Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse is defined as “sexual activities perpetrated against children by adults (or peers) and involving an individual taking advantage of an imbalance of power.” It is a serious crime that has severe, wide-ranging life-long consequences for victims, at both social and personal levels. In several cases, abuse is committed by people who are known and trusted by the child victim, and in many cases, the child victim depends on the adult who is carrying out the abuse.

There are two European regional documents which cover the crime of grooming:

• Article 23 of the Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse (the Lanzarote Convention) defines grooming as the ‘solicitation of children for sexual purposes’. It requires states to criminalise the ‘intentional proposal, through information and communication technologies, of an adult to meet a child of an adult to meet a child who has not reached the age set in application of Article 18, paragraph 2, for the purpose of committing any of the offences established in accordance with Article 18, paragraph 1.a, or Article 20, paragraph 1.a, against him or her, where this proposal has been followed by material acts leading to such a meeting.”

• Similarly, the 2011 EU Directive on combatting the sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children and child pornography defines grooming as “conduct […] by means of information and communication technology, by an adult to meet a child who has not reached the age of sexual consent to engage in sexual activities with the child.” The major issue with both pieces of legislation is that an ‘intention to meet’ the child must be present. However, with online communication becoming a factual reality in the lives of almost all young people, we now know that this abuse does not necessarily require an offline element. Abuse is abuse and the consequences of online grooming on children are dire. Recognising this gap in the legislation, the Lanzarote Committee issued an opinion urging States to extend the crime of grooming for sexual purposes.

The Lanzarote Convention is the main international legal framework which criminalises certain forms of sexual abuse against children. This Convention requires States to offer a holistic response to sexual violence against children, through the “4 Ps approach”: Prevention, Protection, Prosecution and Promotion of national and international cooperation. The Convention also defines “what is a child”, as indicated in the glossary. It is fundamental to underline that child sexual violence can take many forms and happen within several contexts and circumstances. Among the phenomena regulated by The Lanzarote Convention, there is the first criminalisation of the solicitation of children for sexual purposes. This phenomenon is defined as “intentional act of an adult proposing to meet a child who has not reached the age of sexual majority for the purpose of sexually abusing or exploiting him/her.” The occurrence of this criminal offence, facilitated by information and communication technologies (ICTs), has rapidly increased over the past decade, and this international document serves as a crucial tool obliging States to protect children from this form of sexual violence and to prosecute offenders.

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