The Coalition of NGOs for the Protection of Children – KOMF, representing 35 non-governmental organizations, has been deeply alarmed by recent media reports regarding two severe cases of sexual violence against two minor girls.

KOMF observes that these cases reflect years of neglect and inadequate institutional action in preventing such assaults and abuses. They highlight the poor performance of the child protection system in addressing cases where children are victims of sexual offenses, as well as a prevailing culture of impunity for perpetrators of sexual crimes against children.

This situation, coupled with institutional apathy in establishing essential services to empower families and prevent sexual violence against children, has fostered an unsafe and hazardous social environment. In such an environment, incidents of sexual offenses against children, such as rape, sexual assault, degradation of sexual integrity, and the exploitation of children in pornography, continue to increase.

Sexual violence against children has devastating and long-lasting consequences for their emotional, psychological, and physical well-being. It damages the healthy development of children, often causing severe trauma, anxiety, depression, and difficulties in trust, both in themselves and in others. Victims may struggle with self-esteem, face challenges in forming relationships, and experience difficulties in educational and social settings. The effects of sexual abuse, the most severe form of abuse, leave profound scars on a child’s life.

KOMF calls for:

• The establishment and development of preventive services and programs to address child sexual abuse.
• The creation of a free hotline for child protection, as foreseen in the Law on Child Protection, to increase reporting of violence, abuse, neglect, and child trafficking.
• The urgent provision of specialized treatment and adequate protection for all children who are victims of sexual harassment or abuse.
• An inspection of state institutions handling of cases of sexual violence against children, including the treatment of offenders, over the past five years.
• Stricter sentencing for perpetrators of criminal offenses against children’s sexual integrity, within the limits defined by the Penal Code.
• The creation of a database of individuals convicted of crimes against children’s sexual integrity, with the subsequent restriction of their access to children, based on existing European models and the Law on Child Protection.
• Criminal accountability for all professionals mandated to protect children in cases of failure to fulfill their legal obligations effectively.
• The intensification of training on sexual education and the prevention of sexual violence through school curricula to strengthen the role of schools in combating this phenomenon.

We expect urgent and concrete actions from institutions to address these cases and express our readiness, as a Coalition, to support this process to ensure a safe and healthy life for all children.