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AAU and Save the Children in partnership against sexual abuse of children
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AAU and Save the Children in partnership against sexual abuse of children
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AAU and Save the Children in partnership to prevent sexual abuse of children
By Charlotte Tybjerg Sørensen, AAU Communication and Public Affairs
Photo: Colourbox.com
In a joint press release, the partners state:
The children's rights organization and researchers warn that it is currently uncertain whether existing prevention efforts and legislation effectively prevent child sexual abuse.
Over the past ten years, there has been a significant increase in the number of convictions for sexual crimes against children, rising from 265 convictions in 2015 to 377 convictions in 2025. From 2024 to 2025 alone, the number of convictions increased from 327 to 377, according to figures from the Director of Public Prosecutions.
It is therefore crucial to examine whether current prevention efforts are working as intended, and to identify new initiatives that can more effectively prevent children from sexual abuse.
Such is the opinion of Save the Children and researchers at the Department of Law and the Department of Society and Politics at Aalborg University who are now launching the partnership "Knowledge Against Abuse" (Viden Mod Overgreb).
Extensive legislation has been introduced in this area, but often without a sufficient knowledge base and without systematic evaluation of whether the initiatives actually work. This risks creating a false sense of security. We need to ensure that the legislation is based on documented knowledge and is continuously evaluated so that we know whether it really protects children from further abuse.
The partnership unites a range of new and ongoing research projects led by criminologists and legal scholars at Aalborg University in collaboration with Save the Children's experts working to prevent child sexual abuse.
The goal is that this the new research, combined with Save the Children's expertise and the experience gained from the organization's prevention counselling programme, Talk With Us (TalMedOs), will take Denmark's efforts to prevent child sexual abuse an important and much needed step forward.
As researchers in criminology at Aalborg University, we, together with our students, want to contribute to a more evidence based effort to support both potential victims and individuals at risk of committing abuse. Bringing knowledge into play where it can make a real difference is a core part of Aalborg University’s mission.
"Sexual abuse of children does not just happen. It can be prevented. But this requires us, as a society, to raise our ambitions. We are therefore very pleased that Aalborg University is now taking an even stronger role in generating knowledge that we currently lack to better prevent child sexual abuse," says Johanne Schmidt-Nielsen, Secretary General of Save the Children Denmark.
Legislation is often based on insufficient knowledge
Kasper Jørgensen, Criminologist and PhD fellow at the Department of Law at Aalborg University, says:
"Sexual abuse of children has such serious consequences for victims that preventive measures must not be shaped solely by isolated, however horrific, cases. Extensive legislation has been introduced in this area, but often without a sufficient knowledge base and without systematic evaluation of whether these initiatives actually work. This risks creating a false sense of security. We need to ensure that legislation is based on documented knowledge and continuously evaluated so that we know whether it really protects children from further abuse."
As part of his PhD research, Kasper Jørgensen has, for example, examined the Danish police supervision scheme for individuals convicted of sexual offences against children. His research raises questions about whether this form of supervision has the preventive effect intended.
Annette Olesen, Associate Professor of Criminology at the Department of Society and Politics at Aalborg University, says:
"Our new partnership represents a unique opportunity to strengthen prevention efforts through close collaboration between research and practice. As researchers in criminology at Aalborg University, we, together with our students, want to contribute to a more evidence based effort to support both potential victims and individuals at risk of committing abuse. It is a natural extension of the university's DNA to use knowledge where it can make a real difference."
"Our new partnership represents a unique opportunity to strengthen prevention efforts through the close interaction of research and practice. As researchers in criminology at Aalborg University, we - along with our students - want to contribute to a more evidence-based effort to aid both potential victims and people at risk of committing abuse. It is a direct extension of the university's DNA use knowledge where it can make a real difference."
Translated by LeeAnn Iovanni, AAU Communication and Public Affairs
Facts about the partnership
The partnership will initially run from 2026 to 2029.
In the development of the collaboration, the partners will apply for funding for selected research projects and for studies examining existing preventive measures.
The partnership will include studies on:
- Why minors are increasingly convicted of violating §235 of the Danish Penal Code on child sexual abuse material, and how this substantial increase in convictions can best be countered.
- How specific individual risk assessments can be developed when individuals convicted of child sexual abuse are released and placed under police supervision, to ensure that supervision is effective where the need for child protection is greatest.
- How the background check for working with children (børneattest) works today in practice, and whether it is sufficient twenty years after its introduction given the current crime picture.
- How to better help children and young people with sexually worrisome behaviour so that they do not harm themselves or others.