Council of Europe - Unicef: Fighting sexual exploitation and violence against children
Ljubljana, 5 - 7 July 2005
(To be checked against delivered speech)
Speech by Maud de Boer-Buquicchio, Deputy Secretary General
Ljubljana, 5-7 july 2005
Fighting Violence: a children’s game?
Dear children, Prime Minister, Professor Pinheiro, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen
The annual G8 Summit will take place in Scotland as from tomorrow. Today’s newspapers already highlight its agenda and the expectations it raises in many hearts.
When I see the combination “G8”, I always think of that children’s game: battleships. I have therefore decided to use this image to illustrate my message today.
Imagine for a moment that every country in the world is an island. You have been asked to preserve the peace, the prosperity and the sustainability of one of these countries. All the evil forces of the world have chosen to hide in the ocean and are now threatening your shores. You have no choice other than embarking in a naval battle.
The battleships in our adversary’s hidden grid represent the evils. You wonder who is going to shoot first, when and where? We must remember that each missed shot allows the enemy to weaken your forces. The dangers you face are huge, the resources scarce, the opportunities numerous. There are several players around and many of them could certainly become allies. You obviously need a strategy!
That is precisely why we are here in Slovenia. We are here to design a strategy to fight one of the world’s most terrible evils: violence against children. As from today, we shall work together to make sure that our G52 includes in its agenda concrete and determined action to eradicate all forms of violence against children. Our mission is to make sure that our G52 is a “hit” and not a “miss”.
1. Violence has multiple faces
The previous speakers have already described the enemy forces: violence against children include killing, torture, ill treatment, abuse and sexual exploitation, trafficking, abandon and neglect. Although these behaviours entail obvious violations of children’s human rights, the crimes and their perpetrators often remain hidden and immune from prosecution. It is impossible to estimate the proportions of the problem because, as Ms Rima Salah has just said, what we actually see is just the tip of the iceberg. We should not however justify our inertia on the basis of the available figures because they only show a small part of the problem. We should further investigate the problem, collect reliable data and analyse the different forms of violence and their root causes. We should always make good use of our radar, in particular when visibility is low.
The initiative by United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan to appoint Paulo Sergio Pinheiro of Brazil as the independent expert to lead a global study on violence against children is thus to be warmly welcomed.
As we all know, the purpose of the study will be to provide an in-depth picture of the prevalence, nature and causes of violence against children. It will put forward recommendations for consideration by Member States, the UN system and civil society for appropriate action, including effective remedies and preventive and rehabilitative measures at national and international levels.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Ignoring or denying children’s rights is one of the most common – but terrible - mistakes made by those confronted with violence. If the Council of Europe had to find a motto for this naval battle, I would propose the following: “Children are not mini human beings with mini rights”. I invite you to adopt this motto as well.
2. Violence may occur everywhere
The main difficulty of battleships is that one never knows the enemy coordinates. Fighting violence against children therefore means anticipating the enemy targets and scrutinizing our weak points, the places in which the different forms of violence may occur. Four settings – family, residential institutions, schools and communities – have been identified by the Study led by Mr Pinheiro and will be addressed at this conference during the working groups meetings. Our objective should be to reinforce the protection of those places and develop adequate prevention strategies.
3. Eradicating violence needs strategic thinking and acting: A Council of Europe Programme of Action
Once we know the enemy and where it hides and where may it hit, we are in a better position to defend ourselves and to defeat it. To multiply our chances of success, we need to carefully plan our strategy following a few steps:
1. set priorities
2. make an estimation of our own forces
3. conclude alliances
4. agree on a plan based upon four pillars (the four “Ps”): protection of victims, prevention of violence, prosecution of criminals and participation of children.
This is exactly the reason why, for more than two years, I have been advocating the launch at the Council of Europe of a Programme of Action on Children and Violence. Why? Because I am convinced that the Council of Europe has the forces we need in order to defeat many evils. How? Prioritising, reassembling all forces, concluding alliances and helping every country to win its own battle. I shall devote the next few minutes to explaining in more detail the why and how.
The Council of Europe is one of the organisations having amassed the most experience in the development of standards and the promotion of sector-specific strategies within Europe.
