On 8 November 2021 the Council of Europe project on Combating violence against children in the Republic of Moldova held an online seminar on “Investigation of online child sexual abuse and exploitation” for police, judges and prosecutors, based on the Pilot Training Module on combating online child sexual exploitation and abuse for law enforcement and members of the judiciary developed in the regional Council of Europe project End Online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse @Europe.
The seminar aimed to enhance professional capacities of judges, prosecutors and police officers in investigation/hearing of online child sexual abuse cases, in particular the main online child sexual abuse and exploitation offences according to the Council of Europe standards and the key aspects of the Training Modules were presented and discussed during the event. In addition, procedural and international co-operation provisions including the provisions of the Second additional protocol to the Budapest Convention were addressed.
The activity builds upon previously held capacity building events, in particular a review of training materials available to law enforcement; in-country workshop for identifying and discussing key recommendations in the field of legislation, policies and practices and a pilot training, which presented broadly the topics contained in the training module.
The online seminar was attended by 40 judges, prosecutors and police officers.
In his welcoming remarks William Massolin, the Head of the Council of Europe Office in Chisinau underlined: ”For an effective and efficient investigation of online child sexual abuse and exploitation a multifaceted and cooperated approach between all law enforcement bodies and services provided to victims is needed”.
Octavian Bivol, Head of the Continuous Education Department, National Institute of Justice noted: ”This training is an additional step in strengthening the capacities of legal professionals, who often face very complicated cases that go beyond the borders of the country. Thus, we highly appreciate the assistance of the Council of Europe in organizing such much-needed training”.
The activity falls within the immediate outcome 4 of the project “Improved skills and know-how of professionals to respond to violence against children and promote child-friendly practices”.
