In conversation with European Commission's Ľubica Debnárová

Prevention Global is part of a global and multi-sector effort to end child sexual abuse - an effort that requires active collaboration and leadership. The European Commission continues to be a leading voice and actor. We sat down with Ľubica Debnárová to discuss the potential for progress, the barriers we face, and the European Commission's priorities for the coming years.

What is your sense of the public’s perceptions of the scale of child sexual abuse, in the EU and beyond?

"The 2023 Flash Eurobarometer survey¹ on “Protection of Children against Online Sexual Abuse” shows that a large majority of Europeans (73%) consider online child sexual abuse to be a widespread or very widespread problem and 92% agree that children are increasingly at risk online.

In an EU average most of respondents (82%) agree that tools like parental control are not enough to keep children safe online. 78% of Europeans interviewed tend to support or strongly support the Commission proposal to fight child sexual abuse.

Other polls confirm these views. The 2023 ECPAT and NSPCC survey² interviewed over 25,000 adults in 16 European countries. 81% of those polled supported moves to oblige online service providers to detect, report, and remove child sexual abuse online and 91% said that online service providers should be required to design and adapt their services to prevent child sexual abuse and exploitation online.

Another example is the recent poll³ from November 2025, whose results were published by the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF). 86% of adults across Germany, Italy and Poland said they are either very concerned (70%) or somewhat concerned (16%) about images and videos of children being sexually abused being shared through end-to-end encrypted messaging. Nearly nine in ten adults (or 88%) across the surveyed member states think their governments should back proposed EU child sexual abuse legislation that seeks to protect children online and ensure that tech companies can detect for images and videos of child sexual abuse on their websites and platforms.

This data shows the public sees child sexual abuse as a major issue that calls for our prompt action."

Data and programs

Understanding Harm includes the launch of the Prevention GPS survey, a gold standard methodology for revealing perpetration prevalence and risk factors. This gives us an unprecedented opportunity to better understand pathways to perpetration, and consequently better target perpetration prevention programs around the world.

How could gaining knowledge about perpetration prevalence and its risk factors help the Commission and member states prevent child sexual abuse?

"Reliable data on perpetration prevalence and its risk factors across EU member states would allow the Commission to propose evidence-based policies better responding to the needs on the ground. EU member states would be able to put in place prevention programmes and measures that are not only based on research, but also rigorously evaluated and adapted to the national context. We would also be able to set collectively at EU level, or at the national level, appropriate benchmarks and track progress over time."

The Commission has led the world in supporting the development, testing, and evaluation of perpetration prevention programs. Where have you seen encouraging signs of impact?

"The work on the development, testing and evaluation of perpetration prevention programmes is still ongoing. The Commission has worked on mapping existing programmes in the EU and beyond⁴ and on creating an evaluation methodology together with experts in the field⁵ . This work will be brought forward and finalised with the members of the newly established Network for the Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse⁶. We have also funded several projects implementing perpetration prevention programmes – for example Project Bridge, PROTECH, STOP CSAM, PRIORITY. They all included rigorous scientific evaluation of the effectiveness of the proposed perpetration prevention programmes. Several of these evaluations showed promising results in terms of effectiveness in reducing CSAM consumption among the participants."

What additional perpetration prevention initiatives can we expect to see in 2026 and beyond?

"As the research community confirms, child sexual abuse is preventable, not inevitable. We already see prevention coming more and more to the forefront of international action against this crime. This is great news! We will hopefully see more perpetration prevention initiatives and research as the one carried out by EU-funded projects mentioned above. These will be implemented or at a larger scale or in new countries to assess their effectiveness in new environments. Perpetration prevention should be part of the toolbox EU member states and countries worldwide implement to fight CSA. It should complement prevention focused on children so that they do not become victims of the crime. Both should receive appropriate funding, which is one of the biggest challenges in the field. The Network for the Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse will support the EU member states in this work by identifying best practice in the field."