The Council of Europe commitment to children has recently been renewed at the highest level. At their meeting in Warsaw in May 2005, the Heads of State and Government of the Council of Europe (our “G46”) stated the following:
“We are determined to effectively promote the rights of the child and to fully comply with the obligations of the United Nations' Convention on the Rights of the Child. A child rights perspective will be implemented throughout the activities of the Council of Europe and effective coordination of child-related activities must be ensured within the Organisation.
We will take specific action to eradicate all forms of violence against children. We therefore decide to launch a three year programme of action to address social, legal, health and educational dimensions of the various forms of violence against children.”
Since its creation in 1949, the Council of Europe has developed a number of key legal instruments dealing with the protection of children against violence: the European Convention on Human Rights, the European Social Charter, the European Convention for the prevention of torture and inhuman and degrading treatment, to name but a few. The case-law both of the European Court of Human Rights and the European Committee of Social Rights has highlighted issues affecting children and the boundaries between what our member states should and should not tolerate, in particular to cases of children being ill-treated or subject to violence or abuse.
Banning ill-treatment, violence and abuse against children (including corporal punishment), in the family but also in public institutions or foster homes; safeguarding family ties, ensuring the rights of juveniles, especially if in custody, are just a few of the undertakings that States enter following the ratification of these treaties. In addition to these instruments, most of the intergovernmental co-operation sectors, the Parliamentary Assembly, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities and other bodies have widely addressed children’s rights issues in the past and continue to have them on their agendas. An institution, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, has focused its attention also on this particularly vulnerable group of society providing country-specific guidance to protect children against abuse and trafficking.
The Council of Europe has therefore produced throughout the years an impressive arsenal of legal texts aiming to protect the interests of children. Although it is difficult to evaluate the impact of the various Conventions and the many Recommendations and Resolutions, they have certainly contributed to raising the awareness of the national authorities and civil society on certain issues and have set the standards that guide today most - if not all - European policies.
The Council of Europe has also invested in devising strategies, tools and guidelines which will facilitate the implementations of existing standards. A few examples of these are: local partnership strategies for violence prevention in schools, teacher-training modules for prevention and management of school conflict, educational resources on violence prevention designed for youth workers, or handbooks on the social integration of young people from difficult neighbourhoods.
The Council of Europe is therefore deeply committed to the protection of children against all forms of violence, abuse, exploitation and harm. Let me use three examples to illustrate this.
As regards corporal punishment, let me recall here the important, and might I say, groundbreaking, case-law of the European Court on Human Rights on this issue, as well as Article 17 of the European Social Charter.
Like the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly, I firmly believe that corporal punishment should be banned throughout Europe and that the Council of Europe should be at the forefront of this action. To use the terms of the Strasbourg Human Rights Court, “[…] Children and other vulnerable individuals, in particular, are entitled to State protection, in the form of effective deterrence, against such serious breaches of personal integrity.” The need to ban corporal punishment has been confirmed by three recent Resolutions of the Committee of Ministers on three collective complaints under the European Social Charter concerning corporal punishment of children. Article 17 of the European Social Charter is very clear: it requires a prohibition in legislation against all forms of violence, including corporal punishment within the home. The European Committee on Social Rights (ECSR), the body established to monitor compliance with the Charter, has stated that “…the prohibition of all forms of violence must have a legislative basis. The prohibition must cover all forms of violence, regardless of where it occurs or of the identity of the alleged perpetrator”.
The report presented to this conference by the “global initiative to end all corporal punishment of children” is most timely and constitutes an excellent basis for debate on further action.
Let us thus all work together, much as we did against the death penalty, and achieve an effective ban on corporal punishment of children in our region !
We also want to eradicate sexual exploitation and abuse of children. The Social Charter requires that all forms of exploitation be prohibited. States must take specific measures to prohibit and combat all forms of sexual exploitation of children. These measures must cover the three primary and interrelated forms of commercial sexual exploitation; prostitution (including sex tourism), child pornography, and trafficking for sexual purposes.
States Parties are also required to take measures to combat the sexual exploitation of children through the use or misuse of new information technologies. The Convention on Cybercrime, adopted in 2001, provides for the obligation to criminalise activities related to child pornography on the Internet.
