Europol launches Help4U to support sexual abuse victims

Europol and the Centre of Excellence in Terrorism, Resilience, Intelligence and Organised Crime Research (CENTRIC) have introduced a new digital platform to help children and young adults protect themselves when facing sexual abuse or online harm.

The online platform is called Help4U and offers practical guidance and tips for anyone who is dealing with offline or online abuse, including cyberbullying, catfishing, blackmailing, sexting, and sextortion.

Help4U began as a pilot in 2021 in Belgium, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Slovenia, and has since expanded to other EU Member States, including Bulgaria, Cyprus, Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Portugal, Spain, and Romania. It is scheduled to encompass other countries in 2026.

The platform starts with a questionnaire to determine what help you need. You’ll have to answer questions about what happened, where it happened, whether you know the person who did it, how often it has happened, et cetera. By the end of the survey, you’ll receive the names and contact information of organizations that can help you in your struggle.

Help4U was developed in collaboration with experts from various fields, including psychology, education, IT, data protection, law enforcement, and academia. By combining the expertise and experience of these experts, Europol wants to help as many victims as it possibly can.

Babak Akhgar, Director of CENTRIC, is proud to have built Help4U. “By combining digital innovation with the voices and experiences of young people themselves, Help4U offers a safe, accessible way for them to find help and be heard. This initiative represents how research, technology, and co-creation can come together to protect children and strengthen Europe’s collective response on harm against children,” he says in a statement.

“Children and young people deserve to be safe and supported both online and offline. Help4U gives them, and those who protect them, clear, reliable information and access to help when it is most needed,” Catherine De Bolle, Executive Director at Europol, adds.

The Help4U website is currently available in Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, and Spain.