reporting abuse are feelings of shame and stigma. As a result, they are unable to access help or support to heal from this trauma. This also means that perpetrators go unpunished which can lead to further abuse of the same or other children.

Giving victims/survivors a voice can inspire change.  This year is an opportunity to raise awareness at all levels of society in order to prevent and eliminate stigmatisation. It is crucial to learn from victims'/survivors’ experiences to improve legislation, policy and services to better prevent these crimes and protect child victims/survivors.

We want to learn more about the ways victims/survivors are already bringing about change whether at local, national or regional level. In this context we are conducting research to learn more about the various ways victims/survivors are inspiring change. 

Please share your examples of survivor movements, councils, advisory bodies, etc. engagement in policy making by completing an online form by 20 September 2023.