Moreover, after having adopted a Recommendation in 2001 on the protection of children against sexual exploitation and to follow-up the Second World Congress against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children, held in Yokohama, Japan, in 2001, a Regional Review Conference will take place in this same place immediately after this Consultation. It will highlight some of the most important aspects of combating sexual exploitation and abuse of children and recommend future actions to be taken by the Council of Europe and its member States in the fight against this scourge.
However, recent tragic events demonstrate the need to go further in protecting children against sexual exploitation, abuse and other forms of violence and promote international co-operation in this area. The Council of Europe III Summit Action Plan helpfully calls for developing measures to combat sexual exploitation of children and for drawing up, if necessary, an international instrument. I look forward to receiving your support in such a new and challenging endeavour.
At the Summit the new and groundbreaking Council of Europe Convention on action against trafficking in Human Beings was also opened for signature. 15 States have signed this Convention. Let me state here very clearly that this treaty stands on the side of all victims of trafficking, including children; on the side of those thousands of people who are regularly subject to this new form of slavery in our cities. This new treaty is not a declaration of principle, but a concrete tool of international co-operation with a high potential for effectively eradicating trafficking. I urge all your countries to ratify it and implement its provisions as a matter of urgency. I call on all actors, and in particular the NGOs that contributed to the negotiation of this treaty, to promote its ratification and raise awareness of the standards it sets.
How?
Let me now to explain how the Council of Europe intends to organise its work.
Our 2005-2007 Programme sets an agenda for Action. Its core objective is to protect children against all forms of violence and promote children’s rights. The Programme of Action aims to propose a coherent and comprehensive set of instruments and methodological tools which clearly link up the legal commitments made and the arrangements for fulfilling them. Six specific objectives have been identified:
1. Directly involving children and young people in policies against violence
2. Ensuring the application of European and international standards on the rights and protection of children
3. Framing strategies for practical action relating to the various contexts and types of violence against children
4. Framing national prevention strategies
5. Making proposals for local integrated prevention strategies and
6. Building awareness and spreading information on children’s rights.
It will be easy for you to remember that our action will be based on the four pillars I mentioned earlier (the 4 Ps): Protection of victims, Prevention of violence, Prosecution of criminals and Participation of children.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Our presence here today and our contribution to the organisation of this regional consultation prove – if need be - that the Council of Europe does not want to be alone in this battle for children’s rights. We have our own forces and expertise and want to see them joining and combined with the efforts of other actors. We want to see them operating in the best interests of children.
I would therefore like to underline and welcome the excellent co-operation between the various instances involved in the preparation of this event. UNICEF, the World Health Organisation, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the NGOs Advisory Panel, the UN Study Secretariat, the government of Slovenia, children and young people, and the Council of Europe have created a sort of multidisciplinary and global alliance to prevent and combat all forms of violence against children. We must Act Now, using the momentum of this Study and the mobilisation it has created.
This Consultation needs to be a crucial moment to create a child-friendly world where all children get the best possible start in life, where all children have access to quality basic education and where all youngsters have ample opportunity to grow to their full human potential. A child friendly world is also one where the human rights of children are respected, where democracy flourishes and where poverty is not an insurmountable barrier to human progress. It is a world towards which all countries in the world, including the 8 countries meeting as from tomorrow in the G8 context, have to aim. It is our and our children’s world !
I am convinced that this consultation will provide an opportunity not only to obtain an accurate picture of the situation in the region, but also to adopt recommendations that will guide our future work.
To succeed, I believe we should
1. carefully study our navigation charts, assessing risks and opportunities;
2. make sure that our compass, radar and VHF radio function properly,
3. reassemble our forces and
4. get ready for real action!
We shall have to build lighthouses on our shores, communicate frequently and assess progress regularly.
And, if one on of those foggy and difficult days out there you see a ship with a blue teddy bear on its flag: it’s us! We shall be happy to share our forces because we also count on you.
Ladies and Gentlemen:
I have used the image of battleships to illustrate my speech, but eradicating violence against children is far from being a children’s game. It is not a game at all. The issues at stake are far too serious and the situation much more complex than any invented game. It is therefore high time to stop playing and start acting now against violence!
