Justice and Child Rights

Children subjected to sexual exploitation have the right to access justice systems that protect them, believe them, prevent further harm, and hold perpetrators accountable. Yet the reality is more complex. Across the world, countless cases go unreported. When children do come forward, they face inconsistent laws, justice processes that re-traumatise them, and systemic gaps that allow offenders to escape consequences. Preventing and responding to sexual exploitation often becomes an afterthought instead of a priority.   

Our Approach 

We work to prevent harm before it happens through strong laws, policies and frontline practice, and to strengthen response when harm occurs, ensuring accountability for offenders, protection from further victimisation for children and access to child-centred justice. Working alongside survivors, justice professionals, law enforcement and our global network of over 140 organisations, we focus on three interconnected areas to make this happen. 

What We Do 

1. Shaping Global Standards and Advocating for Legal Reform 

Over the years, our research has contributed to the evidence base that informs legal reform at global, regional and national levels. Lawmakers have drawn on our recommendations when developing international instruments like the UN Convention against Cybercrime and the EU Directive on child sexual abuse.  

Our efforts have helped shape major international and regional legal instruments and address today’s online realities for children, such as the UN Convention against Cybercrime and the recast of the EU Directive on child sexual abuse.  

We push for reforms that matter: removing arbitrary time limits for reporting abuse, obtaining justice and receiving compensation, ensuring consent laws protect all children equally, enabling cross-border prosecutions through extraterritorial jurisdictions, and establishing centres where children can receive coordinated legal, medical, and psychological support under one roof. 

We work to change not only laws and systems, but also the language used to describe these crimes. Through the Terminology Guidelines for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse, we promote accurate, respectful and non-victim-blaming language in law, policy, and practice. By changing the words used in law, policy, media, and practice, we help shift attitudes, reduce stigma, and ensure responsibility is placed where it belongs: on offenders. 

 Through our global network, we support countries in strengthening their laws by sharing evidence grounded in children’s real experiences and collaborating with local experts who understand their own contexts. 

2. Putting Children and Survivors’ Needs and Rights at the Centre 

When children seek justice, the justice system should made them feel safe, heard and respected—not put them through further harm. 

We work alongside civil society organisations, young survivors, and justice professionals, to transform how justice systems respond to children, promoting approaches that understand trauma, avoid victim-blaming language and behaviours, and understand the different needs of girls, boys and children of diverse sexual orientation, gender identities and expressions.  

We’re putting this to practice across Central Asia & the Caucasus, South Asia, Africa, and Latin America, where we support efforts to strengthen access to justice through multidisciplinary coordination, improved investigative practices, child-centred procedures, and expanded access to remedies.  

3. Preventing Harm Before It Happens 

Justice works best when it stops abuse before it occurs. We work with law enforcement, law and policymakers, and frontline practitioners to embed prevention at the heart of justice systems.  

ECPAT works with law enforcement, policymakers, and frontline professionals to embed prevention at the heart of justice systems. We develop evidence-based models for primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention, including research on the role of law enforcement in proactive prevention, the regulation of high-risk environments, and adequate monitoring of persons convicted of sexual offences to ensure safe community reintegration and reduce risks of re-offending. 

We collaborate with partners such as INTERPOL and the Virtual Global Taskforce to disrupt opportunities for offending, strengthen cross-border cooperation, and equip professionals to recognise risks and intervene early.