Sabine Witting
Assistant Professor
- Name
- Dr. S.K. Witting
- Telephone
- +31 71 527 8838
- s.k.witting@law.leidenuniv.nl
- ORCID iD
- 0009-0001-4417-7364
Sabine Witting is an Assistant Professor at eLaw.
More information about Sabine Witting
News
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Outcome report for 2nd Expert Workshop on the EU Proposed Regulation on Online Child Sexual Abuse published -
Report presented at expert workshop on EU's proposed regulation on preventing and combatting child sexual abuse
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New book by Sabine Witting on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography -
PhD Defence Sabine Witting -
‘Regulating bodies: child sexuality in the digital era’
Leiden Law Blog
PhD
Research
Sabine Witting is an Assistant Professor at eLaw focusing on the intersection of fundamental rights and children’s rights with digital technologies. In this highly polarised area, various interest groups often pit rights against each other, making it challenging to reconcile competing fundamental rights interests. This complexity is further amplified when considering different rights holders, such as adults and children, and the diverse compelling interests involved, such as investigating online child sexual abuse offences while upholding privacy and data protection. In this context, Sabine is particularly interested in the development of regulatory measures within the EU, and how such measures impact lawmaking and regulatory processes across the world. Acknowledging the complex transnational nature of fundamental rights, children’s rights and digital technologies, her research and teaching is interdisciplinary and comparative in nature.
Teaching
Sabine is the Course Coordinator and main lecturer for the module ‘Human Rights in a Digital Age’ in the Advanced LL.M. in European and International Human Rights Law. She also teaches modules on children’s rights and digital technologies as part of the Advanced LL.M. in Law and Digital Technologies and the Advanced LL.M. in International Children’s Rights.
Biography
Sabine Witting studied law at Goethe University Frankfurt am Main and China University of Political Science and Law, specialising in the internationalisation and Europeanisation of law. In 2020, she successfully defended her PhD thesis at Leiden University entitled 'Child sexual abuse in the digital era - Rethinking legal frameworks and transnational law enforcement collaboration’. Since 2015, Sabine has worked for the United Nations and national NGOs in Eastern and Southern Africa and the East Asia and Pacific region, where she advises governments, civil society and other stakeholders on the prevention of and responses to online and physical violence against women and children, legal reform and international law.
In 2022, she co-founded Tech Legality, a consulting firm founded to ensure that digital technologies are deployed and governed in a way that protects and respects human rights, safeguarding the needs of children and vulnerable and marginalised communities.
Assistant Professor
- Faculteit Rechtsgeleerdheid
- Instituut voor Metajuridica
- eLaw@Leiden
- Witting S.K. (2024), Kinder vor sexuellem Missbrauch im digitalen Umfeld schützen, Computer und Recht 2024(2): 138-144.
- Skelton A.M. & Witting S.K. (22 February 2024), A child rights-based approach to adolescents’ sexuality. Leiden Law Blog. Leiden (Leiden University). [blog entry].
- Lorenzo Perez S., Allen A. & Witting S.K. (2024), Briefing document on the latest Belgian presidency’s proposal on the regulation on child sexual abuse ,aterial. Brussels: Centre for Democracy & Technology Europe. [briefing paper].
- Gerkens A. & Witting S.K. (2024), Children’s rights, online sexual abuse and the exploitation of children. In: Hof S. van der, Liefaard T., Pijpers R. & Kruip J. (Eds.), Essay Collection: Children's rights in the digital world. The Hague: UNICEF Netherlands. 66-76.
- Spuy A. van der, Witting S.K., Burton P., Day E., Livingstone S. & Sylwander K.R. (2024), Guiding principles for addressing technology-facilitated child sexual exploitation and abuse. London: London School of Economics, Digital Futures for Children centre & 5Rights Foundation.
- Witting S.K. & Malgieri G. (15 May 2023), ‘Voluntary detection orders’ under the proposed EU Child Sexual Abuse Regulation violate EU (privacy) law. European Law Blog. [blog entry].
