Statement on the revision of the Directive on combating sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children

We welcome the revision of the Directive on combating sexual abuse and sexual exploitation
of children and child sexual abuse material and wish to declare the following.

About one in five children are victims of some form of sexual violence. This includes sexual
touching, rape, sexual harassment, grooming, exhibitionism, exploitation in prostitution and
pornography, online sexual extortion, and coercion.

Although children, who have reached the age of sexual consent, can consent to sexual acts,
they are particularly vulnerable and deserve a comprehensive legal protection. We stand ready
to protect the personal and sexual integrity of these young persons in the EU.

We welcomed the Commission’s proposal to introduce the concept of lack of consent in the
definition of rape concerning children, who have reached the age of sexual consent. In this
concept it clearly stated when consent can be given and when it is not possible for a child to
consent, such as when the child is unconscious, asleep or in the state of frozen fright. It is
also stated that the absence of consent cannot be refuted exclusively by the child’s silence,
verbal or physical non-resistance or past sexual conduct.

However, the Council has deleted essential parts of this text. We strongly regret that the
majority of Member States proved unable to get behind a more ambitious approach in ensuring
that children, who have reached the age of sexual consent, are provided with the strongest and
most comprehensive legal protection as possible against unwanted sexual acts.

For us, it goes without saying that unconscious or sleeping children cannot consent to sexual
acts. Neither can the absence of consent be refuted exclusively by the child’s silence, verbal
or physical non-resistance or past sexual conduct. This should all be made clear in the
operative part of the Directive.

Furthermore, research shows that frozen fright is a common reaction to rape and sexual
violence. For example, the study “Tonic immobility during rape” shows that 70 percent of the
victims of rape experienced a freeze reaction by becoming immobile and unable to resist when
subjected to rape, and almost 50 percent had experienced an extreme freezing reaction. The
state of frozen fright is not giving consent. It is an instinctive survival response, and this should
be clearly stated in the operative part of the Directive, as suggested by the Commission.

To conclude, we strongly regret the inability of the majority of Member States to join forces
in advocating a more ambitious and comprehensive approach to protect children, who have
reached the age of sexual consent, from unwanted sexual acts.