New findings from major bodies including UNICEF, the Council of Europe, the European Commission, and child-focused NGOs like Childlight and ECLAG paint a disturbing picture of child sexual abuse across Europe.
Reports show that the problem remains widespread, with about one in every five children across the European Union affected. Many survivors stay silent for years, often taking decades before speaking out about what they experienced.
A recent study has urged all EU countries to completely remove statutes of limitations for crimes involving child sexual abuse, or at least extend them significantly. The reason is clear: many victims only come forward much later in life. Data from a joint report by the Brave Movement and Child Global reveals that survivors who choose to report abuse do so at an average age of 52.
By then, justice is often out of reach. In many countries, the legal time limit for prosecuting such crimes has already expired, meaning offenders cannot be charged.
Across the EU, laws differ widely. Some countries have removed time limits for the most serious child sexual abuse cases, while others still count the limitation period from the day the crime occurred, offering victims no grace period.Austria, Croatia, Estonia, Latvia, Luxembourg, Poland, Slovenia, Sweden, and Romania have eliminated statutes of limitations only for the gravest offenses, while less severe but still serious abuse cases remain time-barred.
In Slovenia, for instance, victims of child sexual trafficking have just six years to file a report.Other EU states still apply limitation periods to all offenses, though some delay the countdown until the victim reaches adulthood. In Germany, the most serious crimes can be prosecuted until the survivor turns 60. The limit is 55 in Spain, 48 in France, and 46 in Italy.
Countries such as Finland, Bulgaria, Lithuania, and Slovakia are listed as offering the weakest protection, as survivors there have the shortest windows to seek justice.
In Finland, the statute of limitations is 20 years from the date of the crime, but the law ensures that complaints cannot expire before the victim turns 28, and in some cases can extend to age 38.