EU Centre and Network

Many of us globally are excited about the proposed EU Centre to Prevent and Combat Child Sexual Abuse.

What progress do you hope to make during the current Commission's term of office?

"We would love to have the CSA Regulation in place and the EU Centre set up. The Centre will support EU member states in their efforts to prevent child sexual abuse and protect children across Europe and beyond. It will provide them key guidance and recommendation on the measures to protect children, act as a knowledge hub and facilitate technical and operational coordination. Of course, it takes a few years to have an EU agency fully operational. It will take hard work to establish the EU Centre, but we are ready to advance on this as soon as the Council and the European Parliament reach an agreement on the CSA Regulation. Great news is that the co-legislators have maintained and in certain areas reinforced the core functions of the EU Centre in their negotiating positions. That show how important the need for an EU Centre is."

You recently launched the EU Network for the Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse. What role will the Network play in supporting EU-wide prevention efforts?

"The Network for Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse was set up in July 2025 as an official expert group of the European Commission. It is a platform that will enable effective collaboration by bringing together EU member states, experts and civil society to share knowledge, exchange best practices, and coordinate prevention efforts.

The Network’s purpose is to provide expertise and advice on all areas of prevention, supporting children, their families and communities, as well as individuals who may be at risk of offending or re-offending. By helping member states implement rigorously evaluated, evidence-based prevention programmes, the Network will ensure that interventions are effective in reducing risks. It will facilitate research, data collection, but also support awareness-raising and training for professionals, children, families, and those at risk, reflecting its multi-disciplinary, holistic approach - ensuring that prevention is embedded across all relevant sectors and reaches those who need it most".

A global picture

To make a difference to all children’s lives, prevention must be truly global. Many view large scale and coordinated government action as essential if we are to prevent harm at scale.

What is your view on how to achieve meaningful international cooperation amongst governments, and between regions, to prevent the onset of child sexual abuse?

"Child sexual abuse is an inherently international crime that transcends borders and exploits global networks. Its global nature demands a whole-of-society approach and a coordinated and multi-level response, bringing together governments, law enforcement, industry, academia, and civil society.

Countries worldwide should take advantage of cooperation platforms such as the WeProtect Global Alliance, or organisations such as ICMEC, that support both intra- and cross-regional, as well as cross-sectoral practical collaboration, peer learning, training, capacity building and opportunities to coordinate their response to CSA. International cooperation helps countries to build or strengthen their operational capacity and prevents duplication of efforts. It also allows for the replication of successful interventions and for the pooling of resources that are often scarce. This all can translate to more effective national systems and international response to child sexual abuse worldwide."

What are the most significant barriers to action? And where do you see great potential?

"The most significant barrier is the lack of resources, both personal and financial, as this field is often under-funded. Another critical barrier is lack of longitudinally comparable data, be it on prevalence of child sexual abuse, but also on the effectiveness of prevention programmes and measures. We need to improve not only data collection, but also data sharing and pooling for research purposes. More and better data, evaluated promising and best practices and more funding will allow us to not only put in place evidence-based policies, but also strengthen our national systems and implement better responses to CSA.

There are also many internal, interpersonal, cultural and societal barriers to acting against CSA. These may lead to significantly delayed disclosure by victims of the crime. They may prevent help-seeking on the part of individuals who fear they might offend. It can result in lack of coordinated, child-centered, multi-agency responses preventing re-traumatization, as well as to barriers in receiving or accessing care. Breaking taboos, having open discussions and communication about child sexual abuse, and increasing awareness are key in overcoming those barriers."

Do you have one piece of advice for any governments around the world who are considering how to take a first step towards a strategy to prevent child sexual abuse?

"They do not need to start from scratch or do it on their own. They can connect with other countries, partners and organisations working in the field through existing platforms, take advantage of the best practices and expertise available and transfer to their local context tested and effective prevention programmes. They can receive key support in this process from their peers. The Network for the Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse provides a key cooperation platform where EU member states can do this precisely."