ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the range of policy and legislative measures that has been introduced at the international, EU and national UK level to respond to online and offline child sexual abuse and child sexual exploitation. It explores the scope of child abuse and the different forms that can occur internationally and in different cultures. Under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child children have a right to protection from all forms of violence, which is now taken to include online violence. The findings present a concerning picture of children subjected to sexual and more frequently physical abuse often within their own families and communities without recourse to help. The practice is performed mainly on children between four and 14 years of age. The Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Sexual exploitation and Child Pornography supplements the Convention on the Rights of the Child and is the first of two optional protocols to enter into force.
