We must make the Internet a Safe Place for Children

FAQs

Call the hotline if you are a:

child who is missing from home / care or a child who is thinking of leaving home / care
parent or carer of a missing child
child, young person, or adult who has information about a missing child

Make a report to the police if you know of a child who has gone missing. This can be done by anybody, not just the parents or carers. You may also call the 116 000 hotline for support, advice, and to share valuable information about a missing child.

Who answers the calls?

Professionally trained Hotline Operators.

The 116 000 hotline is not available in my country, who can I contact instead?

Always contact your national police to report a missing child or to share information relating to a missing child.

Other national hotlines or children’s organisations are available in your country, you can find this online.

Who can call the 116 000 hotline?

Everyone. Children, young people, parents or carers, families, and third party adults.

If you know about a missing child or if you know of a child at risk of going missing, the 116 000 hotline will be able to support you.

What information am I required to give when I call the 116 000 hotline?

You will be asked for details related to the missing child and their circumstances.

The more information provided the more help this will be for the protection of the child.

Every child should have the chance to be safe, curious, and happy – to simply be a kid. Unfortunately, the reality of childhood is very different for a growing number of children who experience sexual abuse and exploitation. Recent surveys show than more than half of children, both boys and girls, experience sexual harms online during childhood. This includes being sent sexually explicit content from an adult or unknown persons, being asked to keep part of their sexually explicit online relationship a secret, having sexually explicit images of them shared without their consent or being asked to do something sexually explicit online they were uncomfortable with. In extreme cases, grooming for child sexual exploitation may lead to child disappearances.

The proliferation of abuse materials makes it hard for those children to live normal and healthy lives. In a survey conducted in 2017, nearly 70 % of respondents indicated they worry constantly about being recognised by someone who has seen images of their abuse, 83 % had suicidal ideation, 60 % attempted suicide.

The spread of child sexual abuse material is not the only harm that children experience as a result of their abuse. For example, chat functions allow perpetrators to groom children online, either to meet in real life or to solicit sexually explicit imagery from them and extort them with it afterwards to continuously provide more. And livestream technology is used to stream the abuse of children while criminals watch and guide the abuse from around the globe.

Earlier this year, the European Commission proposed legislation to do exactly that. This legislation is currently being reviewed and considered in the European Parliament and by Member States in the Council of the European Union. Several organisations have joined together to thank all parties involved for their hard work and high ambitions.

We call on everyone with a stake in fighting this problem to concentrate on effective solutions to strengthen the Commission’s proposal and ensure it brings tangible outcomes for child protection online.

Read the full Open Letter here.

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