Cybercrime and online child abuse prevention focus of OSCE-supported workshops in Moldova

Sixty-two district prosecutors and judges from first instance and appellate courts upgraded their skills in investigating and prosecuting cyber-crimes involving children at two OSCE-supported workshops organized jointly with the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) from 4 to 7 June 2019 in Vadul-lui-Voda, Moldova.

The psychological profile of a child victim of online abuse as well as the impact of abuse on the child’s testimony was the focus of the training sessions. “It is very important for a prosecutor and a judge who examines a child abuse case to recognize factors that may interfere with the child’s ability to participate as a witness in court,” says psychologist Tatiana Buianina, who led the workshop.

The trainer outlined child interviewing techniques, which an interviewer needs to follow to obtain a credible testimony and, at the same time, protect the child from the risk of secondary victimization. “The interviewing techniques presented during the training session helped to understand better the complexity of such cases and their impact on the child’s short- and long-term development,” said Ala Rotaru, the Balti Court of Appeal judge. 

Particular attention was given to familiarizing prosecutors and judges with local and international best practices of investigating and prosecuting online child abuse and child pornography as well as data collection and exchange between national and regional legal professionals. The participants also learned how to differentiate types of abuse and manipulation children are exposed to in the virtual space.

“Additional knowledge about the specifics of child online behaviour is in high demand among practitioners due to the growing number of cases of online child abuse in Moldova,” said Boris Talpa, judge and NIJ training co-ordinator.

The workshops are part of the Mission’s Human Rights Programme which contributes to the implementation of the OSCE Mission to Moldova’s mandate to “provide advice and expertise on human and minority rights [and] democratic transformation”.  It further contributes to the implementation in Moldova of the 2003 OSCE Action Plan to Combat Trafficking in Human Beings. Moreover, protection of children against online abuse and exploitation has been included in agenda of the Working Group on Human Rights for the year 2019.