The initial shock and revulsion over the paedophile outrages in Belgium are giving way to urgent reflection on how they can be prevented by, greater national and international controls. Attention is focusing on appropriate penalties and mandatory sentencing for offenders, on the complacency and incompetence of the Belgian police and security forces, and, increasingly, on the need for international controls over the trade in child pornography and the sophisticated networking which sustains it. Although this is a loathsome crime, dramatised on this occasion by the most horrific circumstances, there is much that can be done to limit it if the political will is there.
The widespread anger in Belgium over the fact that the man who has confessed to the murders and abductions of young girls was released from jail after serving only a part of his sentence for rape and child abuse has concentrated attention on the high incidence of recidivism characteristic of such crimes. As we know too well in this country, the problem is certainly not confined to Belgium. Unfortunately, leniency and complacency in the public response are closely associated with the fact that the taboo on public discussion of the subject has only recently been lifted. These horrifying events must ensure that the debate becomes better informed.
Important "distinctions must be made, for example, between child abuse and paedophilia. Child abusers may respond to counselling, education and behavioural reorientation, whereas paedophilia is a much more highly structured, even an ideological system of belief, based on the spurious argument that children consent to sexual involvement. Public policy must be guided by this experience. But it must also, take full account of the proven level of recidivism, possibly by alerting communities of the presence of such offenders in their midst. Such drastic departures from normal human rights provisions may be justified according to differing national circumstances.
Internationally, a lot more can be done to encourage co operation between governments and security forces to clamp down on paedophilia. UNICEF studies have documented the extent of the worldwide trade in child abuse, pornography and prostitution, much of which is played out on the Internet. Increased public knowledge of these facts opens up the difficult question of whether governments should attempt to control such communication, which would set dangerous precedents in other spheres. Short of that, at regional level, through the European Union, there is a strong case for exchanging lists of missing children and convicted paedophiles. This can be made a priority under Ireland's EU presidency, which has set out to address the trade in drugs and to explore how changes in the Justice and Home Affairs spheres could make for a more effective prosecution of the fight against crime.