A/HRC/31/20 47. Once online, images of child sexual abuse can circulate indefinitely, perpetuating the abuse of the victim. Beyond the serious harm done to child victims, the circulation of such images sustains harmful social attitudes that tolerate the demand, which fuels the further exploitation of children and increases the risk of abuse. 48. Recognizing the urgency of preventing and addressing these child rights violations, in 2015 the Special Representative’s high-level round table with regional organizations and institutions focused on the elimination of sexual violence against children associated with the use of ICTs. Hosted jointly with the Council of Europe, the meeting highlighted the severity and pervasiveness of this phenomenon, its long-lasting impact on victims, the difficulties in investigating and prosecuting incidents and the challenges to the protection of children, including the lack of safe, accessible and child-sensitive counselling and reporting and complaint mechanisms (see A/70/289, paras. 36-40). 49. Online violence is often associated with incidents of abuse generated elsewhere, but the screen does more than reflect the multiple faces of violence that children are exposed to at school, in the community or in the family. ICTs become the entry point to an endless maze of mirrors that multiply its impact, where identifying and protecting victims, investigating criminal activities and dealing with illegal and harmful content become increasingly challenging. Without proper coordination, efforts invested in addressing the various manifestations of online abuse will not match the pace of its proliferation or of continuous and rapid technological evolution. 50. This was also the conclusion of the high-level meeting organized on the occasion of the thirtieth session of the Human Rights Council that the Special Representative facilitated in September 2015. Hosted by the Government of Belgium and with the participation of the Queen of the Belgians, it gathered representatives from Governments, civil society, academia and the ICT industry. 51. The multidimensional nature of violence requires a multifaceted response (see A/HRC/28/55, paras. 83-84). As the Special Representative noted in her previous report to the Human Rights Council, this response needs to capitalize on the opportunities and potential offered by ICTs and be effective in detecting and addressing online abuse, while enhancing children’s and young people’s skills so that they can explore the online world with confidence and in safety. Moreover, this process needs to bring together all relevant stakeholders; national authorities, schools, academia, civil society and the ICT industry play a crucial role and the active contribution of children needs to be at the heart of these endeavours. 52. In recent years, important international and regional multi-stakeholder initiatives have started to address online child protection-related concerns. While highly relevant, these initiatives have failed to involve all relevant actors or address the multiple dimensions of a digital agenda for the prevention and response to all manifestations of online abuse. 53. The protection of children from online sexual abuse has generated particularly wide mobilization, very often with a focus on the detection, investigation and prosecution of related crimes. The Virtual Global Taskforce, the Global Alliance against Child Sexual Abuse Online and various regional coalitions against the commercial sexual exploitation of children online are examples of the extremely valuable efforts involving Governments, law enforcement agencies, financial institutions, the corporate sector, civil society and other stakeholders. 54. In December 2014, the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland launched the WePROTECT initiative, which builds upon these efforts and proposes a model of national response, including measures to prevent and respond to sexual exploitation online, to ensure the protection of children and fight impunity. On the occasion of that launch, and at the WePROTECT summit held in Abu Dhabi in November 2015, 11