Strasbourg, 26/04/2013 (Agence Europe) - The Council of Europe strategy for protection of the rights of the child 2012-2015 is based on a number of agreements, including the Convention of Lanzarote opened for signature on 25 October 2007 and in force from July 2010. This binding convention was the first legal instrument making it a crime to carry out sexual violence against children, including within the family circle. It includes a “prevention” chapter which addresses the recruitment and training of people working in contact with children, and also aims to heighten the awareness of children to the dangers they face and show them ways to protect themselves. Furthermore, it provides follow-up for offenders or potential offenders, encouragement for alerting authorities in the event of abuse, and the setting up of telephone or internet helplines for children. Other aspects tackled include grooming (i.e. taking children into your confidence for sexual purposes) and sex tourism.
This last point was the subject of a report defended by Valeriu Ghiletchi of Moldova (European People's Party, Centre Right) on Tuesday 23 April when speaking before the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). Deploring the rise in sex tourism in recent years due to the development of the travel industry - here MEPs pointed a finger of blame at low-cost travel - the resolution passed after the debates calls on the 47 member nations of the Council of Europe to set in place policies to actively promote equitable and ethical tourism that is respectful of children's rights. It aims to encourage the tourism industry to adopt self-regulating measures and to systematically point out cases of sexual exploitation of children. The text also calls for international cooperation to be stepped up for prosecuting those committing sexual offences, especially with bilateral and multilateral agreements and the setting up of common fact-finding policies. It also calls for the creation of a database system allowing for national information to be exchanged on sexual offenders and to prevent the diffusion on the internet of pictures of sexual abuse of children, etc. It urges the states that have not yet done so to sign up to the Council of Europe's “ONE in FIVE” campaign to stop sexual violence against children, as part of the strategy for protecting the rights of the child 2012-2015.
The campaign was also the subject of a debate based on a report defended this time by Socialist Silvia Eloisa Bonet Perrot of Andorra. The recommendation adopted immediately calls on the ministerial committee to allocate sufficient funds to the campaign funded by the ordinary budget of the Council of Europe, and urges member states to finalise the signing and the ratification of the Lanzarote Convention by 2014 if they have not yet done so. PACE also encouraged increased coordination between the various players, parliaments, governments, regional and local authorities, NGOs, mediators for children, academic circles as well as the children and parents themselves.
An EU directive in parallel to the Lanzarote Convention against the sexual exploitation of children. The Lanzarote Convention, which took effect on 1 July 2010, was signed by all 47 Council of Europe member nations except the Czech Republic. Germany, Andorra, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Monaco, Norway, Poland, the United Kingdom, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden and Switzerland have not yet ratified it, however. It should be noted that a new international legal instrument appeared in 2011 with Directive 2011/92/EU of the Parliament and of the Council of the European Union relating to sexual exploitation and abuse involving children and child pornography. The text, which came into force on 17 December 2001, follows with the broad lines of the Lanzarote Convention of the Council of Europe and applies to all member states of the European Union. It requires states to adopt the necessary preventive measures and all legislative, administrative and legal provisions within a two-year time frame. It calls, moreover, for grooming specifically to be made a criminal offence.
Combating discrimination against Roma children. During this spring session, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe also urged its member nations to take concrete measures in order to put an end to discrimination against Roma children. Based on the proposals put forward by the rapporteur, Nursun Memecan (Liberal, Turkey), the text underlines that these efforts should aim at improving the material living conditions of Roma families thanks to investment in housing, sanitation, the creation of jobs and by promoting a change in the stereotype and discriminatory attitudes towards the Roma. The final objective should be to give Roma children the same possibilities as other children and to encourage them to decide freely what their future will be. (VL/transl.jl)