- Witting S.K. & Leiser M.R. (2023), Outcome Report of 1st Expert Workshop on EU proposed Regulation on Preventing and Combatting Child Sexual Abuse . Strasbourg: Council of Europe.
- Crocker A., Leiser M.R. & Witting S.K. (2023), Outcome Report of 2nd Expert Workshop on EU proposed Regulation on preventing and combatting online child sexual abuse. Leiden: Leiden University.
- Witting S.K. (22 April 2023), Chatkontrolle verletzt sexuelle Selbstbestimmung von Jugendlichen. Netzpolitik. [blog entry].
- Witting S.K. & Leiser M.R. (2022), An analysis and commentary on the European Union’s proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down rules to prevent and combat child sexual abuse. Leiden: Leiden University.
- Witting S.K. (2022), Addressing the vulnerabilities of children to sale and sexual exploitation in the framework of the sustainable development goals. Geneva: OHCHR.
- Witting S.K. (2022), Optional Protocol 2: on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. A Commentary on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Leiden/Boston: Brill.
- Witting S.K. (2 December 2022), Children's participation in digital policy making. Global Kids Online. [blog entry].
- Witting S.K. (2021), Transnational by Default: Online Child Sexual Abuse Respects No Borders, International Journal of Children's Rights 29(3): 731-764.
- Witting S.K. (2 April 2021), Walking a tightrope on an ethernet cable: The CRC Committee’s 25th General Comment Children’s Rights in relation to the digital environment. Leiden Law Blog. Leiden, Netherlands: Leiden University. [blog entry].
- Witting S.K. (28 December 2021), Strengthening protection of women and children from online violence through the new Data Protection Act. UNICEF Zimbabwe. [blog entry].
- Witting S.K. (11 June 2020), Child sexual abuse in the digital era : Rethinking legal frameworks and transnational law enforcement collaboration (Dissertatie. Institute of Private Law, Faculty of Law, Leiden University). Supervisor(s): Sloth-Nielsen J.J. & Hof S. van der.
- Witting S.K. & Angula M. (2020), Leveraging international law to strengthen the national legal framework on child sexual abuse material in Namibia, Comparative and International Law Journal of Southern Africa 53(1): 1-28.
- Kardefelt-Winther D., Day E., Berman G., Witting S.K. & Bose A. (2020), Encryption, Privacy and Children’s Right to Protection from Harm. Innocenti Working Paper no. 2020-14. Florence: UNICEF Innocenti. [working paper].
- Witting S.K. (2019), Regulating bodies: the moral panic of child sexuality in the digital era, Kritische Vierteljahresschrift für Gesetzgebung und Rechtswissenschaft 102(1): 5-38.
- Witting S.K. (2018), The "Greyscale" of "Child Pornography": Of Mangas, Avatars and School Girls: Part 1, Computer and Telecommunications Law Review 2018(3): .
- Witting S.K. (2018), The "Greyscale" of "Child Pornography": Of Mangas, Avatars and School Girls: Part 2, Computer and Telecommunications Law Review 2018(4): .
- Witting S.K. (2018), Do ut des: Disseminating online child sexual abuse material for investigative purposes?, Proceedings of the Central European Cybersecurity Conference 2018 (CECC 2018), Ljubljana, Slovenia, November, 2018. CECC 2018: Proceedings of the Central European Cybersecurity Conference 2018 15 November 2018 - 16 November 2018. New York: Association for Computing Machinery. 1-6.
- Witting S.K. (15 June 2018), Leveraging technology to enhance access to justice for children in Africa. Leiden Law Blog. [blog entry].
- Witting S.K. (19 April 2017), 'Girls belong in school, and not in front of the altar’: Is the German Bill on Child Marriages violating International Law?. Verfassungsblog. [blog entry].
- Witting S.K. (28 June 2017), 'Cyber’ Trafficking? An Interpretation of the Palermo Protocol in the Digital Era. Völkerrechtsblog. [blog entry].
- Witting S.K. (15 October 2017), Nach dem Fahndungserfolg ist vor der Rechtsverletzung: Öffentlichkeitsfahndung nach Opfern von Straftaten. Verfassungsblog. [blog entry].
- Consultancy Services