POSH
Report & Get Help — Europe
Act early. Stay calm. Report properly.
Protect the child first, preserve evidence safely, then use the correct local or national reporting pathway.
EUROPE REPORTING HUB
112 / Emergency
Police
INHOPE
Safer Internet Centres
116 111
Europe is not one single reporting system. The correct pathway depends on the country, the risk, and whether the concern is immediate danger, child sexual abuse material, grooming, blackmail, image abuse, cyberbullying, or platform harm.
Important Europe note
Europe does not have one single reporting pathway for every country or every type of online child safety concern.
Each country may have its own police process, hotline, helpline, child protection service, and online safety support service.
Use the strongest local reporting lane based on the risk in front of you.
Immediate danger always comes before online research
Which situation sounds most like you right now?
You do not need perfect certainty. You need the safest next step.
If a child is in immediate danger
Contact local emergency services or police immediately
In many European countries, 112 is the emergency number. Use your local emergency number or police if the child may be in immediate danger, someone is trying to meet them, there is stalking, threats, blackmail, a known person involved, or real-world risk.
Child safety first:
Protect the child → reduce unsafe contact where safe → preserve evidence safely → use the correct national pathway → support the child.
Europe reporting flow
Protect the child
↓
Save evidence safely
↓
Choose national pathway
↓
Report inside platform
↓
Support the child
The order matters. Panic, public posts, deleting evidence, or confronting the person first can make the situation harder.
Main European reporting pathways
Use the pathway that matches the concern. In serious cases, more than one pathway may be needed.
- Emergency services / police: immediate danger, meeting plans, real-world threats, known offender, stalking, or urgent harm.
- INHOPE national hotline: suspected child sexual abuse material or illegal child sexual content online.
- Safer Internet Centre: online safety support, advice, helplines, hotlines, cyberbullying support, and guidance for children, parents, carers, teachers, and professionals.
- 116 111 child helpline: child support line available in many European countries for children and young people who need someone to talk to.
- Platform report: report inside the app, game, social platform, or messaging service after preserving evidence where safe.
If the issue is immediate danger, contact emergency services or police first. If the issue is suspected child sexual abuse material, use the official national hotline pathway.
Lane 1 — INHOPE and national hotlines
Use this lane when the concern involves suspected child sexual abuse material, illegal sexual images or videos involving a child, or websites/platforms hosting child sexual abuse content.
- Suspected child sexual abuse material online
- Sexual images or videos involving a child
- Websites, forums, groups, or accounts sharing illegal child sexual content
- Links to illegal child sexual abuse material
- AI-generated, edited, or deepfake sexual content involving children, depending on local law and reporting rules
Do not download, forward, repost, or share child sexual abuse material. Report through official channels only.
Use the official national hotline. Do not spread links or files to other people while trying to get help.
Lane 2 — Safer Internet Centres and helplines
Safer Internet Centres across Europe can help children, parents, carers, teachers, and professionals with online safety concerns, advice, education, reporting, and support pathways.
- Cyberbullying or online harassment
- Image-based abuse
- Harmful online content
- Privacy, platform, or account safety concerns
- Advice for parents, carers, teachers, and safe adults
- Support for children who feel scared, pressured, ashamed, or unsure what to do
If a child needs emotional support or someone safe to talk to, look for the child helpline available in your country.
Lane 3 — Police and local law enforcement
Use police when online risk may move into the real world, when harm is immediate, or when the person may be identifiable locally.
- Someone is trying to meet the child
- You know who the person is
- There are threats, blackmail, coercion, or stalking
- The child may be at local risk
- The situation is escalating quickly
- There are organised exploitation or trafficking concerns
If danger is immediate, contact emergency services. If online risk could become real-world danger, include police early.
If you are not sure which lane fits
Many parents and safe adults know something feels wrong before they know exactly what category it fits into.
Immediate danger, meeting risk, known person, threats, stalking, or real-world harm → emergency services / police.
Suspected child sexual abuse material or illegal child sexual content → national hotline through INHOPE where available.
Cyberbullying, harmful content, online safety advice, child support, or platform harm → Safer Internet Centre / helpline / platform report.
Serious grooming, blackmail, coercion, or exploitation → preserve evidence safely and contact police or the relevant national reporting pathway.
What to do immediately
- Keep the child physically safe
- Stay calm on the outside
- Tell them they are not in trouble for telling you
- Reduce unsafe contact where safe
- Save usernames, profile links, group names, server names, and timestamps
- Take screenshots of threats, requests, and context where safe
- Write down what happened in order
- Do not delete anything before preserving evidence safely
- Do not confront the suspected person before reporting
You do not need certainty before reporting. Suspicion or concern can be enough to take the next safe step.
What not to do
- Do not shame, blame, mock, or punish the child for telling you
- Do not delete chats, accounts, or messages before saving evidence safely
- Do not forward child sexual abuse material or illegal images
- Do not post accusations publicly
- Do not threaten the suspected person
- Do not pretend to be the child to investigate further
- Do not assume blocking alone fixes the risk
- Do not make the child carry the report alone
Rushed reactions can destroy evidence, escalate threats, or make the child stop talking.
Report inside the platform too
Platform reporting can help stop contact quickly, but it does not replace police, hotline, or child protection reporting where danger, exploitation, threats, coercion, or illegal content is involved.
- Use in-app reporting tools
- Save report confirmation if available
- Record usernames, links, servers, groups, and timestamps
- Block after saving evidence where safe
How to talk to the child
The first adult response can decide whether the child keeps talking or shuts down.
Say this first
“I am glad you told me. You are not in trouble for speaking up. I am going to stay calm and help you work out what to do next.”
Then ask calmly
“Has anyone threatened you, asked for photos, told you to keep this secret, or asked to meet you?”
Key takeaway
Europe uses local and national reporting systems.
Immediate danger goes to emergency services or police.
Suspected child sexual abuse material should be reported through official national hotline pathways such as INHOPE member hotlines where available.
The child needs calm support, not blame.
Protect → Preserve Safely → Report Locally → Support
Europe reporting and evidence cluster
These POSH pages support parents through evidence handling, safe reporting, image abuse, official pathways, and whole-family protection.
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