Current projects of the Observatory
On this page, we present the projects we are currently working on or that we have just completed with recent publications.EU Monitoring: Current socio-political developments in Europe
Our EU monitoring provides a regular overview of the activities of the European Union, the Council of Europe and the European civil society organisations in social policy.If you would like to receive the EU-Monitoring by e-mail, please write to us stating your name and organisation: beobachtungsstelle (a) iss-ffm.de
Please note that the EU monitoring is only published in German.
Combatting sexualised violence against children and youth
Sexualised violence against children and youth is steadily increasing. In 2023 alone, there were 1.3 million reports of sexualised violence against children and youth in the EU, including more than 3.4 million Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM). It is estimated that one in five children in Europe is affected by sexualised violence. Between 70 and 85 percent of those affected know the perpetrator.To mark the European Day for the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Violence on 18 November 2025, we have published a series of publications on the topic of "Combatting sexualised violence against children and youth in Europe".
This includes an Expertise presenting existing and planned EU measures to combat and prevent (digital) sexualised violence against children and youth. A comprehensive Overview (in German) presents criminal and family law provisions for protecting children and youth from online and offline sexualised violence in five EU Member States (Germany, France, Ireland, Sweden, and Spain). An accompanying Dossier provides a concise explanation of all aspects of the Europe-wide fight against and prevention of (digital) sexualised violence.
European Social Policy
The EU can take initiatives to coordinate the social policies of the Member States (Article 5 TFEU) and thus support their sociopolitical cooperation and set minimum standards throughout Europe.Articles 151 to 161 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) provide the legal basis for social policy. Common goals of the EU and its Member States include, for instance, improving the living and working conditions and combatting social exclusion.
The background information provides an overview of EU social policy, its legal basis and associated instruments, and a selection of current socio-political initiatives and measures.
Please note that the background information is only published in German.
Justice and equality for intersex people
The I in LGBTIQ+ stands for intersex people. These are people whose sex characteristics cannot be clearly categorised as either female or male.
Intersex people experience human rights violations and discrimination. Particularly problematic are surgical and other medical interventions performed on intersex babies or young children without their consent.
The United Nations considers these interventions to be human rights violations, and the Council of Europe recommends that its Member States legally prohibit them. Intersex activist organisations such as OII Europe have developed and published criteria for good practice in policy-making to protect intersex children.
In the context of the legally required evaluation of the German law banning surgical interventions on intersex children (§ 1631e BGB), the Council of Europe Recommendation on Equality for Intersex People and recent developments in several European states, the Observatory has been working on a European comparative analysis of Germany, Malta, and Portugal. The analysis aims to deepen our understanding of the diversity of regulation when it comes to banning surgical and other medical interventions on the sex characteristics of intersex people, and to shed some light on the implementation of such regulation.
The Dossier engages with the human rights situation of intersex people in Europe.
