A 60-country benchmarking index

A 2020 report from The Economist Intelligence Unit has evaluated the capacities of states to protect children from sexual abuse and exploitation focusing on four fields listed below:

  • environment - the safety and stability of a country
  • legal framework
  • government commitment and capacity – the investments in resources to equip institutions and personnel to respond appropriately
  • engagement of industry, civil society, and media.

The UK was ranked first as the best country to protect children from sexual abuse and exploitation. It is important to highlight, though that the report does not evaluate the scale of violence happening in these 60 countries which, represents 85% of the global population of children, but it pays attention only to the means that states use to protect children. According to the EIU, Top Ten Countries are The United Kingdom, Sweden, Australia, Canada, Germany, United States, South Korea, Italy, France and Japan.

There are several interesting key findings to point out from this report.

  • There is a lack of correlation between the economic development of a country and child sexual abuse. Some rich states are ranked in the bottom such as China, Russia, and Saudi Arabia.
  • States can improve their problems by cooperating with NGOs, media, and other stakeholders, despite limited resources.
  • Girls are most attacked, while boys are often left behind even though they are victims too.

When it comes to the Southeast European countries, we have data only for Albania, Serbia, Turkey, and Romania. Other countries are not included. In the table below you can see the differences among these states.

Score 0-100 Index scores Environment Legal framework Government commitment

Engagement of industry, civil society and media

Albania 49.8 points    53.5

52.4

50.7 45.5
Romania 53.1  points    60.7 68.1 46.3 39.7
Serbia 59.2 points 62.6 68.6 51.6 54.3
Turkey 56.7 points 58.9 56.7 53.0 61.0

Albania scored points for these indicators: age of consent, child-specific rape laws, procuration of minors, reporting, international standards, or conventions.

Serbia scored points for these indicators: age of consent, child sexual offences, child-specific rape laws, general sex laws, procuration of minors, media industry engagement.

Turkey scored points for these indicators: age of consent, procuration of minors, media industry engagement, reporting, internet protections.

Romania scored points for these indicators: age of consent, child-specific rape laws, general sex laws, purchasing sexual services, procuration of minors, visual depiction of minors engaging in sexual activities, reporting, technology industry engagement.

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