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Missing Children Europe is an organisation which aims to ensure that every EU member state has the necessary procedures and regulations in place to deal with cases of missing and/or sexually exploited children, and are able to both provide support for the victims, and take steps to prevent future disappearances. It is an umbrella organization for 33 NGOs in 27 countries throughout Europe, 32 European countries are running a 116000 hotline for missing children. [1] [2]
Missing Children Europe was established in 2001 by Child Focus (Belgium), La Mouette (France), Aurora (Italy), Initiative Vermisste Kinder (Germany) and Rat auf Draht (Austria). Missing Children Europe gained financial independence in 2008, as it obtained a grant from the European Commission.
Missing Children Europe was the driving force behind the launch of 116 000, an emergency number which provides immediate support when children go missing. [2]
The 33 NGOs represented by Missing Children Europe are: [1]
Missing Children Europe's members are experts in missing children covering prevention, support to missing children and parents, and cooperation with national law enforcement in the search of missing children.
Missing Children Europe's receives a core operating grant from the European Commission's CERV Programme for its coordination of the 116000 European missing child hotlines network. MCE coordinates EU funded projects under the CERV, JUST, AMIF, and ISF programmes, and further receives project funding on issues of running away, unaccompanied minors, international child abductions and grooming and online sexual exploitation from various foundations. The remainder is collected through fundraising events, structural partnerships and membership fees.
Child sex tourism (CST) is tourism for the purpose of engaging in the prostitution of children, which is commercially facilitated child sexual abuse. The definition of child in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child is "every human being below the age of 18 years". Child sex tourism results in both mental and physical consequences for the exploited children, which may include sexually transmitted infections, "drug addiction, pregnancy, malnutrition, social ostracism, and death", according to the State Department of the United States. Child sex tourism, part of the multibillion-dollar global sex tourism industry, is a form of child prostitution within the wider issue of commercial sexual exploitation of children. Child sex tourism victimizes approximately 2 million children around the world. The children who perform as prostitutes in the child sex tourism trade often have been lured or abducted into sexual slavery.
A missing person is a person who has disappeared and whose status as alive or dead cannot be confirmed as their location and condition are unknown. A person may go missing through a voluntary disappearance, or else due to an accident, crime, or death in a location where they cannot be found, or many other reasons. In most parts of the world, a missing person will usually be found quickly. Criminal abductions are some of the most widely reported missing person cases.
Anna Cecilia Malmström is a Swedish politician who served as European Commissioner for Trade from 2014 to 2019. She previously served as European Commissioner for Home Affairs from 2010 to 2014 and Minister for European Union Affairs from 2006 to 2010. She was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Sweden from 1999 to 2006.
The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) is a private, nonprofit organization established in 1984 by the United States Congress. In September 2013, the United States House of Representatives, United States Senate, and the President of the United States reauthorized the allocation of $40 million in funding for the organization as part of Missing Children's Assistance Reauthorization Act of 2013. The current chair of the organization is Jon Grosso of Kohl's. NCMEC handles cases of missing minors from infancy to young adults through age 20.
Child Focus is a Belgian foundation that supports prevention and investigation of missing children, abducted children, runaway children, and sexually abused and exploited children, along with psychological and legal support to the victims. They also follow their cases and sometimes ensure they are treated with due care by the persons in charge. Finally, they help and spread the information about missing children by publishing their pictures and descriptions in newspapers, magazines, etc.
The International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC), headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, USA, with a regional presence in the United Kingdom, Europe, Turkey, Africa, Canada, Latin America, Caribbean, Southeast Asia, India, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Australasia, is a private 501(c)(3) non-governmental, nonprofit global organization. It combats child sexual exploitation, child pornography, child trafficking and child abduction.
The Association of Sites Advocating Child Protection (ASACP) is an American nonprofit organization that fights Internet child pornography and works to help parents prevent children from viewing age-inappropriate material online.
A child abduction alert system is a tool used to alert the public in cases of worrying or life-threatening disappearances of children.
Senegal ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol in October 2003.
Child abduction or child theft is the unauthorized removal of a minor from the custody of the child's natural parents or legally appointed guardians.
116 000 is the European missing children hotline number. It was the first harmonised service of social value to be adopted by the European Union. The 116 000 hotline provides free, immediate life saving support when children go missing.
The Cospol Internet Related Child Abusive Material Project (CIRCAMP) is a Comprehensive Operational Strategic Planning for the Police (COSPOL) project aimed at combating borderless and multinational crime in Europe. COSPOL is initiated by the European Police Chiefs Task Force (EPCTF), a council of the national heads of police in Europe.
Catherine Irene Jacqueline Meyer, Baroness Meyer,, is a British politician and businesswoman. She is the widow of Sir Christopher Meyer, the British former Ambassador to the United States. In 1999, she founded the charity PACT, now Action Against Abduction. In October 2020, she was appointed as the Prime Minister's Trade Envoy to Ukraine.
A harmonised service of social value is a type of freephone service available in the European Union and in some non-EU countries, which answers a specific social need, in particular which contributes to the well-being or safety of citizens, or particular groups of citizens, or helps citizens in difficulty. The phone numbers and the corresponding service descriptions are managed by the European Commission and harmonised across all EU and EEA member states. Harmonised services of social value use the prefix 116, which is then followed by three digits indicating the type of service.
The Cyprus Safer Internet Helpline is a service provided by the Cyprus Safer Internet Center project, coordinated by the Cyprus Neuroscience and Technology Institute (CNTI). The Helpline ensures that not only children and adolescents but also adults have the opportunity to converse with experts in case they experience something negative on the Internet. Educated psychologists provide support and essential advice so that the crisis is overcome and the situation is confronted. Members of the public can reach the helpline at the number 7000 0 116. The communication is completely confidential and anonymous.
International Missing Children's Day is an international day celebrated on May 25th, the same day as the United States' National Missing Children's Day designated by Ronald Reagan in 1983. It is a day dedicated to raising awareness about the issue of missing children, highlighting the efforts made to find and bring them back safely, and supporting the families affected by these tragedies.
Croatia ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol in January 2003.
Canadian Centre for Child Protection is a Canadian registered charitable organization dedicated to the personal safety of all children. More specifically, its goal is to reduce the victimization of children by providing programs and services to the Canadian public.
The ADAM Automated Delivery of Alerts on Missing Children Program, commonly known as the ADAM Program, is an alert system that is used to help recover missing children throughout the United States. In 1981 Adam Walsh, son of John and Revé Walsh, went missing. His parents set up the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) in 1984 and later partnered with LexisNexis Risk Solutions who developed and donated the alert system program to NCMEC, which was named in honour of Adam Walsh. The program has been operating since 2000.